Told in the Hills

Told in the Hills
Told in the Hills
	Film poster
Directed by	George Melford
Written by	Will M. Ritchey
Based on	Told in the Hillsby Marah Ellis Ryan
Produced by	Adolph ZukorJesse Lasky
Starring	Robert Warwick
Cinematography	Henry KotaniPaul P. PerryJames Wong Howe (assistant camera)
Distributed by	Paramount / Artcraft
Release date	September 21, 1919 (1919-09-21);
Running time	6 reels; 1,800 meters
Country	United States
Languages	SilentEnglish intertitles

Told in the Hills is a 1919 American silent Western film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Artcraft. George Melford directed the film and Robert Warwick stars.^[1] It was based on the same-titled 1891 novel by Marah Ellis Ryan.

Cast

Robert Warwick as Jack Stuart
Ann Little as Rachel Hardy
Tom Forman as Charles Stuart
Wanda Hawley as Ann Belleau
Charles Ogle as Davy MacDougall
Monte Blue as Kalitan
Margaret Loomis as Talapa
Eileen Percy as Tillie Hardy
Jack Hoxie as Henry Hardy (credited as Hart Hoxie)
Jack Herbert as Skulking Brave
Guy Oliver as Captain Hold

Production

Told in the Hills was filmed on location in Lewiston and Lapwai, Idaho, and employed hundreds from the Nez Perce tribe.^[2] It was claimed that during the production of the film was the first time so many men of the Nez Perce had been allowed to gather since the Nez Perce War of 1877.^[2]

Preservation

In 1986, Boise State University professor Tom Trusky inquired at the Gosfilmofond about the existence of Told in the Hills, in addition to several Nell Shipman films, for an exhibit on Idaho in film. The director of the Gosfilmofond replied that they had reels 3 and 4 preserved as 35 mm duplicate negatives, and that the films have been at the archive since 1951. A copy of the film, with Russian intertitles, was sent to BSU archives.^[3] Trusky went on to make a short documentary Retold in the Hills describing his successful interactions with Gosfilmofond.^[4]

In 2023, Colin Mannex, the executive director of the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center in Moscow, Idaho, learned of the film's existence. In January 2024, he applied for and received a $7500 grant from the Idaho Humanities Council to restore the film, but in April, the National Endowment for the Humanities was, because of DOGE, unable to support the Council and 70% of the Council's funding was eliminated. The restoration continued, but with difficulty and it was scaled-down.^[4]

The 4K restoration premiered at the Kenworthy Silent Film Festival on September 26 with a new score by Connor Chee.^[5]

References

^"The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Told in the Hills". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.
^ ^a ^bFaubion, James D., ed. (2001). The Ethics of Kinship: Ethnographic Inquiries. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 19. ISBN 0-7425-0956-7.
^Trusky Correspondence(PDF)
^ ^a ^bRoseweeds, Taylor (October 27, 2025). "The first film made in Idaho was headed back to the big screen. Then DOGE intervened". High Country News. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
^Paterson, Lauren (September 17, 2025). "From Soviet vault to Idaho screen, a lost silent-era Western returns". Boise State Public Radio. Retrieved October 24, 2025.

External links

Told in the Hills at IMDb

[1] "The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Told in the Hills". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved October 24, 2025.

[Faubion-2] Faubion, James D., ed. (2001). The Ethics of Kinship: Ethnographic Inquiries. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 19. ISBN 0-7425-0956-7.

[3] Trusky Correspondence(PDF)

[Roseweeds-4] Roseweeds, Taylor (October 27, 2025). "The first film made in Idaho was headed back to the big screen. Then DOGE intervened". High Country News. Retrieved October 29, 2025.

[5] Paterson, Lauren (September 17, 2025). "From Soviet vault to Idaho screen, a lost silent-era Western returns". Boise State Public Radio. Retrieved October 24, 2025.

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