It’s ranchers against farmers in the Wild West, and cattle king Thunder Flint (Duke Lee) has attained the local water rights.
So he posts no trespassing signs at the water holes used by the farmers and recruits Cheyenne Harry (Harry Carey) to help chase them out of the area.
Harry reaches the farm of Sweet Water Sims (George Berrell) to find him and daughter Joan (Molly Malone) mourning at a fresh grave.
Seems Sweet Water’s son Ted went to fetch water and was shot in the back. He was dead when his body was found.
That’s enough to convinced Cheyenne Harry that it’s time to change sides.
And that’s enough to convince Thunder Flint that Harry needs to go along with the farmers.
He dispatches Placer Fremont to take care of Harry while preparing an all-out assault on the Sims farm.
Harry Carey as Cheyenne Harry, the scoundrel with a decision to make in Straight Shooting (1917)
Molly Malone as Joan Sims, the damsel in distress in Straight Shooting (1917)
Review:
This marked John Ford’s first feature film, and it really doesn’t hint at the masterpieces that would follow.
In fact, there are some odd turns in this story, with an outlaw band rushing to the rescus of the farmers on Cheyenne Harry’s say-so at one point.
Harry Carey, already an established silent star, had played the good natured outlaw Cheyenne Harry before and he’d do it again.
He’s quite the rascal, peeking out the hollow branch of a tree just after a lawman has nailed one of his wanted posters to it for instance.
Future Western star Hoot Gibson plays Sam Turner in one of his first feature roles. He’s a cowboy for Thunder Flint, but loves farmer’s daughter Joan Sims.
In fact, he fights on the farmers’ side in the climatic gunfight, though by that time Joan’s head has already been turned by Cheyenne Harry.
Duke Lee as Thunder Flint, the cattle king in Straight Shooting (1917)
George Berrell as Sweet Water Sims, concerned about a fight over water rights in Straight Shooting (1917)
Directed by:
John Ford
as Jack Ford
Cast:
Harry Carey … Cheyenne Harry, aka The Prairie Kid
Duke Lee … Thunder Flint
George Berrell … Sweet Water Sims
Molly Malone … Joan Sims
Ted Brooks … Ted Sims
Hoot Gibson … Sam Turner
as Danny Morgan
Milton Brown … Blake-Eye Pete
Vester Pegg … Placer Fremont
Runtime: 72 min.
Hoot Gibson as Sam Turner with Joan Sims (Molly Malone), the girl he loves in Straight Shooting (1917)
Harry Carey as Cheyenne Harry and Vester Pegg as Placer Fremont, old friends about to wind up on opposite sides in a fight over water rights in Straight Shooting (1917)
Memorable lines:
Sweet Water Sims to Cheyenne Harry: “If you come from Thunder Flint, tell him his killers did a nice job.”
Cheyenne Harry: “I’ve done dirty things in my life … but i wouldn’t plug someone in the back.”
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