A Romance of the Redwood (1917) directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Viewed on July 14, 2019
Synopsis:
The film begins with "Black" Brown robbing the passengers of a stagecoach.
Meanwhile, in Boston, a young woman, Jenny Lawrence, is told that her mother's deathbed instructions were for her to go to California to live with her uncle, Mark Lawrence.
Brown comes across the body of Mark Lawrence, who has been killed by Indians. He steals his identifying papers, and heads to the gold rush town of Strawberry Flats to to settle down as a respectable citizen. He receives a letter informing him that his niece is coming to live with him.
Jenny arrives at her uncle's rundown and dirty cabin. Brown arrives and tells Jenny that her uncle is dead. She must keep his secret or he will kill her.
Brown brings Jenny to the saloon where the customers are gambling, drinking, and carousing with the women. He gives Jenny a chance to tell them who he is. But the men she asks are too engrossed in gambling to listen to her. Other men manhandle her. One picks her up (literally) and tries to force his attentions on her. Brown steps in and stops him. Realizing that Brown is the only one who can protect her in this environment, she tells everyone that he is her uncle.
Brown takes Jenny back to the cabin. He is willing to give her his bedroom while he sleeps in the main room, but she doesn't want to sleep in the same house. So he takes her to the horse stable where she beds down in the straw.
The next morning, lured by the smell of breakfast, she reluctantly enters the house. While Brown cooks, she sets the table which is disgustingly dirty. She does her best to make things clean, insisting that Brown washes his hands and says his prayers before they eat.
At the saloon, Brown's partner overhears that a mule will be bringing in gold diggings the next day. He tells Brown the news. While Brown is out, a gentleman, Mr. Lyn, calls on Jenny. Brown returns, clearly jealous of the attention Jenny is giving to the gentleman. When he leaves, he tells Jenny that he will sleep in the shed, so she can stay in the bedroom.
The next day, Brown goes off to ambush the gold-laden mule, putting on a scarf to hide his face. Meanwhile, Jenny makes an ominous discovery as she sits mending Brown's clothes: a scarf with two holes cut out. She quickly realizes that they are eye holes for a disguise. She goes into town in search of Brown, and runs into the prospector who is awaiting the gold from his partner. He shows her a letter from his mother, who is proud of him and awaiting his return home.
In the cabin, Brown and his partner hide the two bags of gold that they have just stolen.
The prospector's partner returns with the devastating news that they have been robbed. Angry, the prospector goes to the saloon to confront the sheriff who should have been guarding the gold. Jenny watches as he attempts to shoot the sheriff, but is shot himself. The townsmen form a "vigilance committee." As the prospector's dead body is carried out past Jenny, the mother's letter falls to the ground, and Jenny retrieves it.
In the cabin, Jenny confronts Brown with the mask. He tells her that he loves her, and pleads with her to help him go straight. She agrees on the condition that he return the gold to the prospector's mother.
Brown goes panning for gold without any luck, while Jenny provides for them by washing the clothes of the townsmen. Brown returns to town where his partner tells him of an opportunity to rob a stagecoach. Brown turns him down.
Back at the cabin, Jenny is washing clothes, when Lyn calls on her. He says she should stop working to support her uncle, but Jenny defends. Brown overhears her. His partner tries to convince again to rob the stagecoach, and Brown, wishing to have money for Jenny, agrees - just this once. Lyn asks Jenny to go on the stagecoach with him to a picnic, but Jenny turns him down. She asks Brown to take her, but when he says no, she tells Lyn that she has changed her mind.
Brown and his partner stop the stagecoach on which Jenny and Lyn are riding. The men get out of the coach, but Jenny has a tiny handgun in her purse. She shoots. Brown confronts her. Even with the mask on, Jenny knows who it is. Brown and his partner make off with the loot.
That night, the vigilance committee receives word that "Black" Brown has been located.
In the cabin, Brown shows Jenny the gold, but she tells him that she knows it came from the stagecoach. She also sees that Brown has been injured. She shot him in the hand.
The vigilance committee is now looking for a man who has been shot in the hand. They descend on the cabin and confront Brown. Jenny pleads with the to spare his life, telling him that he is not her uncle, but that she is living there because she loves him. They put the noose around his neck anyway. In the adjoining room, Jenny devises a desperate plan. She strips the clothes off a doll that Brown and bought her. She convinces the men that she is pregnant. They agree to let him go if she will marry him and set him straight. They are married straight away. Lyn then discovers the disrobed doll. He shows it to the men, who realize that they have been fooled. But they let them go.
In the final scene, Brown and Jenny walk through the redwoods. They sit and hold each other tight.
Commentary:
This is a moderately interesting film. Typically, DeMille directs the story with efficiency. Seemingly minor incidents turn out to be vital contrivances for the plot. For example, the frivolous purchase of a doll turns out to be the key that allows Jenny to save Brown's life.
For all that, the plot is contrived, and it has huge holes in it. Jenny is sent west to live with her uncle, yet her uncle has't yet set foot in the town where she is going to meet him. And why do Jenny and Lyn need to get on an overland stagecoach to get to a picnic? Where exactly did they board this stagecoach?
The film's best asset is Mary Pickford, who gives a believable performance despite the contrived nature of the plot. She is able to convey sweetness simultaneously with steely determination.
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