|
''The Bad Man'' is an American silent film western drama with prominently featured satirical and comedic elements, directed by Edwin Carewe, who produced it for his own motion picture company and adapted the scenario from the play by Porter Emerson Browne which opened at Broadway's Comedy Theatre in August 1920 and ran for a very successful 342 performances, closing in June 1921. The film version, from Edwin Carewe Productions, was released by Associated First National Pictures on October 8, 1923, with the title role played by the star of the play's Broadway and touring productions, Holbrook Blinn, and the other leading parts filled by Jack Mulhall, Walter McGrail and Enid Bennett.〔(newspaper ad in Easton, Pennsylvania for a screening of ''The Bad Man'' (''Easton Daily Free Press'', June 20, 1924) )〕〔(newspaper ad in Sonora, California for a screening of ''The Bad Man'' (''The Union Democrat'', February 28, 1925) )〕〔(color poster advertising "''THE BAD MAN'' the laughable thriller by Porter Emerson Browne with HOLBROOK BLINN and an all star cast" )〕 ==Plot background== The titular character, a Mexican outlaw named Pancho Lopez, bore an undisguised resemblance, both in name and personality, to Pancho Villa, a pre-eminent Mexican Revolutionary general, who was much in the news before and during the play's run and whose assassination on July 20, two-and-a-half months before the film's release, appeared in all the headlines. Nine years earlier, a supporting actress in ''The Bad Man'', Teddy Sampson, played one of Pancho Villa's two sisters in the 1914 Mutual Film feature, ''The Life of General Villa'', with that film's co-director, Raoul Walsh, portraying the young Villa, and Pancho Villa starring as himself. A 2003 television film, ''And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself'', recreates the making of the long-lost 1914 feature, with Antonio Banderas as Villa and Alexa Davalos as Teddy Sampson. ==Plot== The plotline has Lopez (Holbrook Blinn) and his band of outlaws living from the proceeds gained as a result of theft and confiscation of property, which means goods belonging to anyone wealthy enough to possess anything of value. One of those is rancher Gilbert Jones (Jack Mulhall), whose cattle losses are pushing him to the edge of bankruptcy. As Lopez is about to deprive Jones of the remainder of his cattle as well as of any valuables he may still possess, and even to kidnap his beloved former sweetheart (Enid Bennett), now married to heartless loan shark Morgan Pell (Walter McGrail), he recognizes Jones as the man who, years earlier, saved his life. Determined to show his gratitude, the powerful bandit robs the rapacious bank which, in cahoots with Pell, cheats and exploits the locals, and gives the money to Jones. When Pell arrives to foreclose on Jones' oil-rich ranch, Lopez, addressing him as "Mr. Loan-Fish", inquires of him whether women in his country inherit their late husbands' wealth, and then, since he considers the despicable corrupter to be an unworthy opponent, tells his top aide to shoot him (intertitle: "Pedro, I do not hunt rabbits—you keel heem"), thus freeing his widow to marry Jones. Finally, he returns all of Jones' stolen cattle and bids the happy couple farewell, thanking them for making him feel good. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Bad Man (1923 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|