Bret Harte

California Gold Rush

Author Bret Harte relates the story of the discovery of gold in California at Sutter's Mill, and how that discovery changed the history of the west forever.

Armed and Very Dangerous

America’s Wild West of the last third of the 19th century. Thousands of people rushed here in pursuit of enrichment. Among them was Gabriel Conroy, a man absolutely helpless in the world of business. When fountains of oil started gushing on his plot of land, the local moneybags Peter Damphy decided to appropriate the land, and succeeded in it by blackmailing Conroy’s wife and his former mistress Julie... Based upon stories by Francis Bret Harte.

Four of the Apocalypse

Four petty criminals, three men and a woman, wander through the trackless terrain of the Wild West Utah and are hounded by a sadistic bandit.

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

Four undesirables run out of a mining town and become marooned in a deserted mountain cabin during a raging snowstorm.

The Luck of Roaring Camp

When the miners of Roaring Camp become Godfathers to a motherless baby, they name the boy Luck and promise to set aside money for him from their diggings. But when they strike it rich the money is gambled away instead.

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

The 1937 film version of Bret Harte's story, starring Preston Foster.

M'Liss

The third film version of the Bret Harte tale, starring Anne Shirley as a miner's daughter in a small town who falls for a handsome young schoolteacher.

Wild Girl

Salomy Jane, a California mountain girl, is sought after by a number of men in the nearby small town of Redwood City. She is affected when two criminals are pursued by authorities: one for killing a hypocritical mayoral candidate, the other for robbing the stagecoach.

The Man from Red Gulch

In the days of the California Gold Rush of '49, Sandy is at odds with his partner, Falloner, over the latter's heavy drinking.

The Golden Princess

A story of greed and lust driven by gold fever. Rapacious Kate Kent abandons her daughter Betty to run off with Tom Romaine, her husband’s killer during the Gold Rush. A quindecinnial later Betty heads to California and partners with Tennessee, a freind of her father’s, in the Golden Princess Mine. Kate and Romaine try and dupe Betty into believing he is Betty’s father to get control of her portion, but Tennessee reveals the truth and after an attempt on their lives all works out as it should.

The Flaming Forties

A young cowhand befriends a disreputable gambler and pulls him out of some trouble. Hoping to square things with his new friend, the gambler seeks to warn him about the cowhand's fiancée, about whom the gambler knows some unsavory details.

The Girl Who Ran Wild

M'liss, raised in the mountains as an unruly tomboy, is orphaned and is offered "protection" by Calaveras John and Johnny Cake, friends of her father's murderer. She shows no interest in anything until the new schoolmaster persuades her to tidy herself and get some education. Believing the schoolmaster to be in love with some other girl, M'liss decides to run off with another man.

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

The owner of a gambling hall is entrusted with the care of a pretty young girl. He falls in love with her, but he must decide whether to let her go to his best friend, with whom he believes her to be in love, or to try to win her for himself.

The Luck of Roaring Camp

The story takes place in a small struggling mining town located in the foothills of the California mountains at the time of the gold rush. The camp is suffering from a long string of bad luck. With only one woman in their midst, it seems as though the miners have no future. However, the tide turns when a small boy is born. "Thomas Luck" is the first newborn the camp has seen in ages; things are looking up.

The Half-Breed

In an attempt to brand himself as a serious actor, the smiling swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks starred in THE HALF-BREED (1916), a Western melodrama written by Anita Loos and directed with flair by Allan Dwan. Fairbanks stars as Lo Dorman, who has been ostracized from society because of this mixed ethnicity - his Native American mother was abandoned by his white father. When Lo catches the eye of the rich white debutante Nellie (Jewel Carmen), he becomes a target for the racist Sheriff Dunn (Sam De Grasse), who wants to break them up and take Nelli for his own. This love triangle becomes a quadrangle with the arrival of Teresa (Alma Rubens), who is on the run from the law. Through fire and fury Lo must decide who and what he truly loves.

Two Men of Sandy Bar

John Oakhurst, a gentleman gambler, befriends Sandy Morton, who has dissipated his birthright through gambling and excessive drinking and dropped from his father's sight. Although Oakhurst soon takes Sandy's place in the affections of his father, he boards a train heading West and meets Pritchard, an alcoholic, and his wife, the Duchess. Pritchard is wanted by the law and Oakhurst helps him to escape detectives who are on his trail.

Salomy Jane

When beautiful Salomy Jane resists the romantic advances of a young ruffian, she is rescued by Jack Dart, who has his own additional reasons for tangling with the man. Jack fights the ruffian and kills him. He escapes with the law on his trail, for it is (wrongly) presumed that he is also the man who held up the stagecoach. Salomy Jane comes to his rescue when he is captured and about to be lynched.

Golddigger

Goldigger is about the California Gold Rush. Xarkrow, the lead character, leaves his home in Fortanska, a fictional city in Hungary, to go to California to dig for gold in the hills of the Sierra Nevada. While there he strikes it rich with great gold. This causes a female loan shark named Ygretta Roselettokopf of San Francisco to try to seduce him for his money.

In the Aisles of the Wild

A widower and his two daughters live in the wilds of the north woods. They form the acquaintance of two trappers, Bob Cole and Jim Watson, who hunt in the neighborhood. As fate will have it, both trappers love the same girl, the elder sister, but she loves Bob, while the younger girl is attracted by Jim. The elder girl, however, through a woman's whim, pays marked attention to Jim simply to arouse jealousy in Bob. He, in temper, cannot reason her motive and leaves, so through pique she accepts and marries Jim. Later Bob revisits the place, feeling that the girl loves him best, and tries to induce her to go away with him. He finally succeeds and, as you may imagine, fate brings about justice.

The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch

The Goddess, the prettiest and best-natured girl that ever graced that little mining town, meets the tenderfoot prospector and leaves him another worshiper of her. His chances, however, are slim for Blue-grass Pete has won her affections, he having at an opportune moment saved her from the fangs of a snake which was about to attack her. Pete's affections turn to the Goddess's sister, while Pete's friends plot to rob.

The Last Drop of Water

A wagon train heading west across the great desert runs out of water, and is attacked by Indians. One man -- their last hope -- is sent out to find water.