The Son-of-a-Gun (Silent)

Bill is an ornery, foul-tempered man of few words who likes to settle arguments with a six-shooter. He crashes a gathering of "respectable folks" and shoots the place up. Only pretty May Brown treats the cowpoke with kindness. The good citizens complain about Bill and the Sheriff and a posse ride him out of town. He takes refuge in the wild town of Red Butte where he observes May's brother, Buddy, being swindled by crooked gamblers. In a drunken rage, Bill decides to risk his own life to get the boy's cash back.

Jewish vaudevillian Max Aaronson was so excited by the audience's reaction to him in 1903's epochal The Great Train Robbery (in which he played three roles), that he changed his name to Gilbert M. Anderson, determined to devote himself to filmmaking. He and his partner, George Kirke Spoor, founded Essanay Studios in 1907, where Anderson acted in over 300 films, often writing and directing as well. But he became Hollywood's first enormously popular cowboy star as "Broncho Billy" Anderson in 148 western features. Awarded an Oscar in 1958 as a "Motion Picture Pioneer," he is honored with a star on the Walk Of Fame and a U.S. postage stamp.

• western