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The Sign of the Cactus
The Sign of the Cactus
Directed by	Clifford Smith
Story by	Isadore Bernstein
Starring	Jack Hoxie; Helen Holmes; J. Gordon Russell
Cinematography	Harry Neumann
Production; company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	January 4, 1925;
Running time	50 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Silent; English intertitles

The Sign of the Cactus is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Clifford Smith and starring Jack Hoxie, Helen Holmes, and J. Gordon Russell.^[2]^[3]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine,^[1] settler Old Man Hayes (Swickard) resists the attempt of the water company to secure his property and is killed. Years later, a mysterious champion known as Whitehorse Champion arises and helps the settlers in their fight to keep their cattle from dying of thirst. He is called that because of the color of his mount and because he leaves a bit of cactus as a sign of his visit. Lawyer John Henderton (Russell) is the representative of the water interests and his daughter Belle (Holmes), while riding through the woods, sees her horse run off to be with its mate, the horse of Whitehouse Cactus (Hoxie), who is really Hayes' son Jack (Hoxie). He discovers by a scar on the hand of Belle that she was the little girl playmate of his many years ago when he was a child, and they become fast friends. Later, Belle discovers that Jack is the mysterious champion, and, when her father is shot, she goes to arrest Jack herself. He convinces her of his innocence. When the sheriff arrives, she notes that Belle is the only one who can prove that Jack is the Whitehorse Cactus, but that a wife cannot be made to testify against her husband. Jack happily agrees to the arrangement.

Cast

Jack Hoxie as Jack Hayes
Helen Holmes as Belle Henderton
J. Gordon Russell as John Henderton
Francis Ford as Panhandle George
Josef Swickard as Old Man Hayes
Frank Newburg as Earl of Chico
Jack Pratt as Sheriff
Robert Gordon as Jack, as a boy
Muriel Frances Dana as Belle, as a girl

Preservation

With no copies of The Sign of the Cactus located in any film archives,^[4] it is a lost film.

References

^ ^a ^b Sewell, Charles S. (January 10, 1925). "The Sign of the Cactus; Jack Hoxie Appears as Mysterious Champion of Harassed Settlers in Newest Universal Picture". The Moving Picture World. 72 (2). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 137. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
^ Munden, p. 715.
^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Sign of the Cactus at silentera.com
^ Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Sign of the Cactus

Bibliography

Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.