The Yellow Bullet (1917)
Western | 7 April 1917
Cast:
Robyn Adair, Lucy Payton, Bruce Smith [ More ]Director:
Harry HarveyWriters:
William H. Lippert, Dan F. WhitcombProduction Companies:
The Balboa Amusement Producing Co., A Fortune PhotoplayAccording to trade magazines, including the 17 March 1917 issues of Motion Picture News and Moving Picture World, this production was the fourth release, following The Inspirations of Harry Larrabee, Mentioned in Confidence, and The Devil's Bait (see entries) in Balboa's Fortune Photoplay series of weekly four-reel features, comprised of adaptations of stories that appeared in various Street and Smith publications, including Popular, People's, Smith's, Top Notch Detective Stories, and Ainslee's magazines. Filming was done at the Horkheimer Brothers' Balboa Studio in Long Beach, California. Other Fortune releases to follow included Vengeance of the Dead, Zollenstein, The Mainspring, and Clean Gun (all 1917, see entries). The latter three were not released until Balboa began a second four-reel series called Falcon Features in August 1917, after the Fortune Photoplay series prematurely ended two months earlier.
The 12 August 1916 Moving Picture World ran a photograph of director Harry Harvey and his actors "on location, at an elevation of 6,150 feet, on the '101-mile drive on the rim of the world,' the new state road running north from Los Angeles." (This reference is to U.S. Route 101.) The 28 October 1916 Motion Picture Mail noted that The Yellow Bullet was based on a play by Dan F. Whitcomb, a writer on the Balboa staff, and that the cameraman was Roland Groom. This film was apparently made before the Fortune Photoplay program and added to fill the new series' weekly schedule.
The 30 March 1917 Variety ...
According to trade magazines, including the 17 March 1917 issues of Motion Picture News and Moving Picture World, this production was the fourth release, following The Inspirations of Harry Larrabee, Mentioned in Confidence, and The Devil's Bait (see entries) in Balboa's Fortune Photoplay series of weekly four-reel features, comprised of adaptations of stories that appeared in various Street and Smith publications, including Popular, People's, Smith's, Top Notch Detective Stories, and Ainslee's magazines. Filming was done at the Horkheimer Brothers' Balboa Studio in Long Beach, California. Other Fortune releases to follow included Vengeance of the Dead, Zollenstein, The Mainspring, and Clean Gun (all 1917, see entries). The latter three were not released until Balboa began a second four-reel series called Falcon Features in August 1917, after the Fortune Photoplay series prematurely ended two months earlier.
The 12 August 1916 Moving Picture World ran a photograph of director Harry Harvey and his actors "on location, at an elevation of 6,150 feet, on the '101-mile drive on the rim of the world,' the new state road running north from Los Angeles." (This reference is to U.S. Route 101.) The 28 October 1916 Motion Picture Mail noted that The Yellow Bullet was based on a play by Dan F. Whitcomb, a writer on the Balboa staff, and that the cameraman was Roland Groom. This film was apparently made before the Fortune Photoplay program and added to fill the new series' weekly schedule.
The 30 March 1917 Variety gave the following review: "The story was a fairly good one of the popular harum-scarum type of cheap fiction, but the picture is one that is utterly impossible even for the cheap five-cent houses. The direction of the feature was in the hands of Harry Harvey, and from the finished product it is quite evident Mr. Harvey is very much in need of a course of instruction in 'How to Direct Pictures.' It is utterly impossible that any person of mature mind could turn out a product of this sort."
The Yellow Bullet opened at the Lyric Theatre in Hamlton, OH, on 7 April 1917, according to the previous day's Butler County Press.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of January 2021.
All the settlers on a wagon train are massacred in a bandit attack except Harry Hart, Fred Fowler, and his daughter Teresa. Feeling a bond with his fellow survivor, Fowler reveals the treasure map he has concealed in a yellow bullet, which pinpoints the location of the secret Peg Leg Smith gold mine. Betraying Fowler's trust, Hart steals away to seek the gold, taking all the water and food and leaving the Fowlers behind to die in the desert. Luckily, the father and daughter are rescued by Lloyd, a young army surgeon who takes them to his ranch. After recovering from his ordeal, Fowler sets out to claim the mine, but is overtaken by Hart, who tortures the old man to extort the secret location from him. As Hart's back is turned, Fowler manages to extract the yellow bullet, load his gun, and kill his persecutor. He is then rescued by Teresa and Lloyd, who have fallen in love, and all ends ...
All the settlers on a wagon train are massacred in a bandit attack except Harry Hart, Fred Fowler, and his daughter Teresa. Feeling a bond with his fellow survivor, Fowler reveals the treasure map he has concealed in a yellow bullet, which pinpoints the location of the secret Peg Leg Smith gold mine. Betraying Fowler's trust, Hart steals away to seek the gold, taking all the water and food and leaving the Fowlers behind to die in the desert. Luckily, the father and daughter are rescued by Lloyd, a young army surgeon who takes them to his ranch. After recovering from his ordeal, Fowler sets out to claim the mine, but is overtaken by Hart, who tortures the old man to extort the secret location from him. As Hart's back is turned, Fowler manages to extract the yellow bullet, load his gun, and kill his persecutor. He is then rescued by Teresa and Lloyd, who have fallen in love, and all ends happily.
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