Peaceful Peters (1922)
Western | 15 October 1922
Director:
Lewis KingWriter:
Daniel WhitcombProducer:
Ben WilsonCinematographer:
Jack FuquaEditor:
Earl C. TurnerProduction Company:
Ben Wilson ProductionsPeaceful Peters was the first release in a series of six William Fairbanks films based on books by popular Western writer Wilbur C. Tuttle and produced at the Berwilla Studio in Hollywood, CA, by Ben Wilson for Arrow Film Corp. release, according to a full-page advertisement in the 14 Oct 1922 Motion Picture News.
A two-page advertisement in the 16 Sep 1922 Exhibitors Herald elaborated on the series. The “six big-calibre Westerns” were taken from the Tuttle short stories “Peaceful Peters” (Short Stories, Oct 1920); “The Sheriff of Sun-Dog” (Adventure, Nov 1921); “Hashknife-Philanthropist” (Adventure, Jul 1920); “Law Rustlers” (Adventure, Sep 1921); “Spawn of the Desert” (Short Stories, May 1922); and “Coltus Collins” (Short Stories, Mar 1922). Ben Wilson Productions turned four of them into Peaceful Peters, The Sheriff of Sun-Dog, Spawn of the Desert, and Law Rustlers. The other two films, Devil’s Dooryard and Sun Dog Trails, came from other short stories. William Fairbanks completed the film series in early Mar 1923, according to the 17 Mar 1923 Camera.
The 9 Sep 1922 Exhibitors Trade Review announced that Arrow Film Corp. recently acquired the William Fairbanks series. Peaceful Peters was completed, and shooting on The Sheriff of Sun-Dog had begun. The 23 Sep 1922 Motion Picture News noted that Arrow Film had screened Peaceful Peters for “exchange men” the week before, and that two “independent exchanges”—regional theater distributors—had signed up for all six films. The 28 Oct ...
Peaceful Peters was the first release in a series of six William Fairbanks films based on books by popular Western writer Wilbur C. Tuttle and produced at the Berwilla Studio in Hollywood, CA, by Ben Wilson for Arrow Film Corp. release, according to a full-page advertisement in the 14 Oct 1922 Motion Picture News.
A two-page advertisement in the 16 Sep 1922 Exhibitors Herald elaborated on the series. The “six big-calibre Westerns” were taken from the Tuttle short stories “Peaceful Peters” (Short Stories, Oct 1920); “The Sheriff of Sun-Dog” (Adventure, Nov 1921); “Hashknife-Philanthropist” (Adventure, Jul 1920); “Law Rustlers” (Adventure, Sep 1921); “Spawn of the Desert” (Short Stories, May 1922); and “Coltus Collins” (Short Stories, Mar 1922). Ben Wilson Productions turned four of them into Peaceful Peters, The Sheriff of Sun-Dog, Spawn of the Desert, and Law Rustlers. The other two films, Devil’s Dooryard and Sun Dog Trails, came from other short stories. William Fairbanks completed the film series in early Mar 1923, according to the 17 Mar 1923 Camera.
The 9 Sep 1922 Exhibitors Trade Review announced that Arrow Film Corp. recently acquired the William Fairbanks series. Peaceful Peters was completed, and shooting on The Sheriff of Sun-Dog had begun. The 23 Sep 1922 Motion Picture News noted that Arrow Film had screened Peaceful Peters for “exchange men” the week before, and that two “independent exchanges”—regional theater distributors—had signed up for all six films. The 28 Oct 1922 Motion Picture News further reported that Arrow Film consummated “one of the largest and most important deals” in the independent market that assured the Fairbanks films distribution in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The 17 Mar 1923 Camera reported that William Fairbanks had completed filming the series that week with Sun Dog Trails.
Reviewers wrote off Peaceful Peters as an “adequate” Western with good exterior photography but “very poor” studio interiors, with “plain drops used in back of doors, windows, etc,” according to the 29 Oct 1922 FD. The 11 Nov 1922 Exhibitors Herald felt that Peaceful Peters was one of “the best Westerns offered to the state right field in a long time,” but the 27 Oct 1922 Var deemed it “the most awful junk seen around New York as an apology for a Western picture in a long, long time.”
While searching the desert for gold, “Peaceful” Peters finds Uncle Billy, an ambushed prospector left for dead. As his life ebbs, the old man tells Peaceful he discovered a gold mine for “Buddy’s gal,” but was shot by claim jumpers. The prospector gives Peaceful the mine’s location, and Peaceful promises to pass the information along it to Billy's intended owner. However, Billy dies before revealing who she is. After burying him, Peaceful rides into the nearest mining town, where he discovers the crooked dealings of Jim Blalock, owner of the Happy Hour Gambling Palace, and assayer Peter Hunter. The two men try unsuccessfully to blame Peaceful for a bank robbery and a murder. He meets Mary Langdon, who came to Blalock’s dancehall to answer an advertisement for a dance teacher, but fell into Blalock’s clutches. Peters rescues Mary, dispatches the bad guys in a flurry of fistfights and gunplay, and learns that Mary is the dead prospector’s niece, “Buddy’s gal.” They fall in ...
While searching the desert for gold, “Peaceful” Peters finds Uncle Billy, an ambushed prospector left for dead. As his life ebbs, the old man tells Peaceful he discovered a gold mine for “Buddy’s gal,” but was shot by claim jumpers. The prospector gives Peaceful the mine’s location, and Peaceful promises to pass the information along it to Billy's intended owner. However, Billy dies before revealing who she is. After burying him, Peaceful rides into the nearest mining town, where he discovers the crooked dealings of Jim Blalock, owner of the Happy Hour Gambling Palace, and assayer Peter Hunter. The two men try unsuccessfully to blame Peaceful for a bank robbery and a murder. He meets Mary Langdon, who came to Blalock’s dancehall to answer an advertisement for a dance teacher, but fell into Blalock’s clutches. Peters rescues Mary, dispatches the bad guys in a flurry of fistfights and gunplay, and learns that Mary is the dead prospector’s niece, “Buddy’s gal.” They fall in love.
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