AllMovie

Filmed on location at a real mining camp in Georgia, this lusty version of Roy Norton's 1912 novel starred William Farnum -- William Fox's answer to Thomas Ince's William S. Hart -- as Bill Matthews, an Easterner inheriting an abandoned mine. Along with his friend, Dick Townsend (Harry Springler), a mining engineer, Bill discovers that the mine is being used for nefarious purposes by Bully Presby (Riley Hatch), the father of Dick's girlfriend, Joan (Claire Whitney). There is an explosion, a cave-in, and sundry other exciting developments before old man Presby sees the evil of his ways and repents. Henry Armetta, one of the great dialect comedians of the sound era, played a bit role as a Mexican in The Plunderer, which also featured Elizabeth Eyre as a saloon hostess and William J. Gross as the comic relief. Director Edgar Lewis also co-wrote the screenplay, under the nom de plume of "Louise Keller." The Western was remade by Fox in 1924 starring Frank Mayo and, as the saloon hostess, Evelyn Brent.