The Son-of-a-Gun

This documentary traces the history of the B-Western from it's silent movie origins to its demise in the early 1950s. The film contains a large number of scenes from early silents and seldom seen films, as well as old photographs of the stars and one-sheet advertisements for lost films.

A young man in financial difficulties persuades his wife to help him blackmail a supposedly wealthy man.

The custom of young women "tagging" men on the public streets (on a day specially set aside and called "Tag Day") to secure funds for various charitable purposes is the basis for this Comedy short.

Broncho Billy and his pals plot to rob the general store. Broncho Billy is elected to go into the store and engage the proprietor in conversation while the others enter the rear door and rob the till.

The girl gets a job on the local newspaper and is sent out to get the story of one of the escapades of a rich bachelor. While she is on her way she determines to break into the house, because she is sure the bachelor will refuse her an interview. She breaks into the house and is blithely gathering the details of her story when the bachelor surprises her and calls the police. Just as the police arrive, the bachelor puts on a housecoat and an old cap. He looks very much like a burglar.

The bandit leader is lying wounded in his cabin on the mountain when his confederates bring in a girl whom they have kidnapped while she was on her way to join her father after a trip east.

Pioneer filmmaker J. Stuart Blackton was intrigued by the idea of a film about the history of the movies as early as 1915. He finally released a 52-minute feature called The Film Parade that was shown in New York and favorably reviewed by "Variety" in 1933. He continued tinkering with the film for the rest of the decade, and later filmmakers and distributors used Blackton's footage for stock or to produce their own variously titled and truncated versions. -UCLA Film & Television Archive

Ethel Walker and Tom Phelps are engaged to marry, but father objects. Later, when the old gentleman finds his daughter writing a note to Tom, promising him to elope, he calls in blacksmiths and has them put bars on the windows and grating in the door.

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

Walking along with his bulldog, Charlie finds a "good luck" horseshoe just as he passes a training camp advertising for a boxing partner "who can take a beating." After watching others lose, Charlie puts the horseshoe in his glove and wins. The trainer prepares Charlie to fight the world champion. A gambler wants Charlie to throw the fight. He and the trainer's daughter fall in love.

Henry Aldrich wants to win a trip to Alaska.

Rhubarb Vaselino lives in a small village, when he and his friend, Sapo, enter a bullfighting contest, Sapo dies, but Rhubarb kills three bulls and becomes a local hero earning money. Two years later, he is living in Madrid as a national hero , when he becomes involved with Filet de Sol, and his lover finds out, he must fight the most deadliest in Spain, in the last bull fight of the season.

Willie Duggans, a tenderfoot from the east, arrives in the wild west and soon experiences its violence. Willie discovers the easy money in bounty killing and must choose between that violent lifestyle and the love of a beautiful saloon singer.

In their first screen appearance together, Stan plays a penniless dog lover and Oliver plays a crook who tries to rob him and his new paramour.

During the Alaska gold rush, a miner hits the motherlode, but a corrupt sheriff jumps his claim, leading to a tremendous fight.

Billy commits a robbery but a preacher inspires him to have a change of heart.