Detail view of Movies Page

Movie Detail

Name Occurs Before Title

Offscreen Credit

Print Viewed By AFI

Tonio, Son of the Sierras

Director: Ben Wilson (Dir) Release Date: Dec 1925 Duration (in reels): 5			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Ben Wilson	(Sanchez)
	Neva Gerber	(Miss Brower)
	Chief Yowlache	(Tonio)
	Jim Welch	(Colonel Brower)
	Bob Walker	(Lt. Booth)
	Ruth Royce
	Fay Adams	(Lt. Downs)

Summary:

Tonio, the son of a Navajo chief, is the Indian scout at Fort Almy. When the Apaches go on the warpath, he disappears from the fort. During a battle, Lieutenant Booth is wounded while he rescues the married daughter of the fort's commander, Colonel Brower. Booth and Lieutenant Downs are rivals for Colonel Brower's other daughter. After a stagecoach robbery and murder has occurred at Piney Point, Tonio, who has been accused by Downs of treachery, returns to the fort and, through a window, observes Booth, who had defended Tonio, give Downs some money. After Downs leaves, Tonio follows him to a cabin and sees him plant Booth's kerchief near a a hidden bag that was taken during the stage holdup. The next day, Tonio brings his father, the Navajo chief, to meet the colonel, who arranges for the chief to have his warriors get ready for the fight against the Apaches. Later, Downs meets with a cohort, Sanchez, at a bar to give him the bag of coins. The paymaster for the district, who is drinking there, notices that the bag is a U.S. government pay sack. Downs says that Booth loaned him $300 to pay a debt he owes to Sanchez and that the money was in the bag when he gave it to him. Realizing that the bag was stolen from the stagecoach, the paymaster goes with Sanchez and Downs to the fort to report to Colonel Brower. At the fort, Downs asks Miss Brower if she will go riding with him that afternoon, and she agrees, if Booth does not return by then. Believing Booth to be above suspicion, Colonel Brower vows to personally investigate and returns the money to the paymaster. Sanchez rides off, after inviting Downs to bring Miss Brower for a visit that afternoon. Downs then tells the colonel that he followed Tonio to the cabin, where he found the stolen money. The colonel asks Downs to take him there. Meanwhile, Tonio sends Booth a smoke signal, and when he arrives, relates that he followed Downs to the cabin, where he opened a box and took a sack of gold away. Hoping he is wrong, Booth follows Tonio to the cabin. The colonel and Downs arrive first, and the colonel recognizes the kerchief as belonging to Booth. Downs says he distrusted Booth all along. When Tonio and Booth arrive, the colonel arrests Booth and Tonio for murder and the holdup at Piney Point. They are imprisoned at the fort, and a guard sadistically has Booth watch Downs ride off with Miss Brower. Booth asks the guard to give a note to Miss Brower, and when the guard takes it, Booth grabs his rifle and keys through the bars. Tonio gets out and hits the guard over the head with the rifle, and they escape on horses. The colonel calls out his men to pursue them. Meanwhile, Sanchez commands some Apaches not to hurt "the white squaw," whom he says is for him, after they plan to attack Downs. Sanchez reveals that he now plans to enjoy both the money and the girl. Downs fights Sanchez, but an Apache hits him over the head with a rifle, then they ride off with Miss Brower and their horses. After seeing the Apaches riding with the colonel's daughter, the Navajo chief goes to his village and sends his braves with rifles to save her. Booth and Tonio come upon Downs, who says that Sanchez and "the red devils" have the girl. Booth and Tonio join the Navajos pursuing the Apaches, who have been instructed by Sanchez to bring the girl to his cabin. The colonel and his men find Downs unconscious and revive him, then set off to save his daughter. The cavalry reaches the Navajo and the chief coordinates his attack with them. As the Navajo fight the Apaches, Booth chases down and fights the Apache carrying Miss Brower and throws him from a high rock. She faints and Booth carries her off. Tonio knocks Sanchez off his horse and they fight. Sanchez draws his knife and in their struggle, he is stabbed. Tonio brings the mortally wounded man to the colonel, and Sanchez confesses that his Indians held up the stage, and tells that Downs found the strongbox and tried to frame Booth before dying. The colonel then confronts Downs and orders a subordinate to take him away. Booth carries Miss Brower to her father, and when she revives, the colonel gives Booth her hand. They embrace, as Tonio looks on.

Distribution Company:	Davis Distributing Division
Director:	Ben Wilson	(Dir)
Photography:	Alfred Gosden	(Dir of photog)
Country:	United States

Music:
Songs:
Source Text:	Based on the novel Tonio, Son of the Sierras; a Story of the Apache War by General Charles King (New York, 1906).
Authors:	General Charles King

Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Si:


Genre:	Western

Subjects (Major):	Apache Indians
	Fathers and daughters
	Fathers and sons
	Forts
	Frame-ups
	Hispanic Americans
	Officers (Military)
	Romantic rivalry
	Scouts (Frontier)
	United States--History--Indian campaigns

Subjects (Minor):	Cabins
	Jailbreaks
	Murder
	Rescues
	Smoke signals
	Stagecoach robberies
	Tribal chiefs

Note:	The plot summary is based primarily on an incomplete print of the film, of which only reels 3-5 of 5 exist. Reviews suggest a number of plot points that were not in the print viewed. According to a modern source, J. Charles Davis was the producer of the film.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Film Daily	20 Dec 1925.
MPN	19 Dec 25	p. 3042.

	Display Movie Summary
The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



Limited To:
Video Availability
Advanced Search
Join AFI
Login