The Pony Express (1925 film)

The Pony Express is a 1925 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures.^[1] The film was directed by James Cruze and starred his wife, Betty Compson, along with Ricardo Cortez, Wallace Beery, and George Bancroft. Prints of this film survive, and it has been released on DVD.^[2][3]

The Pony Express
Lobby card
Directed by	James Cruze
Written by	Walter Woods (scenario)
Based on	The Pony Express by Henry James Forman and Walter Woods
Produced by	Adolph Zukor Jesse Lasky
Starring	Betty Compson Ricardo Cortez
Cinematography	Karl Brown
Music by	Hugo Riesenfeld
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	September 20, 1925 (1925-09-20)
Running time	10 film reel; 9,929 feet (110 minutes)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Plot

As described in the studio pressbook for the film,^[4] in 1860, because of his anti-slavery orientation, Jack Weston, a gambler and dead shot, is marked for death by the "Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret society headed by avowed Secessionist Senator Glen. Weston makes a sensational escape and goes to Julesburg, Colorado, where he becomes a Pony Express rider. A bitter rivalry breaks out between Weston and Jack Slade, Superintendent of the Overland Stage Company, over the hand of Molly Jones, a popular local belle. Slade has arranged with Glen, in the event that Abraham Lincoln is elected president, to send a fake dispatch to California announcing his defeat, with the intent to swing the state to the Southern cause. Charlie Bent, the half-breed head of a band of Sioux Indians, is secretly in league with Slade but has plans to take advantage of the excitement and raid the town. On the appointed day, news of Lincoln's election reaches Julesburg. Weston, who has learned of Slade's plot, obtains possession of the true dispatch and starts west with it. Meeting the Pony Express rider coming east, Weston persuades him to trade runs and take the dispatch west while he and the eastbound mail returns to Julesburg. The murderous attack on the town by Bent and his band has already begun, but the timely arrival of a regiment of soldiers saves the day. Slade promptly discharges Weston, who then along with Molly and her father start for Sacramento. Meanwhile, news of the election has reached California, causing the state to squarely side with the Union. Back in Julesburg, Slade, in an ironic twist, is promoted by the Overland Stage Company for his supposed bravery in defending the town. The film ends with the marriage of Molly and Weston. After war is declared, Weston joins the army, and the volunteers march down the street singing, "We are coming Father Abraham, three hundred thousand strong!"

Cast

• Betty Compson as Molly Jones
• Ricardo Cortez as Jack Weston
• Ernest Torrence as Ascension Jones
• Wallace Beery as Rhode Island Red
• George Bancroft as Jack Slade
• Frank Lackteen as Charlie Bent
• Johnny Fox as Billy Cody (credited as John Fox Jr.)
• William H. Turner as William Russell
• Al Hart as Senator Glen
• Charles Gerson as Sam Clemens
• Rose Tapley as Aunt
• Vondell Darr as Baby
• Ernie Adams as Henchman (uncredited)
• Hank Bell as Townsman (uncredited)
• Charles Brinley as Man in Top Hat (uncredited)
• William J. Dyer as Bartender (uncredited)
• Duke Kahanamoku as Indian Chief (uncredited)
• Jack Kenny as Minor Role (uncredited)
• Toby Wing as Child (uncredited)