The Terror | |
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![]() Theatrical poster | |
Directed by | Jacques Jaccard |
Screenplay by | Jacques Jaccard |
Story by | Tom Mix |
Produced by | William Fox |
Starring | Tom Mix Lester Cuneo Francelia Billington Lucille Young Charles K. French Wilbur Higby |
Cinematography | Frank B. Good |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 5 reels |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
The Terror is a 1920 American silent Western film starring Tom Mix, Francelia Billington, and Lester Cuneo. The film was produced by William Fox and directed and written by Jacques Jaccard, and was based on a story written by Mix.
Mix plays a Deputy U.S. Marshal working in a gold mining camp in the Sierra Nevada. His antagonist is Con Norton (Lester Cuneo) who owns a dance hall. Mix learns that a group of robbers working for Norton are planning to steal a gold shipment, and engages in a brawl with them, swinging on a chandelier. Mix's horse, Tony, helps him win the fight. [1] There is also a gunfight on a steam locomotive, which is shown in the publicity photos.
The railroad scenes were filmed in the Jamestown, California area, and featured the steam locomotive Sierra No. 3 in its first of many movie appearances. [3] The locomotive is shown in a publicity still for the film. [4]
During the filming, actors Billington and Cuneo first met, and they soon married. They divorced in 1925, and Cuneo committed suicide a few days later. [5]
The studio was Fox Entertainments. It was a five reel film, and was released in May 1920. [2] Marketing slogans for the film included "The daredevil of the screen in a masterpiece of speed, stunts and thrills", and "A Drama of Daredeviltry and Romance".
A newspaper critic for the Kentucky New Era wrote in 1920:
Tom Mix marks up another winner. Not only does the star hold his audience spell bound, but he has a photoplay that is a genuine "corker". "The Terror" is the story of the rush for gold in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the picture, without question is the most thrilling Mix has done this season. Anyone who loves the great western outdoor life should not miss seeing "The Terror". [6]
The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 American silent film made by Edwin S. Porter for the Edison Manufacturing Company. It follows a gang of outlaws who hold up and rob a steam locomotive at a station in the American West, flee across mountainous terrain, and are finally defeated by a posse of locals. The short film draws on many sources, including a robust existing tradition of Western films, recent European innovations in film technique, the play of the same name by Scott Marble, the popularity of train-themed films, and possibly real-life incidents involving outlaws such as Butch Cassidy.
The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento.
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, and its operating entity, the Sierra Railway, is known as "The Movie Railroad." Both entities are a heritage railway and are a unit of the California State Park System. Railtown 1897 is located in Jamestown, California. The entire park preserves the historic core of the original Sierra Railway of California. The railway's Jamestown locomotive and rolling stock maintenance facilities are remarkably intact and continue to function much as they have for over 100 years. The maintenance facilities are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Sierra Railway Shops Historic District.
Lester H. Cuneo was an American stage and silent film actor. He began acting in theatre while still in his teens.
The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates the diesel- and steam-powered Sacramento RiverTrain (Woodland-Sacramento) and the Skunk Train. The company's Sierra Energy division is for energy projects.
Francelia Billington was an early American silent-screen actress, and an accomplished camera operator.
The San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada Railroad was originally built as a 3 ft narrow gauge that ran from Bracks Landing to Woodbridge and Lodi and then east to the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Valley Springs. The railroad was incorporated on March 28, 1882 and construction was completed on April 15, 1885. The railroad was built as a common carrier with copper mining being its primary traffic. The track was built using 35/40 lb steel rails.
The County Chairman is a 1935 American comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Will Rogers, Evelyn Venable and Kent Taylor. It was produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporation. It is based on the 1903 play of the same name by George Ade which had previously been adapted into a 1914 silent film The County Chairman.
Sierra No. 3, often called the "Movie Star locomotive", is a 19th-century steam locomotive owned by the State of California and preserved at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, California. Former Transportation History curator at the Smithsonian Institution William L. Withhuhn described the locomotive's historical and cultural significance:
Sierra Railway No. 3 has appeared in more motion pictures, documentaries, and television productions than any other locomotive. It is undisputedly the image of the archetypal steam locomotive that propelled the USA from the 19th century into the 20th.
The Great Air Robbery is a six-reel silent 1919 American drama film directed by Jacques Jaccard and produced by Universal Pictures. The film stars Ormer Locklear, Allan Forrest and Ray Ripley. The Great Air Robbery is a film that showcases the talents of stunt pilot Locklear, considered the foremost "aviation stunt man in the world", and depicts pilots flying air mail, the first film to deal with the subject. There are no known archival holdings of the film, so it is presumably a lost film.
Man Power is a lost 1927 American comedy silent film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Ray Harris, Louise Long, George Marion Jr., Sam Mintz and Byron Morgan. The film stars Richard Dix and features Mary Brian, Philip Strange, Charles Hill Mailes, Oscar Smith and George Irving. The film was released on July 9, 1927, by Paramount Pictures.
Lone Cowboy is a 1933 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Paul Sloane and written by Paul Sloane, Agnes Brand Leahy, Bobby Vernon, and Will James. The film stars Jackie Cooper, Lila Lee, and Addison Richards. The film was released on December 1, 1933, by Paramount Pictures.
Art Mix, was an American character actor from the 1920s until the mid-1940s.
Hearts of the West is a 1921 American silent Western film directed and coproduced by Ward Lascelle, written by Arthur Henry Gooden and starring Lester Cuneo and real life wife Francelia Billington. Cuneo also coproduced with Lascelle.
Southern Pacific #9 is a 4-6-0 oil-fired narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in November 1909.
The Big Diamond Robbery is a 1929 American silent Western film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Tom Mix, Kathryn McGuire and Frank Beal. It was the last of five films Mix made for the FBO studios, and his last silent film. Unlike many of his westerns, it has a contemporary setting in 1920s Arizona.
Sierra Passage is a 1950 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Warren Douglas, Samuel Roeca and Tom W. Blackburn. The film stars Wayne Morris, Lola Albright, Lloyd Corrigan, Alan Hale Jr., Roland Winters and Jim Bannon. The film was released on December 31, 1950, by Monogram Pictures.
Religion and Gun Practice: The Way of the West is a 1913 American silent Western film directed by William Duncan and starring Tom Mix, Rex De Rosselli and Myrtle Stedman. Among other roles in similar films at the time, Tom Mix's role in Religion and Gun Practice established what would be the cowboy hero of the twentieth century. The movie was played in theaters across the nation.
1920 Loco #3 appears in the Tom Mix movie The Terror – first confirmed appearance of #3 in a movie.