The Mainspring
Cast & Crew
Henry King
Henry King
Ethel Pepperell
Bert Ensminger
Charles Blaisdell
J. Cullen Landis
Film Details
Synopsis
Disgraced after his father, a banker, slays himself for speculating with trust funds, Ned Gillett breaks his engagement to Frances Hardor and slips away to begin life over again in the West. While wandering through the countryside, Ned is befriended by J. J. O'Rourke, an old miner. The two barely escape death when Bellows Jones, the town bully, in an attempt to seize control of the Mainspring, the old man's mine, tries to kill them by dragging their shack down a mountainside. Unharmed, Ned hurries to the old man's abandoned mine shaft in Travers City, in order to file a claim before Jones does. Ned files in time but discovers that Jones has fraudulantly sold the mine to Frances' brother Bellamy. Although Ned forces restitution of the money, Frances refuses to speak to him, but her grateful brother supports Ned in the operation of the mine, which turns out to be a success. However, Jones refuses to accept defeat and incites the miners to strike and set fire to the Mainspring. Ned saves Frances and her brother, defeats Jones, and wins both the mine and Frances' love.
Director
Henry King
Cast
Henry King
Ethel Pepperell
Bert Ensminger
Charles Blaisdell
J. Cullen Landis
Arma Jacobsen
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This was the first of the Falcon Features, a series of four reel films based on stories appearing in Street & Smith publications. According to an early pre-production news item, The Mainspring was to be part of the Horkheimer's Fortune Photoplay series, which disbanded in June 1917. Tiffany Productions released Lost at Sea, which was suggested by the same source, in 1926. It was directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starred Huntley Gordon, Lowell Sherman, and Jane Novak (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.3189).
