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New Prints!
Directed by Arthur Rosson
A former rodeo star, Hoot Gibson was one of the silent era’s most successful screen cowboys, alongside Tom Mix. Gibson’s career was rockier in the sound era but he weathered the transition at Universal where he starred in eight sound features between 1929 and 1930, six of which were released with dual silent and sound versions, including Trailin’ Trouble (1930). Gibson plays Ed King, a cocksure ranch hand with a wandering eye, much to the chagrin of Molly (Quimby), his long-suffering would-be gal. When he’s sent to the big city to sell a herd of cattle, Ed gets a chance to prove his loyalty to Molly while his romantic rival, Buck (Morrison), plots to ruin him once and for all. Before he knows it, Ed’s up to his neck in a gang war in Chinatown. The visual and narrative differences between the two versions are minor but nevertheless the silent version comes off as more polished and precise. As Variety noted in its review of Trailin’ Trouble’s sound version: “Western producers have got to realize that where they could hold meanderings of this kind together in the silent days with subtitles, dialog provides no such elasticity. Either it’s there, or not there, with talk.”
Universal Pictures Corp. Screenwriter: Arthur Rosson. Cinematographer: Harry Neumann. Editor: Gilmore Walker. Cast: Hoot Gibson , Margaret Quimby, Pete Morrison, Olive Young, William McCall.
35mm, b/w, 60 min. (Silent version), 57 min. (Sound version).
Musical accompaniment for silent version provided by Robert Israel.
Please note: The silent version will be shown first.
