Hell's Hinges

Plot synopsis:
Hell's Hinges tells the story of a weak-willed minister, Rev. Bob Henley (played by Standing), who comes to a wild and debauched frontier town with his sister, Faith (played by Williams). The owner of the saloon, Silk Miller (played by Hollingsworth), and his accomplices sense trouble and encourage the local rowdies to disrupt the attempts to evangelize the community. Hard-bitten gunman Blaze Tracy (played by Hart), the most dangerous man around, is, however, won over by the sincerity of Faith. He intervenes to expel the rowdies from the newly built church.
Silk adopts a new approach. He encourages the dance-hall girl, Dolly (played by Glaum), to seduce Rev. Henley. She gets him drunk, and he spends the night in her room. The following morning the whole town learns of his fall from grace. Blaze rides out to find a doctor for the now near-demented minister.
The disgraced minister, having rapidly descended into alcoholism, is goaded into helping the rowdy element to burn down the church. The church-goers try to defend the church, and a gunfight erupts in which the minister is killed and the church set ablaze. Blaze returns too late to stop the destruction. In revenge, Blaze kills Silk and burns down the whole town, beginning with the saloon. He and Faith leave to start a new life.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
Hart, who had considerable experience as a stage actor, including the performance of a good deal of Shakespeare, clearly understood that in the movies, acting and personal presence were inseparable.
Once he is won over by the message of the church, he never cracks a smile, barely moves his face at all unless he's really angry.The entire film is as straightforward and unvarnished as Hart himself.
The atmosphere is effective, and along with the story, it is interesting in its contrast with the usual expectations of the genre.Hart is well-cast as the stoical gunslinger who becomes fascinated by the purity of a preacher's sister.
The character's transformation might be a little too abrupt, and it might have been an even better movie if 'Blaze' had changed more reluctantly, but Hart himself is quite effective in the role.
Jack Standing also does a good job as the weak-willed preacher whose folly leads to so much havoc.The story is quite moralistic in its way, but it is nevertheless pretty interesting.
Things are built up carefully into a harrowing finale that is filmed with a lot of detail.Features like this show why Hart rose to such popularity.
Gardner Sullivan wrote the story and the screenplay.Mr. Sullivan produced some of the most poetic intertitles in all of silent Hollywood, and went on to write some talkie screenplays, too.His prose coupled with the drama of the story and the acting of William S.
Hart and a talented large cast and with the excellent directing of Charles Swickard as well as Mr. Hart and Clifford Smith make "Hell's Hinges" one of the most gripping of silent westerns.It is, in fact, so classic and so iconic that the great Jon Tuska included it in his PBS series, "They Went Thataway."That TV show was probably my introduction to William S.
Hart, and when I moved to Los Angeles, one of my first missions was to find the (now defunct) Silent Movie Theatre, run by the lamented John Hampton and his wife, and beg for William S.
(It's also available at YouTube and I urge you to see it.)I have been a Hart fan really since Jon Tuska's introduction, and my admiration has only grown with each Hart movie viewing."Hell's Hinges" is almost 100 years old at this writing, 21 August 2015, and it holds up extremely well, although I do recommend the "A cinema history" print at YouTube rather than another, which plays some Beethoven piano reductions as the music score, which is, of course, beautiful but really not appropriate.Also, the print by "A cinema history" is clear and crisp.Hart looked young and even chubby-faced, especially as compared to his craggier later looks, as in, for example, "Tumbleweeds." A trained stage actor, he was always able to portray his needed emotion or thought or action beautifully for the camera, and one can just look at him and realize why an entire town would be cowed.When you watch this, do remember the context: It was produced in 1916, and styles of acting and writing were different.
Not worse, in fact in lots of ways better, but decidedly different, so remember context.Frankly, I LOVED "Hell's Hinges," and am so grateful to YouTube and "A cinema history" for posting this excellent movie and allowing me to watch it, and watch it again in the future..
Hell's Hinges is an early silent William S.
He stars as Blaze Tracy, a gun-slinger who falls for a pastor's sister (Clara Williams) when she and her inadequate brother arrive in Hell's Hinges to preach the gospel.
"Shoot first and do your disputin afterwards" Although a touch too heavy on the religious moral retribution angle, where the good-badman has his epiphany and the town of Hell's Hinges becomes a battle of the church against, well, this devil's den of iniquity, Hell's Hinges flies by.
Acted superbly by Hart, a one time stage performer who was a hugely popular silent star of the time, film is full of action, often violent and closes down with a memorable bang.
Jack Standing is suitably shifty as the hopeless parson (by parental pressure) easily led astray, and Williams provides some much needed emotional thrust when the film veers to being over preachy.
Hell's Hinges (1916) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Historic Western has William S.
Hart playing "Blaze" Tracy, a notorious gunfighter who is evil pure through until he meets a young woman (Clara Williams) arriving in town with her Reverend brother (Jack Standing).
Blaze is immediately attracted to the woman and soon he begins to have thoughts about changing his ways but the bad folks in town are trying to turn the Reverend into one of them.
With that said, the film contains some very memorable shots including the first look at the town known as Hell's Hinges.
I love the high shot overlooking the town where we get a good look at all the evils going on within this short take.
Hart is terrific in his role and he does very good job at showing off the evils of his character but the actor also makes us believe his changing.
I think the change happens too fast but there's no question Hart owns this role and really makes it a memorable character.
Williams and Standing are also very good as is Alfred Hollingsworth in his role.
The movie contains some memorable characters, some terrific shots and a rather rousing ending and all of this makes it a must see..
The burdens of a western/silent/religious film.
The silent film too has to exaggerate the experience, not only in the mannerisms of the actors, but in the setting and props as well.
But we can still admire how free of convention the film is in its structure and methods, something Hart would pursue in his more worthwhile works.3 out of 5 - Some strong elements.
There is a strong Christian content to the movie that most future westerns would not bring up (at least not like this).
The main character, Blaze Tracy, goes from being the toughest, meanest guy in town to a defender of the Christian faith, although in a very individual way, i.e. no church affiliation.
Fascinating silent western about a gunslinger who is reformed by the love of a woman newly arrived in the lawless and Godless town of Hell's Hinges with her weak-willed brother, the town's new preacher.
Hart directs and stars as the gunslinger, Blaze Tracy.
An appropriate name for his character given the fiery climax of the film, which is a little reminiscent of the western High Plains Drifter made many decades later.
Hart (as "Blaze" Tracy) is off-screen, in the appropriately named town of "Hell's Hinges".
Mr. Hart is a "man-killer whose philosophy of life is summer up in the creed 'Shoot first and do your disputin' afterward'!" He believes neither law nor religion will ever come to the wretched town he loves.
Jack Standing (as Rev. Robert Henley) is on his way to town; he is, as you'll witness, a recently ordained minister with an eye for something other than ladies' souls.
Accompanying the bad reverend is his good sister Clara Williams (as Faith Henley).
Ms. Williams combines "the strength of character her brother so woefully lacks" and leads Hart to God (the Jesus Christ version).
But, is Hart a faithful servant of God, or just another Hell-raising western rogue?
Williams was a noted actress; but, she doesn't play innocent and alluring; mainly, she looks admiringly at Hart (and her brother).
It's difficult to understand the Williams/Hart attraction, which worked in other films.
Thankfully, Louise Glaum (as Dolly) is around to play guiltily alluring; presumably, Hart has had his fill of such women by the time Williams arrives.
******** Hell's Hinges (3/5/16) Charles Swickard ~ William S.
Hart, Clara Williams, Jack Standing, Louise Glaum.
Though a silent picture, this movie had a huge influence on Westerns after it.
It reveals several characters which exist in almost any good Western: the hooker with the heart of gold, the tough cowboy, the religious, weak dude, the petticoat brigade, and the redemptive woman.
This is an unusual Western which uses the freedom which existed before the Hays Code to cast as a villain a faithless Reverend who gets drunk in the local saloon, spends the night with one of the saloon girls and takes part in the arson of his own church.
Opposite him we find the Reverend's saintly sister, adequately called Faith, and the big gun Blaze who was determined to get rid of the parson but falls in love with Faith and because of that start believing in God, protects the justs and destroys the villains.
The sudden transformation of Blaze from bad to good is a bit too sudden to be credible.The cinematography is quite innovative for the time with the use notably of a very wide shot with extended panning to follow a stage coach traveling in the hills.
Most of the action is filmed outdoor with the reconstitution of a Wild West settlement which is entirely burned down at the end.
This movie is indeed one of the finest silent westerns ever made..
Set in the fictional Wild West town of Hell's Hinges, a good minded, woman named Faith Henley (Clara Williams), tries hard to reform local tough outlaw, Blaze Tracy (William S.
However, her weak-willed minister brother, Rev. Bob Henley (Jack Standing) & a local saloon owner, Silk Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth), think otherwise, causing trouble and encourage the local rowdies to disrupt the attempts to evangelize the community.
Still, this moral retribution film, does have good things about the dark mood.
Not only that, the film does make a good use of the close-up, long shot, panning, and continuity editing.
They really did burn down most of the Wild West set, toward the end of the film.
Yes, maybe the character's transformation of Blaze Tracy came too abrupt in the beginning, Hart himself is quite effective in the role, despite that his character wasn't so reluctantly.
He live the Wild West lifestyle, for years, before entering the film industry in 1914 where, he played supporting roles.
Hart was particularly interested in making realistic western films.
His films are noted for their authentic costumes and props, as well as Hart's acting ability, honed on Shakespearean theater stages in the United States and England.
Because of this, I'm glad to see that this movie still existed for this long, when a total of 70% of American silent feature films are believed to be completely lost.
Since, most silent film actors emphasized body language and facial expression so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen.
It resulted, with the film, falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of 'Hells Hinges'.
Overall: Despite that, Hell's Hinges is preserved in the archives of the National Film Registry as culturally significant.
It's a must-watch for anybody who is a western fan and anybody who like silent era films.
Hart westerns.
The saloon owner and a gunslinger (Hart) resolve to undercut any effort to bring the gospel to the town of Hell's Hinges.
He is killed when the saloon owner torches the church, but in revenge the gunslinger burns the saloon.The whole corrupt city goes up in flames, a cleansing akin to the Biblical flood from which only Noah's ark survived, as the gunslinger and the minister's sister ride off to a new life together.
However, Hell's Hinges went even farther; as the critic for Photoplay Magazine declared, "In making the hot settlement's only clergyman a negative villain, author and producer did a bold thing; but in making the town's combined destroyer-saviour an out-and-out bad man, they were bolder still." The vivid film, directed by Hart and Charles Swickard in five reels, cost $32,676.43 and was shot from early September to late October 1915..
Hart's best Westerns, and it's available today in better condition than most of his others, including some nice tinting.
Its religious story, the instantaneous first look at a pure woman transforming bad guy Hart into the good guy are basic to the formula of his Westerns.
A town inhabited by evildoers and fittingly called "Hell's Hinges" ends in an inferno.
Hart gives one of his better performances stalking beside fiery blazes, looking to gun down the bad guys.
The other part is about Hart taking revenge on an evil little town by burning it down and killing a lot of scumbags in the process--and is very reminiscent of Clint Eastwood's HIGH PLANES DRIFTER.
As a result, the strong religious message will turn off many and the violence and almost demonic reaction of Hart when he takes retribution will most likely turn off Evangelical Christians.
Preachers in Hollywood movies are invariably sturdily pretentious, like the self-ordained church-builder in Hart's own The Silent Man. The preacher villain, the preacher cad, the preacher down-and-out, the preacher who'd sell his soul, betray his trust, desert his flock, indulge himself in sex and booze is a definite Hollywood no-no.
"Hell's Hinges" is one of William S.
"Hell's Hinges" is one of William S.
Hart's better known westerns.
The town of Hell's Hinges looks like those depicted in old 19th century photographs and the costumes match the scenario as well.A newly ordained minister Reverend Bob Henley (Jack Standing), who is less than committed to his job, is assigned to a town in the west, with the hope that he will strengthen his faith among the people there.
His young diminutive sister Faith (Clara Williams) decides to accompany him.
In order to rid the town of the parson, Miller brings in gun man Blaze Tracy (Hart) to run him out of town.Tracy at first, relishes his assignment but relents when he meets the virginal Faith.
Over the next few weeks, the congregation builds a new church.Miller, sensing that the parson is less than committed to his job decides to employ different tactics.
They find him in a back room of the saloon drunk and in the arms of Dolly.Miller rallies his supporters, including the parson, to march on the church and set it ablaze.
Blaze in turn becomes enraged and..............................Hart was in his fifties when this film was made but could still hold the audience's interest with his cold and serious personality.
His sudden change from a two gun evil doer to good Samaritan is a little hard to believe, though you are still with him.In the unbilled cast are John Gilbert in his first film as one of Miller's rowdies.
Hart came to Hollywood when he was a mature 49 year-old man.
Hart and Tom Mix were the greatest heroes of the silent screen westerns.
"Hell's Hinges" is a western movie with a religious message: moral retribution.
The church elder parsons, aware of Henley's misgivings, arrange to send him to a parish in a western prairie ("where the people live simply and close to God") to free him from the temptations of a large eastern city.
Henley arrives at the dusty western hamlet of Placers Center (Hell's Hinges) with his strong-willed sister Faith (Clara Williams).
Hell's Hinges is lawless; the title card describes it as "a gun-fighting, man- killing, devil's den of iniquity." Saloon owner "Silk" Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth) and gunfighter "Blaze" Tracey (Hart) are quite different in character but have one thing in common: law and religion do not exist for them.
For instance the burning town represents the inferno (hell), Silk is obviously evil, the saloon crowd is the fallen, Blaze is redemption, and Faith is goodness.
A weak-willed parson and his pious sister are sent to the town of Placer Center, known far and wide as Hell's Hinges for its immorality.
There, Blaze Tracy a local gunfighter (William S Hart) is won over to belief by the sister's sincerity.
Hart and Clifford Smith.HELL'S HINGES is a more mature, serious brand of Western than many may expect.
Standouts: William S Hart was one of the biggest stars of his time, and he shows why here.
Clara Williams is completely believable in her turn as Faith, the reverent sister of the wayward parson.
Jack Standing is also fine as Bob Henley, a young man who was goaded into the ministry by his mother even though he doesn't have the right character for it.
HELL'S HINGES is a memorable, powerful film from the early days of cinema, and merits viewing today.
The town bad girl ready to seduce the weakling for a price, the pious parson in reality easily led and the tough Blaze Tracey, redeemed by the faith and purity of the minister's sister - it's all there in "Hell's Hinges" one of William S.
He originated "the good bad man" character and he came to films from the stage, determined to put poetry and vision back into the Western genre he loved so much.
Hart grew up loving the West but was appalled at the low standard of movie westerns at that time.
Apparently he once complained to a cinema owner who replied that that particular film was one of the best he had screened.More full driven drama than straight forward Western, it tells of the arrival in town of a weak willed young minister, Rev. Robert Henley - a man who has no belief in his calling, only becoming one to keep his mother happy and his sister, Faith (Clara Williams) who hopes that the new town will make a man of him.
In reality, the town, "Hell's Hinges" is one of the worst towns in the West and oily "Silk" Miller has already secured the services of Blaze Tracy (Hart), a tough gun man, to run the minister out of town before religion can take over.Blaze is instantly won over by Faith who has a "different type of smile".
He warns the bad element of the town to keep away from the siblings but listening to the parson's sermon he remains unmoved and realises that all the power and conviction lies in Faith.