The Lady of Red Butte

The Lady of Red Butte is a 1919 American Western film written by C. Gardner Sullivan and directed by Victor Schertzinger. Dorothy Dalton stars as a benevolent saloonkeeper in conflict with a fanatical religious zealot played by Thomas Holding.

For the scene showing the destruction of Red Butte, an entire western street was built of solid lumber and then burned to the ground at a cost of several thousand dollars. The village was two blocks long with buildings on both sides of the street. It was built at Inceville on a high elevation far from all other buildings so the flames would not spread to other property. The Santa Monica Fire Department and one chemical wagon from Los Angeles Fire Department were on hand to prevent the flames spreading to the shrubbery and timber on the mountains. When Thomas H. Ince gave the word, the fire was ignited, and the flames were fanned into a fury by three huge wind machines. Between the walls of roaring flames, Dorothy Dalton, Thomas Holding and the two hundred players acted several dramatic scenes, as seven cameras shot the action under the direction of Victor L. Schertzinger and the supervision of Ince.According to the critic for the Waterloo Times, Sullivans screenplay is filled with situations of an unusual character. The reviewer for the Lethbridge Herald noted, A remarkable cast was chosen by Thomas H. Ince for the presentation of C. Gardner Sullivans latest photoplay The Lady of Red Butte. Focusing on Daltons performance, another reviewer wrote Dorothy Dalton comes back in the style of role which made her famous early in her screen career, that of a western girl untutored to a large extent, living amid rugged surroundings, but developing a finesse in her inner nature that renders her entirely lovable despite her somewhat uncouth exterior. ........

Source: Wikipedia