Summary
In the dust‑caked frontier town of Deer Point, Mr. Norris, proprietor of the beleaguered general store, wrestles with a barren economy as prospectors fail to unearth any glittering veins. Desperate, he shutters credit sales, insisting on cash alone, a decision that deepens the town’s despondency. Enter John Kingdon, a slick confidence‑man with a penchant for manipulation, who purchases a half‑share of the shop and, in collusion with an Indigenous accomplice, fabricates a sensational report of a gold strike. The rumor ignites a feverish rush; commerce explodes, inventories vanish, and the once‑quiet streets swell with hopeful miners, all buying on the very credit terms Norris had banned. Amid the frenzy, Norris’s beautiful daughter, the object of Phil Barton’s affection, rebuffs Kingdon’s lecherous overtures. Spurned, Kingdon weaponises the rumor, accusing Norris of orchestrating the hoax to revive his business. The accusation reverberates through the town, tarnishing Norris’s reputation. Yet the Indian ally, recalling a life‑saving act by Barton during a lynching episode, steps forward, vindicating Norris and unveiling Kingdon as the true architect of deceit. The false gold rush collapses, exposing the fragile veneer of prosperity and restoring moral equilibrium to Deer Point.
Synopsis
Mr. Norris owns the general store in Deer Point. Business is poor because prospectors have struck no gold in the district, and Mr. Norris closes down on credit purchases, selling only on a strictly cash basis. John Kingdon, a confidence man, buys a half interest in the shop. In collusion with an Indian he launches a false report of a gold strike. Business booms, the stock of Deer Point's general store being entirely sold out, presumably on a credit basis. Norris's pretty daughter and Phil Barton's sweetheart repulses Kingdon's advances. As a result, Kingdon tells the disappointed prospectors that Norris started the false rumor to boom his store's business. Kingdon's Indian confederate, however, recognizing Barton, Miss Norris's fiancé, as the man who once saved him from a lynching party, exonerates Mr. Norris and exposes Kingdon as the person responsible for the false report.
Review Excerpt
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A Tale of Greed, Deception, and Redemption
Better Than Gold, a 1925 silent Western starring Gertrude Olmstead and Roy Stewart, unfurls a narrative that transcends its modest runtime, probing the corrosive allure of wealth and the fragile ethics of frontier commerce. The film opens on the bleak tableau of Deer Point, a mining settlement whose hopes have been eroded by a barren landscape. Mr. Norris (Stewart), the stoic owner of the town’s general store, confronts dwindling sales with a hard‑..."
