Several advertisements, including one in the 6 Dec 1913 Motion Picture News, called Ben Bolt a three-reel film. An ad in the 7 Mar 1914 Moving Picture World referred to it as a “Solax masterpiece in three parts,” adding that some scenes were filmed in Rhode Island. However, all film lists give its length as 4,000 feet, and an article in the 27 Dec 1913 Motion Picture News cites it as a four-reel movie.
       The same Motion Picture News article described Ben Bolt as being “staged with a realism which is unusual even for a film of the grade commonly produced by the Solax Company. Photographically it is good, and the progress of its action never flags from beginning to end. Among the most striking scenes is the wreck of the Ben Bolt, a schooner which takes it name from the hero of the piece. The crew, together with the band of cutthroats who have seized the schooner, are rescued in realistic fashion by the lifeguards. An especially dramatic part of the story is shown when Ben Bolt is bound to the wheel of an old mill by some of the pirate crew. As a thriller, this section of the film could hardly be excelled, although there are many other moments hardly less exciting as the piece progresses.”
       According to a 13 Dec 1913 Motion Picture News item, “Several of the scenes were taken in Newport [Rhode Island] and in some of the old towns of Connecticut. In one of the thrilling scenes the old mill in New London is used. The leading character is photographed bound to the spokes of the revolving wheel of the mill. The scene enacted brought out the entire population of New London to witness it, and at the time it was ‘a three-day wonder.’ In Newport the company was besieged by a corps of war correspondents from the local papers. In fact, the Newport Herald had a big bulletin in front of its headquarters giving hourly news of the Solax activities in and about the vicinity.” An item in the 27 Dec 1913 Moving Picture World elaborated: “There is a real old mill for which the producer went to New London, there are fine maritime scenes taken on the coast of Rhode Island, and there is, of course, the pretty scenery the [Hudson River] Palisades.”
       The film’s title and two of the character names were taken from “Ben Bolt,” a poem written by Thomas Dunn English in 1842 and popularized by its incorporation into George Du Maurier’s novel Trilby (London, 1894). The story had nothing to do with the poem, however.
       A year earlier, in 1912, Independent Motion Pictures Co. (IMP) released Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt, based on the same two characters.