Customer Reviews

THE BARGAIN

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This is a privately-manufactured DVD. My experience with barebones DVD-Rs has been satisfactory, as I'm not interested in commentary, deleted scenes and other bonus features, that is, stuff these discs don't offer. Transfers are "best available source" (in this case a 16mm dub taken from a paper print) and quality can vary from very good to only fair. Note that the movie presented here in one-hour format originally ran 70 minutes. A fast projection speed may be partly to blame.

The screen career of cinema's original cowboy star, William S. Hart began with his portrayal of Messala in a 1907 short version of BEN HUR. Reginald Barker's THE BARGAIN, Hart's first feature-length photoplay, is scripted in part by Thomas Ince, who died tragically in 1924 after a visit to W.R. Hearst's yacht. There's speculation to this day whether Ince succumbed to severe indigestion or was victim of a stray Hearst bullet meant for Charlie Chaplin.

In "The Bargain," Hart is 'Two-Gun' Jim Stokes, a wounded stagecoach robber who recovers at the shack of prospector Phil Brent (Sherry), where he meets and falls in love with Brent's daughter. After marrying Nell (Williams), Jim's attempt to reform by returning the express company's cash fails when he's apprehended by Sheriff Walsh (Burke) and held in a room above the town's colorful saloon. The sheriff goes downstairs, hits the roulette wheel and gambles away Jim's returned loot. He then strikes an unusual bargain with the former outlaw: if Jim steals back the express company's money he and Nell will be permitted to escape to Mexico.

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(7.1) The Bargain (1914) - William S. Hart/J. Frank Burke/Clara Williams/J. Barney SherryJoseph J. Dowling/Lewis Stone

Related item:

WILLIAM S. HART SILENT CLASSICS contains "Silent Man" (1917) and "Blue Blazes Rawden" (1918).

We enjoyed this western with William S. Hart, charming story. We're glad it has survived for silent fans in 2011.