The Beloved Brute

1924 film

November 9, 1924 (1924-11-09)

Running time

70 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguagesSilent
English intertitles

The Beloved Brute is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Marguerite De La Motte, Victor McLaglen, and William Russell.^[1] It is based on the 1923 novel The Beloved Brute by Kenneth Perkins. This was English-born McLaglen's first American film.^[2]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine,^[3] some unaccountable force causes Charles Hinges (McLaglen) to return to his father (McLean), who upbraids him for riotous living and brutality and tells him a man with a soul, his brother David (Russell), whom he has not seen since childhood, will prove his master. Charles, brooding, returns to a dance hall where China Jones (Holmes), a half-breed, is keeping a dancer named Jacinta (De La Motte) virtually a prisoner. She enlists Charles’ aid by playing up his strength and in a fierce fight with China’s aid he rescues her.

The two and an old fortune-teller start as a traveling troupe. In a small town, Charles is finally vanquished by his brother David in a wrestling match, and, believing he has lost Jacinta’s love, sends her away. David persuades her to go with him. China is killed, and, seeing a chance to get rid of David who is a reformer, the saloon keeper prepares to lynch him as the murderer.

Charles appears and tries to take the blame, so they decide to lynch them both. Jacinta rides and gets the sheriff’s posse after forcing the fortune-teller to confess, which saves the brothers. She rushes to David and he knows then that she loves him. David finally discloses his identity to Charles.

Cast

Marguerite De La Motte as Jacinta
Victor McLaglen as Charles Hinges
William Russell as David Hinges
Stuart Holmes as China Jones
Frank Brownlee as Phil Beason
Wilfrid North as Fat Milligan
Ernie Adams as Swink Tuckson
D.D. McLean as Peter Hinges
William F. Moran as Sheriff Swanson
George Ingleton as Peg Reverly
Jess Herring as Hump Domingo
Mary Alden as Augustina

Preservation

A print of The Beloved Brute is located at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands.^[4] The completeness of this copy is unclear.

References

^ Munden, Kenneth W., ed. (1997) [1971]. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-520-20969-9.
^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Beloved Brute
^ Sewell, Charles S. (November 22, 1924). "The Beloved Brute; J. Stuart Blackton's Newest for Vitagraph Has Forceful Story, With Splendid Action and Suspense". The Moving Picture World. 71 (4). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 359. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
^ Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Beloved Brute