The Winning of Barbara Worth, a popular silent Western, directed by Henry King, features the established British-born star Ronald Colman and the young American actor Gary Cooper, before he became a star.
The two men play engineers who are smitten by the same girl, the landowner’s daughter Barbara Worth, played by Vilma Banky.
Barbara wants to help her father, Jefferson Worth (Charles Lane), build a dam on the Colorado River to help irrigate their desert land. Worth gets a loan from a New York banker, who brings with him his stepson-engineer, Willard Holmes (Ronald Colman).
Soon, the local engineer, Abe Lee (Cooper) and Holmes fall in love with and compete for the attention of Barbara. When the banker cheats on materials for the dam, Worth discovers the ruse and tries to finish the project himself, but he runs short of money.
With the dam in jeopardy, the two rival engineers forget their differences and ride off to get money to salvage the dam, not realizing that Barbara is tortured by a lynch mob.
After an exhausting race, Lee is able to alert Holmes just in time to avoid a catastrophe. Holmes saves the day, thus winning Barbara, as Lee, her other suitor, dies as a victim of his own courage.
Cast:
Ronald Colman (Willard Holmes)
Vilma Banky (Barbara Worth)
Charles Lane (Jefferson Worth)
Paul McAllister (The Seer)
E.J. Ratcliffe (James Greenfield)
Gary Cooper (Abe Lee)
Clyde Cooke (Tex)
Erwin Connelly (Pat)
Sam Blum (Blanton)
Edwin Brady
Credits:
Samuel Goldwyn Production.
Released through United Artists.
Director: Henry King.
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn.
Scenario: Frances Marion.
Photographer: George Barnes.
Editor: Viola Lawrence.
Art Director: Carl Oscar Borg.
Associate Photographer: Gregg Toland.
Titler: Rupert Hughes.
Musical Score: Ted Henkel.
Based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright.
Released October 26, 1926 Wide
DVD: Aug 12, 2008
