The Phantom Riders is a 1918

1918 in film

The year 1918 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Following litigation for anti-trust activities, the US Supreme Court orders the Motion Picture Patents Company to disband....

 Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 film directed by John Ford

John Ford

John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...

 and featuring Harry Carey. The film is considered to be lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

.

Production

Filming took place from September 7-27, 1917. Released in January 1918 as a Universal Special

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 feature, The Phantom Riders was a 50-minute silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 on five reels, part of the "Cheyenne Harry" series of film featurette

Featurette

Featurette is a term used in the American film industry to designate a film whose length is approximately three quarters of a reel, or about 20–44 minutes in running time - thus midway between a short subject and a feature film; thus it is a "small feature"...

s. The original story was written by Henry McRae and adapted for the screen by scenarist George Hively.

Plot

Cheyenne Harry stands up to the powerful criminal boss Dave Bland who dominates Paradise Creek Valley. Attempting to save the sanctity of the vast open grazing lands, Harry also finds himself defending the honor of intimidated Molly Grant. After her father is killed and Harry is captured by Bland's thugs, it is Molly who the saves the day in the end by bringing in the US cavalry.

Cast

• Harry Carey - Cheyenne Harry
• William Steele
  William Steele (actor)
  William Anton Gittinger , best known as William Steele, was an American actor of small roles in Westerns, particularly those of John Ford....
  
   - Dave Bland (as Bill Gettinger)
• Molly Malone
  Molly Malone (actor)
  Molly Malone was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 86 films between 1916 and 1929. Her father Lewis Malone, a metallurgist for mining companies. Her mother was Violet St...
  
   - Molly Grant
• Buck Connors
  Buck Connors
  Buck Connors was an American actor. He appeared in 85 films between 1912 and 1941.He was born in San Saba, Texas and died in Quartzsite, Arizona.-Selected filmography:* The Phantom Riders...
  
   - 'Pebble' Grant (as Buck Connor)
• Vester Pegg
  Vester Pegg
  Vester Pegg was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 140 films between 1912 and 1941.He was born in Appleton City, Missouri and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
  
   - The Unknown
• Jim Corey
  Jim Corey
  James Warren "Jim" Corey was an American actor. He appeared in 315 films between 1914 and 1948. He was born in Nebraska and died in Los Angeles, California...
  
  - Foreman