Ruth of the Range is a fifteen episode American adventure film serial starring Ruth Roland, in which a young woman attempts to rescue her father from a gang that has kidnapped him in order to find out his secret for making "Fuelite," a substitute for coal.[1] The film was the final feature created by scenarist Gilson Willets for Pathe Productions,[2] and is now thought to be a lost film.[3]
The series had three directors: the credited director was Ernest C. Warde, son of famed actor Frederick Warde, and was reportedly fired for filming too many close-ups of Roland; his replacement, W. S. Van Dyke, soon quit for another job; and Frank Leon Smith was hired to complete the serial.[2] Gillets died during filming but before he had completed the script, leaving Smith to create his own story from existing footage.[2] Roland left the feature before filming was complete, so Smith filmed her final scenes using her stuntman, Bob Rose, wearing a wig.[2]
