The Eagle's Claw (1924) (Silent) / Rounding Up The Law (1922) (Silent) – DVD

Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams was born at the turn of the century to a Texas congressman. Excelling in athletics in school, he started performing at rodeos after graduation (his father's dreams of Guinn attending West Point went unrealized.) Heading to Hollywood to find work as a stuntman, he made his film debut in Almost a Husband (1919) starring Will Rogers. It was Rogers who gave him his nickname, an apt moniker for a man who stood at 6'2" and weighed over 200 pounds. By the 1920s, Williams was starring in Westerns and comedies on his own. With the advent of sound, he moved into a solid career as a supporting player, appearing in classics such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and The Desperadoes (1943). Williams passed away in 1962, shortly appearing on screen one last time alongside his good friend John Wayne in The Comancheros (1961).

The Eagle's Claw (BW, 1924): Dan Carson is a down-on-his-luck cattle hand. His fortunes improve when he inherits half of the Eagle's Claw gold mine. Dan becomes fast friends with his co-owners, rancher John Sherwood and his daughter Jessie. But their new fortune makes them a target of Zack Wilson and his gang. Dan will have to learn what it takes to be a hero if he is to keep the gold mine from falling into their hands...and win the heart of the lovely Jessie.

Rounding Up The Law (BW, 1922): Larry Connell, a professional gambler, lands in Mezquite, a border town run by the corrupt Sheriff 'Bull' Weyman. After challenging the crooked lawman to a high-stakes poker game, Larry wins the sheriff's cattle ranch. Demanding restitution for his humiliation, Weyman bribes the town judge into declaring Larry bankrupt. Now broke and homeless, the unbeaten card player challenges the sheriff to one last game. The stakes? Ownership of the entire town.

• silent