Trailin'

Visit the UCLA Film & Television Archive website(opens in a new tab) to learn more about upcoming screenings and events.

Free admission. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

Screening 1 of 2

Doctor Cupid

Year: 1911
Country: U.S.
Runtime: 14 min.
35mm. B&W and tinted. Silent.

Alice Linton and poet Percy Primrose (Carlyle Blackwell) are in love, against her father’s (John Bunny) wishes. When Alice falls ill with grief over the forbidden relationship, Percy disguises himself as “Doctor Cupid” to trick Alice’s father into approving the marriage. Celebrated stage actor and comedian John Bunny starred in over 150 short films for the Vitagraph Company, often paired with Flora Finch in a series of “Bunnyfinch” comedies, from 1910 to his untimely death in 1915. Despite Bunny’s popularity, only a portion of his work survives.—Brian Belak

Production: Vitagraph Company of America. With: John Bunny, Carlyle Blackwell.

Preservation funding provided by Louis B. Mayer Foundation. Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from a 35mm tinted nitrate print. Laboratory services by the PHI Stoa Film Lab. Special thanks to the Irish Film Institute.

Screening 2 of 2

Trailin'

Year: 1921
Country: U.S.
Runtime: 56 min.
35mm. B&W and tinted. Silent.

In the early decades of American cinema, few figures loomed as large, or rode as boldly across the silver screen, as Tom Mix. As an actor, the former frontier lawman and Wild West show performer brought genuine horsemanship and the ability to do his own stunts to his film roles. He also cultivated an instantly recognizable identity punctuated by a white 10-gallon Stetson, ornate costumes and a confident grin, establishing a colorful vision of the American cowboy that captivated audiences throughout the 1920s. This persona reflected both the mythologizing of the Old West and the desires of a modern, urban audience seeking escapism in the aftermath of World War I.

Based on the Max Brand novel, the mystery-melodrama Trailin’ was helmed by Mix’s favorite director, Lynn Reynolds, and co-starred Eva Novak in one of her 10 feature film appearances opposite Mix. Novak was a popular actor in her own right, appearing in 48 films from 1921 to 1928, and reportedly learned to perform many of her own stunts from Mix himself. In order to play the wealthy young hero Anthony Woodbury, Mix shed his familiar flamboyant Western regalia in favor of the refined garments of an aristocrat-in-training. Dissatisfied with his privileged position in life, Anthony longs to discover the identity of his mother — a secret that his father refuses to reveal. When his father is killed in a mysterious duel, Anthony embarks on a quest for justice and self-discovery, confronting danger, intrigue and the charms of the spirited Sally Fortune (Novak).

As expected, the film performed well at the box office, and contemporary reviews were generally enthusiastic. Wid’s Filmdom hailed it as “a different Tom Mix and a different Mix picture,” while Moving Picture World declared, “Mix at his best. A splendid Western that has the thrills and plenty of action.”—Steven K. Hill

Production: Fox Film Corp. Director: Lynn F. Reynolds. Screenwriter: Lynn F. Reynolds. Based on the novel by Max Brand. With: Tom Mix, Eva Novak, J. Farrell MacDonald, Sid Jordan.

Preservation funding provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation. Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from a 35mm nitrate print. Laboratory services by the PHI Stoa Film Lab.