The Mountain Rat (1914)
Directed by James Kirkwood
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
This Reliance four-reeler starred Dorothy Gish as the title character, a rambunctious frontier dance-hall gal named Nell. When a dissolute, drunken Easterner (Henry B. Walthall) arrives in town, he proves easy prey to the local bullies and sharpsters. But Nell takes pity on the stranger and nurses him back to health. The redemption turns out to be two-tiered: Completely recovered, the Easterner marries Nell and rescues her from her wild-and-wooly environs. Though Dorothy Gish made several westerns, she was deathly afraid of horses, the result of a traumatic accident in her youth. Among the Reliance"regulars" appearing in minor roles are James Kirkwood (who also directed), Donald Crisp and Walter Long.
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Keywords
dance [art], East, health, mountains