Summary
Set Free (1927) presents a fascinating deconstruction of the Western hero through the character of 'Side-Show' Saunders, a man who has traded his dignity for the transient applause of a traveling circus act. Accompanied by his highly trained horse, Buddy, and his dog, Rex, Saunders is a drifter whose life lacks a moral compass until he wanders into the town of Kelson. The narrative pivot occurs not through a gunfight, but through a verbal shaming by Holly Farrell, a local store owner who sees through Saunders’ showmanship to the wasted potential beneath. Forced into the mundane life of a retail clerk, Saunders undergoes a slow-burn transformation. However, the peace is shattered when Burke Tanner, a manipulative suitor of Holly’s, discovers gold in her supposedly barren mine. The film shifts gears from a lighthearted character study into a gritty, claustrophobic survival drama as Saunders is trapped underground by Tanner’s henchmen. It is a story of literal and metaphorical excavation, where the protagonist must dig through his own insecurities to save the woman he loves and the land she owns.
Synopsis
"Side-Show" Saunders, a wandering western troubadour, who makes his living doing stunts with his trained horse, Buddy, and dog, Rex, comes to the small western town of Kelson. There he meets Holly Farrell, owner of the general store, who shames him into getting a job and he goes to work in her store. She also owns a deserted mine and Burke Tanner, a visitor who has managed to extract a promise of marriage from Holly, discovers gold in the mine. But Saunders discovers that Tanner is a low-life and is marrying Holly only for her mine-holdings. He encounters Tanner in the mine, and is knocked unconscious by Tanner's henchmen, and is trapped in the mine.
