Silent Western Double Feature: The Golden Stallion (1927) / The Road Agent (1925)

THE GOLDEN STALLION (1927): On his deathbed, John Forsythe asks his daughter Joan to uncover the meaning of the engraving on a wampum belt given to him years ago by Indian chieftain Black Eagle. Locating the old medicine man in the border town of Cache D'Orr, Joan learns that the inscription can be deciphered using the key branded on the neck of the mysterious 'Golden Stallion'. Once translated, it will lead to a gold mine lost for countless generations. Ruthless fur trapper Ewart Garth overhears and orders his men to find the elusive horse before Joan can. The hunt is on for the Golden Stallion, with the victor claiming untold wealth and riches!

This feature-length condensation is all that exists of The Golden Stallion, a ten-chapter serial from Nat Levine Productions. Top-billed was 'White Fury, King of Horses', who had been ridden by Jack Hoxie in the same year's Heroes of the Wild. Maurice 'Lefty' Flynn was a Yale football player who had a short-lived career starring in low-budget Westerns after appearing in Zane Grey's The Last Trail (1921). Joe Bonomo was for a time one of Hollywood's foremost stuntmen, second only to Yakima Canutt, until he shattered his hip doing a particularly dangerous automobile stunt. Afterwards he found success joining his brother Victor in the candy business, manufacturing Bonomo's Turkish Taffy.

THE ROAD AGENT (1925): Rich widow Martha Worth lay dying, about to succumb to a long illness. In her delirium she demands to see her son Roger, who went missing years before. A wanted outlaw, 'The Kansas Kid', learns that he is an exact double for Roger, and tricks Martha into believing he is her son. Inheriting the Worth ranch, the Kid initiates a romance with Mary Ryan, Martha's caretaker. The former crook starts enjoying life on the straight and narrow. When his old gang shows up in town looking for a piece of the action, he must choose between remaining a peaceful rancher or going back to his life on the wrong side of the law.

Cowboy star Jack Hoxie's younger brother Al joined his famous sibling in Hollywood in the early 1920s, eventually starring in films of his own. The Road Agent was the eighth (and last) of a series of Al Hoxie Westerns directed by J.P. McGowan and produced by Morris R. Schlank.

Note: Due to the age and rarity of this film, some picture anomalies exist.

• silent