Ronald Colman

Vilma Banky

Gary Cooper

Charles Lane

Paul McAllister

E.J. Ratcliffe

Clyde Cook

Erwin Connelly

Ed Brady

Sammy Blum

Fred Esmelton

Bill Patton

Odel Conley

Henry King

Samuel Goldwyn

Ted Henkel

Viola Lawrence

Rupert Hughes

Frances Marion

George Barnes

Gregg Toland

Robert McIntyre

Carl Oscar Borg

Irving W. Sindler

Drama

Romance

Western

The Winning of Barbara Worth

United Artists

Samuel Goldwyn Productions

United States of America

CinemaSerf

This is a great example of a silent film that captures some of the original pioneering spirit of those American settlers determined to make a go of it - even in the harshest of circumstances. Charles Lane is "Jefferson Worth" - a rancher who rescues orphaned "Barbara" (Vilma Bánky) and brings her up as his own daughter. Years pass and as she grows, so do the ambitions of the territory - and when a developer arrives with an engineering project that could irrigate the arid land, they jump at the chance. Problem is, the developer skimps on the construction of the dam, and so at the first heavy rainfall upstream it all goes a bit awry. Meantime, both the stepson of the crooked developer "Willard" (Ronald Colman) and her father's ranch foreman "Abe" (Gary Cooper) are fighting for the favour of "Barbara" and it's not long before everything comes to a head. Technically, the imagery is super - the film copes well with what must have been very intense sunlight, and the detail is perfect. Maybe just the odd too many inter-titles that can break up the pace a bit, but in the round it's a well made, enjoyable piece of cinema history with a decent story and lovely score from Ted Henkel played on the Wurlitzer to boot.

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