Hell-to-Pay Austin

Hell-to-Pay Austin
Hell-to-Pay Austin
	Newspaper advertisement
Directed by	Paul Powell
Written by	Mary H. O'Connor
Starring	Wilfred Lucas; Bessie Love; Eugene Pallette; Ralph Lewis; Mary Alden; Monte Blue
Cinematography	J.W. Leezer
Production; company	Fine Arts Film Company
Distributed by	Triangle Film Corporation
Release date	August 20, 1916 (U.S.);
Running time	50 minutes; 5 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Hell-to-Pay Austin^[1]^[2] (also known, without hyphens, as Hell to Pay Austin)^[3]^[4] is a 1916 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Paul Powell and starring Wilfred Lucas in the title role, with Bessie Love, Eugene Pallette, and Mary Alden in supporting roles.^[4] Written by Mary H. O'Connor,^[5] the film was produced by D. W. Griffith's Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation.^[6] It is presumed lost.^[7]

Production

Locations were filmed in San Diego, San Francisco, Bear Valley, Fresno, and Huntington Lake.^[1]

Plot

When a minister dies from alcoholism, his daughter Briar Rose (Love), also called "Nettles", is unofficially adopted by a team of lumberjacks, including the rough-and-tumble 'Hell-to-Pay' Austin (Lucas). Nettles is so touched by the logging camp's tribute to her father, organized by Austin, that she chooses him to be her foster father. Her innocence and purity eventually transform Austin into an upstanding Christian.

One day, an elegant woman (Alden) stumbles into the logging camp. The lumberjacks and Nettles help her, and she invites Briar Rose to visit her in New York someday. Years later, Nettles goes away to boarding school in New York. When taunted by her fellow students, Nettles leaves the school to stay with the woman she had met previously. Austin comes to New York to rescue Nettles, and, reunited, they discover that their guardian/ward relationship has evolved into one of true love and they marry.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[8]^[9]

Cast

Wilfred Lucas as Hell-to-Pay Austin
Bessie Love as Briar Rose "Nettles" Dawson
Ralph Lewis as Dad Dawson
Mary Alden as Doris Valentine
Eugene Pallette as Harry Tracey
James O'Shea as Jack Dale
Clyde E. Hopkins as Daniel Marston
Marie Wilkinson as Old Sallie
Allan Sears (as A.D. Sears) as Fred
William H. Brown as Peter
Tom Wilson as Bill
Monte Blue as Bit Part (uncredited)

Release

It was accompanied by the Charles Chaplin short comedy One A.M. in some theaters during its initial theatrical release^[5] and by the Fay Tincher short Skirts in some others.^[9]