Volume II: Filmography

BEATING BACK

Advertisement (L) from Reel Life May 30, 1914. (F-787)

Mignon Anderson, with her hand on the lapel of Al Jennings (C), who supervised the production of BEATING BACK. Courtesy of Alan Brock (P-1-1)

Carl Louis Gregory (R) mans the motion picture camera, with Billy Noel assisting (arm extended) in the filming of BEATING BACK. Courtesy of Dominick Bruzzese (X-265)

British release title: DARE DEVIL JENNINGS

(Direct-From-Broadway Features)

(c. June 9, 1914, states rights)

Length: 6 reels (later, 5)

Character: Drama

Director: Carroll Fleming

Assistant director: Perry Horton

Scenario: Adapted by Lloyd F. Lonergan from a Saturday Evening Post story by Will Irwin, from information provided by former outlaw Al J. Jennings

Cameraman: Henry Cronjager

Cast: Al Jennings (as himself), Morris Foster (Frank Jennings, Al's brother), Madeline Fairbanks (daughter of John Harless), Frank Farrington, Albert Froome, Mignon Anderson, Fan Bourke, William Noel, Al Reitz, Lord R. McCaskill, S.A. Blackmer, S. Jackson, John Sullivan, Gordon Hollingshead, Fred Yale, Harvey Yale, Harry Blakemore, Eddie Ford, William A. Sullivan

Locations: New Rochelle; Ogdensburg and Franklin, New Jersey

Notes: 1. On June 9, 1914 Thanhouser deposited 45 prints of scenes from the film with the Copyright Office. There was no specific date of release, but it is apparent that the film was shipped to various exchanges around this time. 2. Although the film was made by Thanhouser at its New Rochelle studios, it was released through a Mutual subsidiary, Direct-From-Broadway Features, which maintained offices in the Mutual Building at 71 West 23rd Street, New York City. A full-page advertisement by this firm appeared in The Moving Picture World, April 11, 1914, and invited inquiries. Another full-page advertisement in the April 25, 1914 issue of the same publication noted that states-rights sales were "going like hotcakes." A full-page advertisement in the May 16, 1914 issue advised readers that just the states of Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri remained available. 3. In 1914, the Photoplay Arts Portfolio of Thanhouser Motion Picture Stars noted concerning Morris Foster: "[He] played Frank Jennings in Beating Back, the pictured life of Al Jennings, reformed outlaw and bandit. Mr. Foster put Jennings' ability as a horseman to the test during the taking of the pictures, doing stunts on horseback which surprised the one-time train robber." 4. This film was released in six reels. However, it it believed it was later edited to five reels (as mentioned in The Moving Picture World, June 12, 1915, for example). 5. Kevin Brownlow's book, The War, the West and the Wilderness (Knopf, 1979), devotes a subchapter to Al Jennings and discusses the present film. 6. This film was released in four reels in England, under the title Dare Devil Jennings.

ARTICLE, The New York Dramatic Mirror, April 15, 1914:

"Beating Back, the autobiography of Al Jennings, the former bandit and present politician, is to be produced in motion pictures by the Thanhouser Film Corporation. Under this title the story was published in the Saturday Evening Post, and aroused much comment. The story has in it many opportunities for strong picture work in Jenning's life as a train robber, convict, county official, and his present strenuous activity in Oklahoma politics. Jennings, accompanied by sheriff 'Bill' Tillman, of Oklahoma, arrived in New York last Saturday for a conference with C.J. Hite, president of the Thanhouser Corporation. The picture will be marketed by the Direct-From-Broadway Features."

ARTICLE, The Evening Standard (New Rochelle), April 15, 1914:

"Director Carroll Fleming and his assistant Perry Horton have gone to Ogdensburg, New York [sic] with a company of 63 members, Thanhouser actors and rough riders. They are to stay two weeks, making some of the scenes of the big film depicting the life of Al Jennings, the famous bandit who later became a state official [sic; his bid for governor was unsuccessful - Ed.]. Al Jennings is with the company doing the role he acted in real life in his youth. The rough riders are to be Jennings bandits. There are 30 horses with the troupe. Director James Durkin, with his assistant C. J. Sullivan, Jr. and another company are leaving for Ogdensburg to make other Western pictures. They are to use the horses of the first troupe. Among the local people with them are Morris Foster, Boyd Marshall, and Charles Emerson."

ARTICLE, The Evening Standard (New Rochelle), April 30, 1914:

"The visit of the Thanhouser people to Ogdensburg, New Jersey has been a blessing to the inhabitants of that place in more ways than one. First, the movie people startled the little mountain town by their sudden arrival; 60 of them on the same train. This was followed by the next day by 'wild West capers' and a bold holdup in which revolvers and rifles were fired and several were 'killed.' On the following day the inhabitants were further scandalized by the holding up of the train which arrives every day, and the kidnapping of a beautiful young girl and her chaperone from New Rochelle by a gang of desperate outlaws lead by Al Jennings, the most desperate of the band. All this tended to magnify the type in which the name of the town is printed on the map and gave the people some excitement and the county newspaper some good copy with real headlines.

"In the second place, when some of the bolder inhabitants ventured near and asked the man in charge what was that funny little box with legs, with a crank, and were told it was a motion picture camera, the inhabitants began to understand. And, after a few days, they began to realize that here was real entertainment and that they were the ones privileged to witness these scenes actually acted before the rest of the world saw them on the screen. The people of Ogdensburg then began to take an interest in the individuals of the Thanhouser bunch, and even the mountain maids ventured to drop their eyes, blush, and make figures with their toes in the dusty road instead of running away when a handsome outlaw raised his hat in passing. Even Al Jennings, whose story they soon heard, began to lose his terror for them.

"Each night, a certain group of the 'stay-out-all-night,' who, when they are at home congregate at the railroad station to see the train come in, have acquired the habit of sitting in the general store taking part in the general conversation and learning the gentle art of hitting the general sawdust box. From them the inhabitants have learned wonderful things about Newark, New York, New Rochelle, and all the other large cities of the world and have even heard stories first hand of the terrible battles of the Spanish and the Boer wars and thrilling elephant and man-eating tiger hunts. But they were most interested in the stories of Indian fights and the real Western holdups told by the Thanhouser outlaws. One old man, the 'Sage of Ogdensburg,' remarked one night in the midst of a story, 'W-e-e-l, youngster, yer look mighty young ter have taken part in all that excitement and devilment, but I guess you Western fellers don't show your ages much.'

"In the third place, the Thanhouser people have proved to be as good hearted as they are interesting. Actors have the name of being generous. The Thanhouser people have that reputation here. And, last Saturday night they gained it in Ogdensburg when they gave a minstrel show in Madden's Opera House for the benefit of a poor family. It was the first minstrel show the town had ever seen, and it was an event that will be handed down in the traditions of the burg as being among the great events of the nation. Literally half the town was there. The other half couldn't get into the hall. The house seats 200 people if the fire rules are observed, and it was packed to its legal capacity and a little over, for the house manager sneaked his family and his daughter's young man up the back way. Also, the janitor got in for nothing.

"Before the doors were open at seven o'clock, there were 100 people standing outside waiting to get in. Perry Horton was in charge of the box office and received a dime for each ticket he handed out. Occasionally he had to change a half dollar, and once a dollar bill bearing the scars of a safety pin was offered hesitatingly by a little old lady who held up the line while she counted each dime of her change, twice, and then turned to the wall and slipped them into a flannel bag and slipped it in her stocking.

"At 7:45, Mayor Dolan, of Ogdensburg, who assisted Mr. Horton in the box office and lent his official presence to the affair, hung the 'SRO' sign outside the door. There was not such a sign in the house and Mr. Horton hurriedly scribbled the letters on a piece of cardboard. When the people who could not get in saw the sign, they asked what the letters meant. And the mayor made a speech in which he explained that the letters meant 'standing room only,' but the town fireman declared that he would permit no standing in the aisles. He had some words with the mayor and carried his point. Two hundred people stood outside near the windows where they could hear an occasional high note of the chorus.

"The opera house did the only business in town that night. The proprietor of the general store closed his emporium, went home and washed, ate his dinner, and put on a red necktie. Then he told his wife that he was going to visit a sick friend. His wife and seven children accidentally were ushered to seats in the same row with him. He had gone alone for economy. The hotel office was closed and the safe locked. The station agent closed the railroad station and attended the show. The admission price was placed at ten cents so that everyone could afford to see the show and because the expenses were small. They cleared $66.55, which was turned over quietly to the poor family with the kind wishes of the entire company. The brotherly feeling of the actors did as much good as the money, and the outlaws can own the town if they want it while they are there.

"It was a good show though it was thrown together in a hurry. H. Blakemore and Eddie Ford were 'bones,' and J. Sullivan and G. Hollingshead were the 'tambos.' The circle consisted of Harvey Yale, Fred Yale, Al Reitz, Carl Geenen, L. R. McCaskill, S. A. Blackmer, S. Jackson, and Willie Noel. 'Chief Iron Tail' Harry A. Marks was interlocutor, and Billy Sullivan was the pianist.

"The audience reveled itself until the bell rang for the curtain to roll up, eating peanuts and gumdrops, dodging spitballs from the gallery and eyeing young lovers who sat as far as possible from the kerosene lamps so they could hold hands. The scene that greeted them and the volume of harmony that burst upon their ears as the curtain rose to the snappy strains of the opening chorus, Melinda's Wedding Day, made that assemblage catch its breath and stare. 'Gee! This is grand opera,' the clerk of the general store exclaimed audibly to his girl. Joke after joke made the audience shout with laughter and hold their faces when they began to ache. The special numbers were the song, Great to Meet, Harvey Yale; recitation, 'Jim Bludso,' S. Blackmer; comic song, Oh, Oh, Oh, G. Hollingshead; quartet, cowboy medley, McCaskill, Blakemore, Ford, and Yale; piano solo, Pickles, Billy Sullivan; comic song, Barber Shop, J. Sullivan; song, To Have to Hold to Love, Eddie Ford; and comic refrain, Bully, Harry Blakemore. The closing chorus was Uncle Joe. The evening ended with dancing."

ARTICLE, Reel Life, May 2, 1914:

"Al J. Jennings, sometime two-handed gun fighter, train robber, bandit, and all-round 'bad man' of Oklahoma, but now reformed and a very active candidate for governor of the state where once there was a big price on his head, is hard at work in the picturization of his life story, Beating Back, at the Thanhouser plant in New Rochelle. Jennings and Will Irwin, who collaborated with the former outlaw in the Saturday Evening Post serial that is one of the most remarkable stories ever filmed, reported recently to President Hite to go over the details of the picture. It was decided that Beating Back will be made into a six-reel production under the direction of Carroll Fleming, who used to be producing director of the New York Hippodrome.

"Some remarkable locations were of about 25 frontier colts, and stance Jennings' and Irwin's opinions of the verity of the site with the Oklahoma scenes of Jennings' outlawry ran parallel with Fleming's. A big company of riders - made up of ex-cavalrymen, range riders, cowboys, and Texas rangers - was assembled, and then Jennings, who had returned to Oklahoma to procure his old rifles, pistols, saddles, bridles, etc., was sent for. The day he and Irwin showed up at the Thanhouser camp the members of the outfit determined to welcome Jennings as befitted so famous an ex-outlaw. Forty riders, in Western garb and swaying easily in their saddles, galloped up to the station just as the train pulled in. Jennings, with true appreciation of the affair, threw up his hands instantly and surrendered himself and Irwin to the tender mercies of Fleming and his crew. But a good Sister of Charity, who had come to the station to take the train westward and who 'wasn't in on the plant,' to quote Fleming, begged the Westerners not to kill anybody. After she had been assured that the gunplay was only in fun, she thanked the outfit, and, with a blessing, boarded the train."

ARTICLE, The Evening Standard (New Rochelle), May 5, 1914:

"The Thanhouser brigands arrived home from Ogdensburg, New Jersey, Sunday night after holding up a train on a little branch road in the mountains near Wharton. Al Jennings, the famous reformed outlaw of Oklahoma, was with them. G. Hollingshead had a wild ride on a frisky horse Sunday morning. He was riding near Ogdensburg when the horse started to run and dashed along the mountain roads for two miles, wrecking a bicycle on the way. Hollingshead stuck to the saddle and brought the animal back.

"When the troupe left Ogdensburg, the people of the town presented Director Carroll Fleming with a set of resolutions of appreciation. The last scene by the troupe was the train robbery, including the blowing up of the express safe. A complete train and crew were chartered for the day, and the outlaws and cameramen took their station in the mountains. When the train came puffing around a curve, Al Jennings galloped out with his band, stopped the crew, tied up the engineer and crew and while some of his band kept the passengers covered with their revolvers, the others entered the express car, overpowered the express messenger, who fought like a demon, dragged out the big safe and blew it up. The safe was made of light wood by 'Props [Joseph] Turner' at the local studio and weighed about 10 pounds. It was good for one shot only.

"William Noel remained over to clean up and see that no one owed anything. He was returning at 9:45 o'clock last night and walking down North Avenue dressed in riding breeches, boots, sombrero, etc. and carrying a big suitcase when Miss Mignon Anderson and David Thompson passed on the other side of the street. Dave called out, 'Hello, Bill,' and Bill replied, 'Oh, Hell - ', the rest of the word being cut off short by the escape of a front pivot tooth which evaded his search for half an hour."

ARTICLE, Reel Life, May 23, 1914:

"AL J. JENNINGS RESUMES THE BANDIT BUSINESS. Hands up! Al Jennings, one-time train robber and knight of the road, demands your attention. He now is being filmed in Beating Back, a Thanhouser six-reel feature in which all of his adventures as an outlaw are being reproduced. The whole film telling the story of his adventures and of his downfall will constitute a release which will teach a powerful moral lesson. Following President Roosevelt's pardon, society accepted Jennings back into its fold and his homefolk in Oklahoma now are urging his candidacy for governor of his state. 'Not to give Mr. Jennings every courtesy and accord him every right would be to take away that which society has given back to him. We would be criminals then, and we alone,' said Katherine Bement Davis, Commissioner of Corrections of New York, at a recent luncheon given by Mr. Hite at the Plaza Hotel in honor of Mr. Jennings.

"Carroll Fleming, former producing director at the Hippodrome, is directing Beating Back, the Jennings film which is based on Jenning's autobiography which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. Mr. Jennings is enthusiastic over the picture but insists that the punishment for his deeds of outlawry which fell to his lot in real life shall not be slurred. Moreover, in the screen story Mr. Jennings wishes to have his life-film point a strong moral, and Director Fleming and President Hite of the Thanhouser Film Corporation fully agree with the one time 'Railroad Robin Hood' in this respect."

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, November 28, 1914:

"When the Thanhouser Company brought the Al Jennings picture, Beating Back, in Kansas City, Missouri, they were informed that the pictures would have to be shown to the board of censorship before they could exhibited publicly. The consequence was that the films were rejected both by the censors and by the board of appeals, to which they were later referred. Immediately the Thanhouser representative secured a restraining order permitting them to show the films. However, by this time the afternoon matinee which had been advertised, was given up. That evening the appeal board met again, and at this meeting it was decided that the pictures were not as bad as the appeal board thought they were when it passed upon them in the morning. The pictures had a very successful run in Kansas City, and after finishing four days in the Convention Hall were booked for four days in the Maze Theatre. At Convention Hall Al Jennings gave a short speech before each performance, and explained the pictures as they were shown. In regard to the action taken by the censors in Kansas City, Mr. Jennings said, 'I have been living an upright life for the last 12 years, and I could not or would not allow anything to be shown on the moving picture screen that would have any immoral influence whatsoever because it would immediately reflect upon me, and situated as I am at the present time this would be very undesirable, if not dangerous.'"

ARTICLE, The Morning Telegraph, May 30, 1915:

"When Beating Back was shown last Sunday at Sing Sing no fewer than eight prisoners presented themselves to the film's representative and said they had served in the Columbus penitentiary at the same time that Al J. Jennings (the hero of Beating Back, or the villain, depending entirely on one's point of view and conscientious scruples) was a federal prisoner there. The eight expressed themselves as delighted with the new method of renewing their acquaintance with the famous ex-bandit. This suggests a new line of endeavor for reformed outlaws. It (the new line of endeavor) consists of stealing Mahomet's old stuff and, since the mountain cannot go to said Mahomet, of having the well-known Mahomet go to the equally well-known mountain. Since a cruel and unkind fate prevents those within penitentiary walls from calling on their friends in the great world outside, why should the friends in the great world outside not have themselves screened and then have the film projected within the walls once dedicated to silence and solitary confinement but, in the march of modern ideas, rededicated to the salvation, not the destruction, of human minds?

"Then may we expect to see headlines saying something like: 'OLD PAL VISITS CONVICTS Appears on Screen Before them to Show Them Error of Their Ways.' Or perhaps the news announcement would appear thus: 'CONVICT SEES FAMILY GROW - Film Shown in Prison Tells No. 42244 How His Kids Are Making Good.' Then, too, motion pictures in the prisons throughout the country could be used educationally. For instance - by showing pictures of high finance methods, by exposing the peculiar methods whereby a bale of hay is made to grow (in the prospectus) where only a blade of grass existed before, by filming the latest scientific methods of murder, manslaughter and mayhem. By showing such pictures the lower order of convicts could be educated to a higher plane of endeavor upon their release. And, reversing the process, to those who are in jail for crimes involving misuse of the mails, juggling with figures (not in the tango parlors, but in ledgers and books of account), and for similar offenses, pictures could be shown illustrating the best methods of safe-cracking, second-story work and highway robbery. Thus to the high-brows would be brought tuition in elemental crimes and to the low-brows would be carried instruction in the gentle art of thimble-rigging devices. These brilliant ideas, of course, emanate from the sometimes amusing but always ingenious devices of the Beating Back press agent, who coyly remarks that they are not copyrighted."

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, June 12, 1915:

"Beating Back, the five-part film dramatization of Will Irwin's famous Saturday Evening Post serial, is now being offered to states rights buyers. Beating Back is the life story of Al J. Jennings, formerly an Oklahoma bandit and all-round 'bad man,' but lately candidate for governor of the very state that once had put a $20,000 price on his head. Jennings plays throughout the five thousand feet in which the story of Beating Back is told. His career - as lawyer in the days when Oklahoma was a territory; a subsequent going to the bad when his brother Ed was shot from ambush; his years as a train robber and outlaw; his escape to South America; his return to Oklahoma and the life of banditry; is capture and confinement for life in a Columbus, Ohio penitentiary; how Senator Mark Hanna became interested in him and secured from President McKinley a commutation of his sentence to five years; Jennings' pardon and restoration to citizenship by President Roosevelt, and his political career in Oklahoma after he had proved his reformation - all of this is vividly portrayed in Beating Back.

"The picture was made by the Thanhouser Company, which provided an all-star cast consisting of Morris Foster, Frank Farrington, Albert Froome, Mignon Anderson, Fan Bourke, Madeline Fairbanks, and many others noted on the screen to support the one-type time outlaw in the portrayal of his sensational life story. There are feats of horsemanship and rifle-shooting throughout the picture. The robbery of the Rock Island train which resulted in Jennings' capture is shown, as well as the famous Spike S Ranch where Jennings, and his brother, and two others successfully fought off more than 60 United States marshals and deputies. The film version of Beating Back is as sensational as Jennings own career...."

Note: The preceding article, published a year after the picture's release, indicates that the film was still being promoted. Apparently the film had been cut to five reels.

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, June 12, 1915:

"The seventeen hundred prisoners in Sing Sing have evidenced their appreciation of Beating Back in a letter written by the Mutual Welfare League at the prison, the organization under whose auspices the famous Al Jennings-Will Irwin film was shown last Sunday. The letter is as follows: 'Dear Sir: We shipped Beating Back as promised the following day, and hoped it reached you in due time. It certainly taught a wonderful moral lesson, and I am sure the 'boys' here will benefit a great deal by your letting us have so wonderful a production. Thanking you for past favors I am, Very truly yours, Chairman, Entertainment Committee.'..."

Note: The preceding article appeared over a year after the film's release.

SYNOPSIS AND BACKGROUND, Reel Life, June 13 and 20, 1914:

"Al J. Jennings, for several years the leader of a gang of train robbers which rivalled, in daring, the famous Jesse and Frank James outfit, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Ohio State Penitentiary and released through the intercession of Mark Hanna with President McKinley and later restored to citizenship by President Roosevelt, now is a candidate for governor of Oklahoma. Ten years ago Jennings went back to Oklahoma with his record on his sleeve, making it a point to inform every new-made friend of his past and of the term he served in the Columbus penitentiary. Despite this self-imposed cross Jennings has made good. For years the doors of every house in Tulsa and Oklahoma City were closed to him. Children trembled when he passed them in the street, women pulled aside their skirts, and men avoided him wherever possible. Jennings went back to Oklahoma to redeem himself among his own people. He took up the practice of law among men who knew of his prison record and of the list of crimes chalked up against him. He fought his enemies in the open; he met squarely and without flinching their taunts and their insults in the courtroom; he bore without shrinking the social ostracism which fell to his lot, but today, some 10 years after he was released from the Ohio penitentiary, Al Jennings is running for governor of the state which has known him successively as a 'killer,' a two-gun man, an outlaw and train robber, and as lawyer, reform candidate for prosecuting attorney of Oklahoma City, and the father of a happy growing family.

"Oklahoma City still is familiar with all the details of the campaign which Al Jennings made for prosecuting attorney of the city, a fight which he lost in the end by a small vote - so small in fact that most Oklahomans believe that he really was elected. 'His campaign speeches,' recently remarked a prominent Oklahoman, 'were remarkable for their sincerity. He'd tell them about his past, prison and all, until he had them crying like penitents at the mourner's bench.' Pending the inauguration of his campaign for governor of Oklahoma, Al Jennings came to New York to collect campaign data in his fight against the political bosses of the state. Here, upon the suggestion of President C.J. Hite of the Thanhouser Film Corporation, Jennings consented to the picturization of his life story. In collaboration with Will Irwin and Director Carroll Fleming, Jennings arranged the scenario of the six-reel production. He aided in finding the 'locations' and the building of the necessary sets so that the locale might be correct.

"In the film all of Jennings' deeds of outlawry are portrayed, together with the story of his life succeeding his capture and imprisonment in the penitentiary. Jennings' life story, as told in the six-reel Thanhouser film, is a tremendous appeal for an equal opportunity for every man. It shows how even the most 'hardened' criminal, if given a chance to redeem himself, can be made a useful member of society. Carroll Fleming, former producing director of the New York Hippodrome, has skillfully put into the film the story originally told by Will Irwin in The Saturday Evening Post. This story in many respects was amplified by Mr. Jennings and many new features introduced which were not contained in the printed story of Jennings' adventures. Little Madeline Fairbanks opens the first reel in a novel manner. Pushing back the cover of a book larger than her little self, she reveals the title page of Beating Back, the novelized story of Al Jennings' life. Madeline then turns this page, and we see Al himself standing, apparently 'in frame,' as a frontispiece. While we watch he bows to right and left. The frontispiece then dissolves for a moment, and a second later Jennings steps out of the frame in the costume he wore when, as a bandit, he terrorized every railroad division superintendent from Tulsa to Tucson. Just to make things lively, Al then does a little promiscuous shooting. The scene fades and the story of the candidate for governor of Oklahoma commences to unfold itself on the screen.

"The first scene tells the story of the famous Garst-Love pasturage fee case, which ended in the killing of Ed Jennings, Al's brother. Before he became an outlaw, following the shooting of his brother, Al Jennings, like his father and brother Ed, was a practicing lawyer. Temple Houston was counsel for Jack Love. Ed Jennings acted as Garst's attorney of record when the Garst-Love case was called. The Jennings boys won their case and gained the enmity of Love and Temple Houston, his counsel, both of whom were noted gunmen. Houston treasured the enmity for the Jennings boys, and a week later Al's temper flared up in court. He called Houston a liar. Houston replied, applying several vile epithets to Al Jennings, and jumped toward him. Ed Jennings, a rangy six footer, planted himself between Houston and Jennings and struck his brother's would-be assailant in the jaw. That night Ed Jennings was killed from behind in a gambling saloon. Almost from that moment, and at first without an overt act, Al Jennings became an outlaw. It is shown in the next few scenes in the film how the hot-blooded youth was estranged from his father. The elder Jennings, a fine old Southern gentleman, was county judge. With one son dead and another son, John, wounded by his son's slayers, the old gentleman felt that enough disgrace had been brought upon the family, and both Al Jennings and his fourth brother, Frank, were warned to let the law take its course. 'Father asked us,' said Al, speaking of the greatest tragedy in his life, 'whether with one of his boys dead and another dying we wished to pile a new tragedy on him.'

"The next scene in the photodrama shows Jennings and his brother Frank at the Morris ranch in Southern Oklahoma, with Jim Hughes, a rough, game man, formerly an outlaw, Ben Hughes, Jim's brother, and Jud South, who had been charged with the killing of an Indian deputy marshal, Naked Head. From the Morris ranch the scene shifts to the Spike-S 'outfit.' The time is January 1896. Soon after New Year's 1896, a train was held up at Norman, Oklahoma. Jenning's father then was living at Tecumseh. We are shown Jennings as he rides away from his fellow outlaws on the Spike-S ranch and plays a visit to his father. Judge Jennings was alarmed to see his son come riding up the main street of the little town. 'My God, Al!' he said, 'what are you trying to do? Do you mean to disgrace our name?' Bewildered, Al then heard for the first time that a reward of $500 had been posted for his capture. Although unjustly accused of the train holdup, Jennings knew that he could not induce any members of the Spike-S ranch to enter a court of justice to prove an alibi for him, as, for the most part, members of the ranch were 'long riders,' i.e., train robbers, bank robbers, and raiders, the aristocrats of the Western criminal world, who looked down with scorn on plain horse thieves, brand blotters, and whiskey peddlers.

"Angered that he should be taken for a criminal, Jennings left his father and rode into the next town where he pulled up at a country store for breakfast. The ensuing scenes, showing how Jennings became an outlaw in fact, are among the best parts of the photodrama. 'I finished my breakfast, mounted, and started away,' said Jennings, relating the story. 'I hadn't ridden two hundred yards when the whole crowd opened up on me with Winchesters. My horse went down dead, and I got a bullet in the right ankle.' For a few minutes thereafter Jennings saw red. Single-handed, the young gunman ran back toward those who fired upon him while his back was turned, and chased them into the timber. Finding no one in the country store upon whom he might vent his anger, Jennings committed his first crime.

"We see him in the film as he jumps over the counter and rifles the cash drawer of $27.50 and rides away on a stolen horse. That day Al Jennings committed his first crime, and from then on a reward was on his head. On his way back to the Spike-S ranch we are shown how the Westerner binds up a wound when doctors are hundreds of miles away. Jennings, in a close-up, is shown breaking open a puff ball which has the double value of stopping bleeding and healing a wound. While the sheriff of the county and his posse gather at the village hotel, back on the Spike-S ranch Al and his brother Frank, and the rest of the 'long riders,' prepare for trouble. Then we see the boys of the Spike-S ranch mounting their horses and riding into the rocky, wooded hills. The 14-year-old daughter of John Harless, owner of the Spike-S ranch, is shown waving the 'long riders' farewell as they disappear over the Snake and Duck Creek bottoms deeper into the wilds of the Creek Nation toward San Antonio. This role is taken by Madeline Fairbanks. As the girl watches, the sheriff and his posse are outlined in a beautiful picture against the setting sun at the top of a rolling ridge of foothills. Without waiting to tell her father of her intentions the little Harless girl is shown as she mounts her horse and rides to overtake 'the boys' to warn them of the proximity of the sheriff's posse.

"The scene shifts to the robbing of A. Gerbs & Sons general merchandise store and bank at a German settlement some 20 miles from San Antonio. On a Saturday the storekeeper of the section had a safe full of money with which he paid farmers who brought in their produce. From their base at the Southern Hotel, the Jennings boys and members of the Spike-S ranch planned a raid on the store. Arriving in the town it is shown in the film how the boys got the lay of the land by mixing with the Germans and treating them to beer. The comedy element is introduced when part of the Spike-S outfit attracts the attention of the store proprietor and the crowd inside by shooting into the air outside the store. While the placid Germans run out and discuss the mysterious shots, Al and his brother Frank proceed to business inside. All told, on the haul they got $16,000 in cash and finished up by locking the storekeeper and his customers in the general store. By selling their horses to a rancher who asked no questions and told no tales, the Spike-S outfit made good their escape on a train while the countryside and the sheriff's posse searched for them on horseback in the hills. The film then shows the Jennings boys on their way back to the Spike-S ranch in Oklahoma, where they learned for the first time of a $90,000 shipment of currency which was to come over the Rock Island Line. It was this 'job' which eventually resulted in the conviction and sentencing of the Jennings boys."

Reel Life, June 20, 1914, continued the story:

"Beating Back, shortly to be released in six reels by the Thanhouser Film Corporation, continues with the pursuit of Al Jennings and his gang by an Oklahoma sheriff's posse. The sheriff learned that, following the big robbery at San Antonio, Jennings and his band once again were in Oklahoma, preparing to turn another trick. An especially beautiful series of pictures shows the gang making its way, first, along the bed of a mountain rivulet, then, to its cave, high up on the mountainside. The locations are among the most picturesque of all the splendid locations that Al Jennings, Will Irwin, and Director Carroll Fleming worked together to find. Down below, in the bottoms country, the sheriff and his posse head for the Spike-S ranch house, believing that the Jennings boys will make their headquarters there. The 'daughter of the ranch,' however, sees the posse approaching on a distant hillside and jumps on her horse to tell the outfit of its danger. She rides to the cave where the boys are hiding. Al Jennings, upon her arrival, lifts her from the saddle and kisses her, while the other bandits come out of their hiding places to learn what messages she has brought. Meanwhile the sheriff and his posse advance along the road at the base of the mountain. The little girl, returning after having warned the Jennings gang, is seized by the posse and questioned. She denies that she knows where the Jennings boys are hidden, but to prevent her escape, a member of the posse ties her securely to her saddle and leads her pony on by a rope fastened to his pommel.

"The wild little mountain girl, however, knows how to untie a knot just as quickly as she is able to tie one, and in a few moments of jogging along the mountain trail she manages to free herself and dashes off down the mountain road. The posse gives pursuit but her knowledge of the country enables her to cover her trail by fording the mountain stream. For the first time since the San Antonio robbery the Jennings boys and their gang find an opportunity to divide their booty. While the outwitted sheriff's posse reins in its horses on a nearby hilltop, Jennings and his gang, laughing in derision, enter a rude hut and divide the neat packages of greenbacks among themselves. The country is a little too hot for further operations, however, and Al and his brother Frank, with enough money to keep them in luxury for many months to come, leave for New Orleans. There Al Jennings meets an old friend with whom he attended the University of West Virginia, and is invited to a dance. This old friend, whom Jennings calls 'Jack,' knew all about his college chum's career as a bandit. Nevertheless he introduced the two brothers to all his friends, among them two pretty young Southern girls. The Jennings boys were introduced as 'Mr. Edwards' and 'Mr. Williams.'

"Both bandits bought full outfits of store clothes and every evening went to a dinner or a dance; in fact, they were flooded with invitations. In some way, however, word got to the ears of the New Orleans police that the Jennings boys were in town, and two detectives were put on their trail. Learning that they were wanted, the brothers determined to make their escape at the same time that they repaid their hosts for treating them so well. Chartering a yacht, Al and Frank Jennings took a party of five, including 'Jack,' his sister, Miss Margaret, the two pretty Southern girls, and an elderly aunt who little realized that she was acting as chaperone for two bandits, to Galveston. The party landed and engaged apartments at the old Beach Hotel. In the film the incidents which followed the ball given in the Beach Hotel are shown in great detail as they actually happened. A Wells-Fargo detective, who himself once had been an outlaw with the Spike-S bunch, made his way into the ballroom and quietly tipped Al and his brother that the place was surrounded. His quiet remark was overheard by one of the girls, however, who then disclosed that she was aware of Al's identity, having recognized him from an old photograph in the uniform of a University of West Virginia cadet, a picture her brother had once given her.

"While two detectives stood outside on the porch, the girls and the two bandit brothers boldly started a dispute as to who should pay for the supper. In a voice loud enough for the detectives to hear, one of the girls exclaimed: 'I'll tell you! We'll race for it! The last couple to touch the rosebush by the front gate has to pay.' The four made a mad dash to the gate with the detectives looking on in amusement. After a hasty good-bye, however, the Jennings brothers kept on running, still in their evening clothes. Making their way to the Gulf shore, they broke the chain on a rowboat and rowed out to a disreputable tramp ship in the harbor. The captain, a drunken Dutchman, for $1,500 cash readily consented to get them out of danger.

"Reel Four of Beating Back shows the Jennings boys back in their old haunts after a trip through Central and South America, around the Horn, up to San Francisco, down again to Mexico City, and back to the Spike-S ranch in Oklahoma - dead broke and ready to make plans for another job. The gang learned at this time that at noon, on October 1, 1897, a shipment of $90,000 would be made over the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. They laid their plans accordingly. Where the town of Pocasset, Oklahoma now stands, there then was only a siding, and a shanty occupied by a switchman. On the night of September 30, Jennings and his men held up this switchman. A short section of film shows the section foreman delivering his switch key, his teeth, meanwhile, chattering with fear. Al and his brother then turn the switch. As the train, bound from Minco to Chickasha, comes down the track the gang starts firing, smashing the car windows above the passengers' heads to intimidate them. The ensuing scenes from the film show the Jennings gang frisking the passengers, and blowing the safe in the express car. The comedy element is furnished by a very much frightened Negro mammy. Quickly as the robbery was executed, the sheriff's posse, having heard the shots, almost as quickly started in pursuit. Arriving at the scene of the hold-up, the posse learns from the passengers and the trainmen the details of the robbery and quickly follows the Jennings outfit. A chase over the hills and down through the valleys follows. Despite the treachery of a rancher, who formerly had sheltered the bandits after their jobs, Jennings and his band temporarily managed to make their escape.

"Reel Five is easily the most exciting part of the feature film. The sheriff's posse, hot on the trail of the Jennings gang, learns that it is hiding at the Spike-S ranch. The whole countryside is aroused, and dozens of farmers join in the posse to be in at the death. Elaborate plans are made to surround the Spike-S ranch and either to capture or to kill the bandits. Jennings and his men are shown seated at dinner in the ranch house dining rooms. Mrs. Harless, having set the table, leaves to draw a pitcher of water at the pump. Passing through the barn she discovers that the ranch is completely surrounded. The sheriff and his men and the neighboring citizens have taken up positions at strategic points in their effort to cut off the escape of the bandits. The fusillade soon starts, and the Jennings' dining room is riddled. Pots, pans, and crockery are smashed by the hail of bullets. Plaster and window glass cover the floor. A coffee pot is punctured a half dozen times. Sheriff Bud Ledbetter, of Muskogee, in a log house, and Paydon Talbot, a marshal, were doing the greatest execution with 30-calibre Winchesters. In this fight Jennings, his brother, Frank, and two pals opposed seven marshals and 20 'nesters.' Jennings and his brother both were wounded, yet managed a miraculous escape.

"They wandered south for days, through what is now Okmulgee County. Their wounds began to fester and, for the most part, they were without food. Finally, weak and delirious from their wounds and half starved, they were captured through the treachery of Sam Baker, a rancher, who pretended to be their friend. From the jail in Muskogee Jennings and his pals were taken to Ardmore to stand trial for the Pocasset train robbery. Convicted of robbing the United States mails, something which Jennings denies having done, although he admits the other details of the train hold-up, Jennings was sentenced to serve a life sentence at the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus.

"Speaking of his conviction, Al Jennings recently said: 'I had not robbed the mail, only the express safe. A registered letter was missed at the time, however, and the government took for granted that I had taken it. Here the authorities capped the climax of illegal law. They wanted to get clean rid of me, collect their rewards, and proceed to the next bandit. So, while the jury stood 10 to two for acquittal, the judge sent to them a marshal with a special message. If they would find me guilty, he would give me the lightest sentence under the law. Believing that this meant a year and a day, they returned a verdict of guilty. They even smiled at me, reassuringly, as they left the court room. But I was a lawyer and I understood. There was only one possible sentence, life, which the judge promptly gave me. Ten of the jurymen have sworn to his transaction; their affidavits are on file with the Department of Justice.'

"While in prison Jennings became an office clerk and then made friends with a prison guard, who later furnished him with a saw. He succeeded in sawing through the office window bars before he was betrayed by a fellow trusty. Although he was punished for his attempted escape until it was necessary to send him to the prison hospital, Jennings refused to reveal the name of the guard who gave him the saws. The new warden, secretly admiring the man's spirit, after a time restored Jennings to his old class as a prison trusty, first exacting a promise from him that he never again would attempt to escape. The film then shows how, through a chance visit of Senator Mark Hanna to the prison, Jennings eventually obtained his release from President McKinley and eventually a restoration of his citizenship from President Roosevelt. Resolved to 'beat back' and to resume his practice of the law, Jennings returned to Oklahoma. The film vividly depicts how, at first, all Jennings' old friends shun him.

"The influence of a good woman, who, both in real life and in reel life, became Al's wife, and the helping hand extended to Jennings by an old judge, effectually prevented him from resuming his old life. In quick succession Jennings' rapid rise from social outcast to successful lawyer and, later, to a candidate for district attorney, is shown in the film which concludes with a close-up of Jennings. Beating Back depicts accurately and with human touch the story of a man into whose life have been crowded more exciting experiences than would fall to most of us in a dozen existences."

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