Summary
Blazing Days unfolds a classic Western narrative, centering on Smilin' Sam Perry, a rancher whose financial stability is jeopardized by an overdue loan from the opportunistic Ezra Skinner. Sam anticipates a payment from a stagecoach, unaware that a local opportunist, Dude Dutton, is orchestrating a scheme. Dutton, having ingratiated himself with the ailing Jim Morgan and his sister Milly, manipulates Jim into a dubious gambling win, providing the siblings a means to escape their current plight. This newfound 'wealth' for Jim coincides suspiciously with the robbery of Sam's expected funds. The plot thickens when Sam, discovering sheep encroaching on his ranch, repeatedly confronts a shepherd, unknowingly engaging with Dutton in disguise. Dutton further complicates matters by convincing the vulnerable Jim to take up sheep herding and occupy Sam's line shack, setting the stage for a dramatic confrontation. It is through Milly's growing suspicion of Jim's sudden fortune, her decision to hide the money, and Sam's burgeoning affections for her, that the true nature of events begins to unravel, leading to a surprising resolution involving temperance, justice, and an unexpected acquisition of livestock.
Synopsis
I saw this film at the Lone Pine Film Festival in 2019. The movie was screened from a DVD provided specially by the Library of Congress archive. The music for the silent film was played live by a pianist in the auditorium. The movie is not currently available commercially. Smilin' Sam Perry (Fred Humes) is a rancher who has taken out a loan with the local lender, Ezra Skinner (Bernard Siegel). Skinner warns him the note is coming due, but Sam is unconcerned because he has money coming in on the stage. Meanwhile, Dude Dutton (Bruce Gordon) has been cultivating the friendship of invalid Jim Morgan (Churchill Ross) in order to get close to Jim's sister Milly (Ena Gregory). Jim wants to move somewhere else, but they cannot because they don't have the money. Dude confides to Jim that he knows a way they can get the money. The next day, when Sam checks with the stage office, he learns the stage was robbed and his money is gone. Jim however, exultantly tells Milly he won enough money at gambling to move out. She is suspicious, but agrees to move with him. Sam goes out to a line shack on his ranch with his foreman and is incensed to find a shepherd herding sheep on his land and kicks the shepherd out. Dude, leaving town in a hurry, runs into the shepherd and gives him money to buy the sheep and change clothes with him. He herds the sheep right back to the line shack however, and is summarily ejected by Sam, thinking he is the same shepherd he kicked out before. On the road, Dude encounters Jim and Milly, and suggests that if Jim wants to improve his health in the outdoors, he should take up sheep herding, and tells him he can live in the line shack. Jim and Milly move in to the shack, whereupon Sam is once again enraged to find sheep on his land, but softens when he meets Milly and agrees to help them. Milly hides Jim's money in the mattress, still suspecting he stole it. Sam resolves to find Milly a place in town, but the town's rough reputation worries him. He asks Ma Bascomb, (Eva Thatcher) who owns all the saloons in town, to help, and she makes the startling decision to close down all her saloons in the interest of cleaning up the town. Sam and Ma proceed to shut down all the saloons and gambling halls as a two-person temperance committee. (The movie was filmed during Prohibition.) Dude tries to sneak into the shack to steal the money, but is discovered and arrested for the stage robbery. He tries to shift the blame for the robbery on to Jim, but the sheriff (Max Asher) attests that Jim did indeed win the money gambling. Sam discovers that his money went to buy sheep, thus he now owns the flock. Milly shows him a little lamb, which Sam has to admit is cute.
