The Aryan

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

1916 film

title: "The Aryan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1916-films", "1916-western-(genre)-films", "american-black-and-white-films", "films-directed-by-william-s.-hart", "films-about-race-and-ethnicity", "surviving-american-silent-films", "american-silent-western-(genre)-films", "1916-american-films", "1910s-english-language-films", "english-language-western-(genre)-films", "american-silent-feature-films"] description: "1916 film" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aryan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1916 film ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

FieldValue
nameThe Aryan
imageAryan poster.jpg
altPoster for The Aryan showing William S. Hart protecting Bessie Love
captionTheatrical poster
director{{Plainlist
producerThomas H. Ince
studioTriangle Film Corporation
writerC. Gardner Sullivan
starring{{Plainlist
cinematographyJoseph H. August
released
runtime50 minutes; 5 reels
countryUnited States
languageSilent (English intertitles)
budget$13,500
::

| name = The Aryan | image = Aryan poster.jpg | alt = Poster for The Aryan showing William S. Hart protecting Bessie Love | caption = Theatrical poster | director = {{Plainlist|

The film was directed primarily by William S. Hart and produced by Thomas H. Ince, with Hart also starring in the lead role. Though assisted by Reginald Barker and Clifford Smith, Hart largely oversaw the direction himself. His combined salary as actor and director was $150 per week ().

A partial print of the film survives in the Library of Congress, and was restored at the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Plot

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Hart-william-the-aryan-1916.jpg" caption="Denton (Hart) and Mary Jane (Love)"] ::

A hardworking miner, Steve Denton, has become wealthy after years of prospecting. He sets out to visit his ailing mother, Mrs. Denton.

In the town of Yellow Ridge, however, he becomes entangled with a dance hall girl named Trixie, known as "the firefly." Trixie swindles him out of his gold and intercepts a telegram informing him of his mother's condition.

The following day, Denton learns that his mother has died. Devastated and enraged by Trixie's deception and what he sees as the betrayal of those around him, he kills her lover, Chip Emmett, and abducts her. Dragging her by the hair, he takes her into the desert. There, in isolation, he enslaves Trixie and renounces "white civilization." He declares hatred for white men and women, and assumes command of a group of Indian and Mexican bandits.

Two years later, a wagon train of lost and dying Mississippi farmers appeals to Denton for help. He refuses. That night, Mary Jane Garth, an innocent and courageous young woman among the migrants, visits him in secret and pleads their case. She declares her belief that no white man would abandon a woman in need.

Her words stir Denton. He is moved to act, and guides the wagon train to safety. Once their survival is secured, he resumes his solitary life in the desert.

Cast

Cast notes

Hart later reflected on his performance:

Production

Hart initially rejected the screenplay by C. Gardner Sullivan for lacking a clear motive behind the protagonist's harsh demeanor. He pushed for an explanation that would make the character's cruelty believable. Sullivan eventually agreed.

Although silent, the script included long speeches, which were filmed and edited down.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Bessie_Love_in_the_1916_silent_film_The_Aryan.jpg" caption="Love as Mary Jane Garth"] ::

Hart wanted Mae Marsh for the role of Mary Jane, but she was unavailable. D. W. Griffith suggested newcomer Bessie Love.

The film was produced during the height of Hart's career, but was notable for casting him as a severe and unsympathetic figure. The title reflects the racial ideologies common in early 20th-century American cinema. Hart later described the character of Steve Denton as "a white man who, foreswearing his race, makes outlaw Mexicans his comrades and allows white women to be attacked by them."

Filming took place at Inceville and in Sulphur Canyon.

Reception

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Magazine_advertisement_for_the_film_The_Aryan_(1916).jpg" caption="Magazine advertisement"] ::

Early reviews were highly positive. Acting, cinematography, and direction were praised. Hart himself considered it one of his finest Westerns.

More recent evaluations have criticized the film's racial themes. Scholar Andrew Brodie Smith called it "a sophisticated expression of racism in the Western genre." Others have identified it as one of the first films to explicitly endorse white supremacy over Native Americans.

References

;Citations

;Works cited

References

  1. Love, Bessie. (1977). "From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love". Elm Tree Books.
  2. Bennett, Carl. (May 5, 2012). "Progressive Silent Film List: ''The Aryan''".
  3. Erickson, Hal. "''The Aryan'' (1916)".
  4. "[The Aryan—excerpts]".
  5. "Hallazgo y Restauración de "The Aryan"".
  6. Rohter, Larry. (May 4, 2010). "Footage Restored to Fritz Lang's ''Metropolis''". The New York Times.
  7. Johnston, Will H.. (May 1916). "The Aryan".
  8. Hart, William. (1929). "My Life – East and West". Houghton Mifflin Company.
  9. (September 1916). "The Picture Oracle".
  10. Love, Bessie. (May 9, 1962). "An Aryan in Sulphur Canyon".
  11. Cooper, Oscar. (April 8, 1916). "Screen Examinations".
  12. Harris, Genevieve. (April 1, 1916). "Current Releases Reviewed".
  13. (March 24, 1916). "Film Reviews". Variety Publishing Company.
  14. Smith, Andrew Brodie. (2003). "Shooting Cowboys and Indians: Silent Western Films, American Culture, and the Birth of Hollywood". University Press of Colorado.
  15. (2013). "Racism, Sexism, and the Media: Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age". SAGE Publications.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1916-films1916-western-(genre)-filmsamerican-black-and-white-filmsfilms-directed-by-william-s.-hartfilms-about-race-and-ethnicitysurviving-american-silent-filmsamerican-silent-western-(genre)-films1916-american-films1910s-english-language-filmsenglish-language-western-(genre)-filmsamerican-silent-feature-films