Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

ironhorse_iv Completed during Progressive era of the mid 1910s, this 1916 silent era film was made for the film audiences of the time, in a strong attempt to teach them, the dangers of the church-less social anarchism. In their view, the dangers of foreign anarchists, were so-close to home that writer, C. Gardner Sullivan had to make a morality tale about the vulnerabilities of having a stateless society. After all, World War 1 (1914-1918) was caused by an anarchist assassin, and the Red Scare of 1919–20 were a few years ahead, was caused by the aftermath of 1919 United States anarchist bombings. So it makes sense for, director Charles Swickard, to make a film like this. Set in the fictional Wild West town of Hell's Hinges, a good minded, woman named Faith Henley (Clara Williams), tries hard to reform local tough outlaw, Blaze Tracy (William S. Hart) as a last ditch attempt to save her wild and debauched frontier town. However, her weak-willed minister brother, Rev. Bob Henley (Jack Standing) & a local saloon owner, Silk Miller (Alfred Hollingsworth), think otherwise, causing trouble and encourage the local rowdies to disrupt the attempts to evangelize the community. Without spoiling the movie, too much, this movie does seem a bit heavy-handed and preachy with its religious message. Added to the fact that the film is so grim and somber, that it made for a very hard watch for any modern viewer. Still, this moral retribution film, does have good things about the dark mood. Sepia, blue and red tainting are used to convey the atmosphere of different scenes. It really gave the movie, its unique look. That cinematography style is quite innovative for the time, when you think about it. Not only that, the film does make a good use of the close-up, long shot, panning, and continuity editing. One notably shot is the wide shot with extended panning to follow a stage coach travelling in the hills. Because of camera angles like that, this movie has some really entertaining shots. Most of it, comes with the intense action scenes. Made before the Hay Codes, ever existed. The violence throughout this film really made this film more gritty and rugged than other westerns at the time. They really did burn down most of the Wild West set, toward the end of the film. I also like how the main lead, is an interesting complex main character. Yes, maybe the character's transformation of Blaze Tracy came too abrupt in the beginning, Hart himself is quite effective in the role, despite that his character wasn't so reluctantly. Fascinated by the Old West, this role was made for William S. Hart. Not only did he acquired Billy the Kid's "six shooters" and was a friend of legendary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. He live the Wild West lifestyle, for years, before entering the film industry in 1914 where, he played supporting roles. Hart was particularly interested in making realistic western films. His films are noted for their authentic costumes and props, as well as Hart's acting ability, honed on Shakespearean theater stages in the United States and England. Because of this, I'm glad to see that this movie still existed for this long, when a total of 70% of American silent feature films are believed to be completely lost. This is one of the earlier known realistic silent western out there. However, the film is quite unidimensional, when it comes to supporting characters. Since, most silent film actors emphasized body language and facial expression so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen. Much silent film acting is apt to strike modern-day audiences as simplistic or campy. There is no bigger laughable performance than Jack Standing as Rev. Bob Henley. His acting as a drunk alcoholism, was a bit hilarious, than tragic. I really didn't feel much, about him. Another actor that seem a bit off is Clara Williams. Still, she's not awful, like other critics make her out to be. Yes, she doesn't have the good looks, but she does plays the motherly role, well. However, I don't really see her, as a love-interest or a morality saint. I find her quest to sudden transformation of Blaze from bad to good as unrealistic, because she barely did anything to force that on Blaze. Another thing, that was a bit jarring about the film is the racist stereotypes when it comes portraying Mexicans. Since, the original producers, fail to renew the film's copyright. It resulted, with the film, falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of 'Hells Hinges'. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely or badly edited. Since many of them, come from extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation copies. Don't count on the audio and film footage to be good. Not only that, but it had a lot of scratches, and discoloring in the film footage. Overall: Despite that, Hell's Hinges is preserved in the archives of the National Film Registry as culturally significant. It's a must-watch for anybody who is a western fan and anybody who like silent era films. So check it out, if you want.

a-cinema-history This is an unusual Western which uses the freedom which existed before the Hays Code to cast as a villain a faithless Reverend who gets drunk in the local saloon, spends the night with one of the saloon girls and takes part in the arson of his own church. Opposite him we find the Reverend's saintly sister, adequately called Faith, and the big gun Blaze who was determined to get rid of the parson but falls in love with Faith and because of that start believing in God, protects the justs and destroys the villains. Apart from the parsons who is torn between good and evil, the characters are quite unidimensional and racist stereotypes are present, in this case concerning Mexicans. The sudden transformation of Blaze from bad to good is a bit too sudden to be credible.The cinematography is quite innovative for the time with the use notably of a very wide shot with extended panning to follow a stage coach traveling in the hills. Editing is dynamic with efficient use of cross-cutting. Most of the action is filmed outdoor with the reconstitution of a Wild West settlement which is entirely burned down at the end. Sepia, blue and red tainting are used to convey the atmosphere of different scenes. Humour is also present e.g. when we are shown how the parsons imagines the West. The moralizing ending where the bad are punished is a bit too conventional.a-cinema-history.blogspot.com/2013/11/

Michael_Elliott Hell's Hinges (1916) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Historic Western has William S. Hart playing "Blaze" Tracy, a notorious gunfighter who is evil pure through until he meets a young woman (Clara Williams) arriving in town with her Reverend brother (Jack Standing). Blaze is immediately attracted to the woman and soon he begins to have thoughts about changing his ways but the bad folks in town are trying to turn the Reverend into one of them. This is a pretty strong little movie even if it barely runs an hour and spends way too much of that time on top of a soap box. I was really impressed with what this film had to offer and I think it's fair to say that it deserves every bit of its reputation and status of being one of the first classics from the genre. The film is about good versus evil and religious versus non-religious and there's no question what side the film is on. I think the film spends too much time preaching to us but this is a small problem and one that isn't overly distracting. With that said, the film contains some very memorable shots including the first look at the town known as Hell's Hinges. I love the high shot overlooking the town where we get a good look at all the evils going on within this short take. The scene will take your breathe away as it's such a terrific shot and it lets you know everything you need to know about this place. We also get another terrific shot towards the end of the movie when the church is attacked and we get to see it's aftermath. Hart is terrific in his role and he does very good job at showing off the evils of his character but the actor also makes us believe his changing. I think the change happens too fast but there's no question Hart owns this role and really makes it a memorable character. Williams and Standing are also very good as is Alfred Hollingsworth in his role. Jean Hersholt is somewhere in the film but unspotted by myself as is John Gilbert in his first screen appearance. Apparently Hart directed the majority of the film even though he doesn't get credit for it and I must say that the entire film is quite an impressive achievement even if it doesn't run as long as some of the films were starting to do at the time. The movie contains some memorable characters, some terrific shots and a rather rousing ending and all of this makes it a must see.

Cineanalyst "Hell's Hinges" is one of William S. Hart's best Westerns, and it's available today in better condition than most of his others, including some nice tinting. Its religious story, the instantaneous first look at a pure woman transforming bad guy Hart into the good guy are basic to the formula of his Westerns. As fellow commenter metaphor-2 said, much of the power of the film comes from its simplicity. Even the small town, simple as a cheap producer can afford, helps intensify the climax. A town inhabited by evildoers and fittingly called "Hell's Hinges" ends in an inferno. It does well to overcome some of the overly preachy hokum and offensive moments such as the title that says the villain has "the oily craftiness of a Mexican". Hart gives one of his better performances stalking beside fiery blazes, looking to gun down the bad guys. The close-ups help his performance greatly. Pure Hart.