THE TOLL GATE
starring William S. Hart and Anna Q. Nilsson
MOTION PICTURE CLASSIC
July, 1920
Somehow or other we find ourselves unable to take the very heroic heroics of William S. Hart very seriously. Somehow his de luxe dime novels never impress us as being a significant contribution to either life or literature. "The Toll Gate" (Paramount) is an instance in point. "The Toll Gate" presents Hart as another kindly bad man, Black Deering, who once again encounters regeneration and a cutie at one and the same time. In this opus, Black Deering forgoes the ingenue and rides away alone thru the mountain "toll gate." Hart is himself as the good bad man and Anna Q. Nilsson is an attractive figure as the heroine.
THE TOLL GATE
starring William S. Hart and Anna Q. Nilsson
THE NEW YORK TIMES
April 19, 1920
What is described as William S. hart's first independent production, and one which he is quoted as considering "the best picture" he ever made, is at the Rivoli this week with the title of "The Toll Gate." Though the Hart fans will probably like it, especially as they have not seen their idol in any of the leading Broadway houses since last November, not many of them, it may be safely predicted, will agree with him that is it better than "The Poppy Girl's Husband" and"Wagon Tracks." It is too stereotyped and artificial in its narrative and too much given to heroics to be plausible. In it Hart resumes his old character of the good bad man reformed and regenerated by the inevitable innocent woman, though this time he rises to even greater heights than before and, in the last scene, sends the woman from him back to "her people" where she will be "happier" than she could be with such an outcast as he. This ending, it must be admitted, is less illogical than most "happy" solutions of melodramatic difficulties, but it is involved too much with unrealities to be convincing.
Mr. Hart, of course, is interesting as himself, and the competent Anna Q. Nilsson would approach genuineness as his heroine if she did not use a Broadway makeup in her scenes of primitive life at the Mexican border. Jack Richardson as a Sheriff and Joseph Singleton as the hero's principal enemy are good. Lambert Hillyer directed the production and managed its Western scenes well.
THE TOLL GATE
starring William S. Hart and Anna Q. Nilsson
PHOTOPLAY
July, 1920
In the first reel of William S. Hart's "The Toll Gate," Black Deering, as brave a bandit as ever donned a mask, leads his gang into the cave that was their meeting place and says to them, in effect: "Boys, we're through. The hounds of the law are yipping at our heels and we'd better beat it while the beating is good."
"Not on your life," replies a radical of the extreme left. "I know a job that's got to be done. One more trick, boys, and we'll split the $40,000 and quit."
Thus, Black Deering is out-voted and another hold-up is planned. Immediately, you are interested in two possible twists to that plot: first, the outcome of the hold-up undertaken against Deering's advice; second, the effect it is going to have on his future.
From that point forward, the picture proceeds logically, excitingly and truly to its conclusion, which indicates that Mr. Hart also realizes that good pictures cannot be thrown together hit or miss. "The Toll Gate" is the most interesting Western I have seen this month, because, granting its melodramatic premise, it is the most plausible, the most intelligently directed and the best acted of the melodramas I have seen. Being the first of Mr. Hart's own pictures, it suggests that he has included in it all those features that he has found most effective in his other photoplays. He is again a bad, bad man, but with a "streak that's square," and when in escaping from the authorities he comes upon the usual pretty little Western woman living all alone in a cabin in the hills with her four-year old son, he is inspired to lead a better life. He does not reform overnight, however, nor marry the girl and start a general store. He merely sets things right with her, clears his own conscience and rides away. It is the sort of story that convinces an audience that it has been well repaid for its visit to the theater. Anna Q. Nilsson is an attractively passive heroine, and Joseph Singleton a convincing heavy. Many of the shots are fine, particularly those picturing Deering's escape from the train.