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The Gunfighter
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 898 feet
Directed by Milton J. Fahrney
Cast: (unknown)
Nestor Film Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company. / Released 28 June 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Joe Anderson was out of work, and being the sole support of a family of four, consisting of an invalid grandfather, grandmother and two sisters, it was no wonder that he felt willing to take a chance at capturing Jim Rollins, alias Buck Collings, whose picture he had seen posted on a tree, for that meant a reward of $1,000. Joe had been watching a poker game, when suddenly he held his breath in surprise; directly before him stood the original of the picture. Drawing his gun, he commanded the outlaw to throw up his hands; but Buck, ever on the alert, was too quick for him, and swinging around, shot Joe in the arm before the young man could fire. Then swiftly lining up the men, he dashed through the door, jumped aboard his horse and was almost out of sight before the others could follow. Dismounting as soon as he reached a turn in the road, the pursued man sent his horse onward, while he ran through the woods, and up to the first shack in sight, bolted into the room and succeeded in persuading the occupants to hide him until he could prove his innocence. The outlaw had scarcely time to get under the table when the posse with the young man he had wounded came hurrying in, and it was then that Buck learned he had taken shelter in Joe‘s home. Watching his chance, he sprang through the door, mounted one of the men’s horses and galloped off. Although the others gave chase, the outlaw, by doubling back, managed to evade them, and would have gotten away altogether, had he not gone to the aid of a young girl whom he saw running through the woods, closely followed by three Indians. The girl proved to be Joe’s sister, and it was not until he had disposed of two of the redskins and won in a desperate fight with the third, that he realized Josie Anderson was also severely wounded and unable to walk home. To leave her there was impossible, and as his horse had run off as soon as he had dismounted, there was nothing to do but carry the girl home. In the meanwhile, the sheriff and his men, unable to find any trace of the outlaw, had returned and were passing the Anderson shack, when Buck appeared. Instantly every gun was drawn, needlessly, however, for the outlaw would fight no more. He had gladly given his life that the girl who had hidden him from the posse might be spared.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 15 July 1911, page 40] This Western film has the liveliness to be expected in Nestor Westerns, and is also has Nestor photography. We have an escape of the outlaw from the saloon after he is discovered; the chase, his aid of a girl who proves to be a sister of the man who discovered him, his helping her home, only to meet the sheriff and his posse. There is a wild, Western swing to this which carries one forward regardless of his will. And the audience awaits the result of the attempt to get the wounded girl home. Perhaps there is a feeling that it is better to have him dies as he does, rather than to be captured and maybe executed by the representatives of the law.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 29 April 2025.
References: Website-IMDb : with additional information provided by S. Frank Wylie.
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