Ruth of the Range (lost adventure film serial; 1923)

Lobby cards, each with different scenes from the film.

Status: Lost

Ruth of the Range is a lost 1923 serial, which was the last one to ever be produced by Gilson Willets before his tragic death during the filming of the serial.

Plot Synopsis

Ruth's father is an inventor who has developed a formula for a new synthetic fuel called Fuelite, which is far more efficient than traditional gasoline. He hides it away in a secret compartment at his home before being murdered by the henchmen of a villain who wants the secret formula for himself. Ruth and her fiancee now have to locate the Fuelite formula and prevent the criminal from getting his filthy hands on it, providing the start for a 15 chapter serial filled with action and suspense.

Notes

Both the original writer, Gilson Willets, and one of the actors, Ernest K. Warde, passed away during the production of this serial. It's not known with certainty which role Earnest was playing, but most likely, he was portraying the chief villain of the serial. Noble Johnson, an African American actor who was a childhood friend of Lon Chaney senior, also was in the film and portrayed one of the chief villain's henchmen.

Resources

• Ruth of the Range (1923) at Wikipedia.org
• Ruth of the Range (1923) at IMDB.com
• CONTINUED NEXT WEEK (book by Kalton C. Lahue)
• BOUND AND GAGGED (book by Kalton C. Lahue)