The Prospector (1912) User Reviews

It leaves a bit to be desired....

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 4 August 2012]

"The Prospector" is a film that is very difficult to watch today. Part of it is that most of the final minute of this 8 minute film is completely degraded--and you can only see the right and left edges of the picture! Part of it also is that in order to shove the film into only 8 minutes, the plot was sped up so much that it really made no sense. Stretching the film out a bit would have really helped.

A prospector seeks shelter on his way to bring his ore to be assayed. However, the two men that offer him a bed let their greed get the best of them and they try to rob the guy. But, the daughter discovers their plan and intervenes and goodness prevails. In a WEIRD twist, the minute she intervenes, the prospector (who doesn't even know her) proposes marriage and they run off, with the little sister, to get married! Even crazier is when the pair return a bit later and propose to let the two crooks join them in running the mine. None of this makes a lot of sense and it's way too rushed. Even for an early silent, this one is lacking.

The Prospector review

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 3 July 2020]

Even for an era in which filmmakers were still coming to terms with creating coherent narratives, the story here is poor, with a successful prospector marrying the daughter of the man who tried to kill him the night before and then generously offering the hand of friendship to his would-be murderer. Can't help thinking she's going to be a widow pretty soon...

Redemption Through Generosity

[boblipton · 6/10 · 5 August 2009]

This routine western from 1912 -- Essannay was co-founded by "Broncho Billy" Anderson who played six roles in Porter's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and figured out that what people wanted was westerns and was he ever right! -- concerns a prospector who strikes a rich claim and is almost killed for it. He is saved by his would-be killer's grand-daughter, marries her and shares his wealth with him, which makes him a better person.

It sounds trivial, and by the standards of the era, it probably was. Essannay alone turned out over 70 westerns in 1912. But the movie is interesting because it shows how modern film grammar was beginning to gel. The acting is still very broad; the compositions that bespeak the stage with its proscenium arch clearly marking the limit of reality, so prominent in 1908, are vanished in just four years; and the story, although a tad slow, is interesting.