Summary
A stark tableau of early 20th-century American desperation unfolds as Bob Allers, a man ravaged by consumption, embarks with his devoted wife on a palliative journey to Arizona's arid embrace. Their fragile hope is cruelly dashed by a highwayman's ambush, leaving them bereft and marooned in the vast, unforgiving landscape. Providence, however, intervenes in the form of William "Red" Saunders, a benevolent drifter whose expansive humanity extends a lifeline, securing Allers a precarious position within a local saloon. This fragile equilibrium shatters when fate, with a darkly ironic twist, reintroduces the very bandit who precipitated their ruin. In a primal act of self-preservation, Allers fells his assailant with an impulsively hurled hammer, only to discover the fallen outlaw is none other than the sheriff's kin. Thus begins a Kafkaesque descent into a corrupted legal maelstrom, with the vengeful lawman orchestrating a murder conviction. Red Saunders, a steadfast beacon of altruism, valiantly champions Allers' defense before a jury whose moral compass is as capricious as the desert wind. The ultimate verdict hinges not on evidence or equity, but on the arbitrary trajectory of a common fly ascending a windowpane, an insect elevated to an unwitting oracle of justice. Against all odds, the capricious insect's ascent heralds Allers' acquittal, culminating in a poignant reunion with his wife and their newborn, a fragile family unit finally permitted to seek solace beyond the reach of a capricious fate.
Synopsis
Bob Allers, an unfortunate consumptive, and his wife are traveling to Arizona for medicinal purposes. On the way, a highwayman robs them of horse and money. Destitute, they are befriended by William "Red" Saunders, whose sympathy and innate love for his fellow man lands Allers a job in the local saloon. Soon after, when the same highwayman attempts to rob the saloon, Allers kills him with a hammer thrown in self-defense, unaware that the outlaw is the brother of the sheriff. Convicted for murder by the vengeful sheriff, Allers is defended by "Red." The corrupt jury makes its final decision based on whether a crawling fly reaches the top of a window pane. Allers is acquitted, then reunited with his happy wife and newborn child, and they all leave together.
Review Excerpt
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The Capricious Hand of Fate: Unpacking 'The Fly God' (1917)
In the annals of early cinematic storytelling, where narratives often grappled with the stark realities of human existence against the backdrop of a burgeoning American frontier, few films encapsulate the raw vulnerability and unexpected turns of fate quite like Henry Wallace Phillips' 1917 silent drama, 'The Fly God.' This particular offering from a bygone era of moviemaking transcends its seemingly simple plot, delving into ..."
