'Blue Blazes' Rawden | 1918 | Drama, Western

Title: 'Blue Blazes' Rawden | 1918 | Drama, Western Director: William S. Hart. Studio: William S. Hart Productions; Artcraft Pictures Corporation. Starring: William S. Hart, Maude George, Robert McKim, Gertrude Claire, Robert Gordon, Jack Hoxie. Based on: Original story by J. G. Hawks. Release Date: February 18, 1918. Runtime: 65. Format: Silent, black-and-white, 35mm, 1.33:1, English intertitles. Country: United States. Language: Silent . Genres: Drama, Western. --- Summary: In the Canadian Northwest, hard-driving lumberjack foreman “Blue Blazes” Rawden tangles with the equally formidable English dance-hall proprietor “Ladyfingers” Hilgard. After beating Hilgard at cards and winning the attentions of Babette DuFresne, Rawden faces a showdown that leaves Hilgard dead. When Hilgard’s genteel mother and younger brother arrive, Rawden, moved by the mother’s kindness, conceals the truth about the death. Babette’s spiteful revelation spurs the brother to shoot Rawden, but Rawden ultimately protects him from a lynch mob and departs, a chastened man. Themes of rough justice, conscience, and self-reform run through the melodrama. --- Background: Star-director William S. Hart made the picture for his own company with Thomas H. Ince presenting, releasing it as an Artcraft Picture through the Famous Players–Lasky/Paramount network. Exterior scenes were filmed in California’s redwood and lumber-camp country near Santa Cruz, with Joseph H. August as cinematographer; the story’s “northwoods” setting marks a departure from Hart’s more typical plains westerns. Contemporary sources and archival notes record Chicago Board of Censors cuts, and restoration work has yielded tinted prints screened at Cinecon. --- Trivia: AFI records that the Chicago Board of Censors demanded multiple deletions, including saloon scenes with women at the bar and a lynching sequence. Jack Hoxie appears early in his career and is credited under his given name, Hart Hoxie, as Joe La Barge. Surviving elements are held at the Library of Congress, the George Eastman Museum, the William S. Hart Museum, and other archives; Silent Era lists the film as extant in multiple collections. AFI notes a restored and tinted copy screened on September 3, 2021, at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival. Reported runtimes vary among surviving prints and releases, with modern listings around 51 minutes, though contemporary sources cite approximately 65 minutes. --- Hashtags: BlueBlazesRawden WilliamSHart SilentFilm Western Drama PublicDomain 1918 Artcraft Paramount JackHoxie