The Desire of the Moth is a 1917 American silent western film directed by Rupert Julian
Matt Lisner
Dave Collins is a young man who is bequeathed a ranch on the condition that he marry the late owner's granddaughter Lucille. But when he arrives at the ranch with young sidekick Spuds in tow, Dave finds that a distant relative of Lucille's, Ray Foster, has taken his place. Foster hires tough Bart Haywood to kill his rival, and soon our hero is hogtied to a handcar in the path of an approaching train.
Dean Randall is a hero of the Great War who comes home to his horse and his father's ranch. When back he saves a family in a wagon train -- a father, daughter Grace, and three orphan children.
Following the "no good deed goes unpunished" idiom, when after rescuing a group of settlers, hero Don Miguel Arguella is double-crossed by the group leader who files a claim on his land and makes a move towards his girlfriend. Sadly, this is a lost film.
'Tuck' Martin, a crooked rancher, plots to acquire possession of the neighboring ranch belonging to 'Pop' Melody, whose daughter, Molly, is in love with 'Big Boy.' Bill Lang, the Melody ranchman, is in league with Martin and succeeds in rendering Melody helpless, although he had originally intended to have him killed. An attack on the cottage discloses the double dealing of the foreman, who is finally brought to justice, with nothing but happiness left for 'Big Boy' and Molly.
Claire Adams as a girl forced to marry the man she suspects killed her father. When she refuses, she is virtually kept a prisoner along with kid-brother Frankie Lee until a handsome stranger (Jack Conway) rescues them.
Andy Fowler is made a member of a gang of rustlers after rescuing one of their number from a fire, but he finds his freedom threatened by the local sheriff, who is actually the gang's leader and wants Andy's girlfriend for his own.
Plot concerns happy-go-lucky rancher who decides to spruce up in order to win the affection of a girl. Enemies seeking to have him put out of the way, plan to rob a stagecoach with one man dressed in Bill's clothes. He hears of plot and in vigorous fight with gang he whips them and brings them to justice.
A cowboy sets out to help a pretty young girl who is about to lose her ranch when crooks plan to foreclose on it because she doesn't have enough money to make her mortgage payment. He puts together a cattle drive in order to sell the herd to raise the money to pay off the note, but when the crooks hear about this, they make plans to stampede the herd along the way.
Jim Dorn, owner of the Bar X Ranch, is accused of crime he actually committed by Bud Deering, his girlfriend Ann's brother.
While romancing the millinery store owner, Custer finds himself falsely accused of murdering his boss and is soon fleeing from a vicious lynch mob.
When a bank is robbed, the cashier is killed and suspicion for the murder unjustly falls on Jim Marden. He gives himself up, and his brother, Wally, promises to run down the killer. Wally, who suspects Mike Wesson, the foreman of the Flying X Ranch, of the crime, goes to the ranch and talks to him. While at the ranch Mike meets June Mathews, owner of the ranch, and he falls in love with her. When Wally and June are out riding, they are ambushed by Wesson, and Wally is wounded. One of Wesson's confederates later exposes Wesson's perfidy, and Wally brings the homicidal foreman to justice. Wally then weds June.
Ruth Burroughs the daughter of a beleaguered rancher whose valuable property is threatened by a greedy railroad company
A timid bank clerk has to toughen up during the search for a gang of bank robbers.
Buck Duane guns down the man who killed his father and flees from the law. He rescues a girl he once loved from outlaws, but the wife of outlaw chief has her own designs on him.
An adventure tale set in the North Woods. The villain, smuggler Jules Payette, would give anything if Jeanne would give in. Saving her virtue in the nick of time is stalwart Pierre, who turns out to be a Northwest Mountie.
Jack Pepper accidentally fires his gun while forcing a newspaper editor to retract his statement regarding Miss Tulip Hellier, and the sheriff goes after Jack. While hiding out, Jack finds a liquor cache on the Hellier ranch and knows it was placed there as a ruse to distract the sheriff while an outlaw gang runs dope across the border.
A band of desperadoes employed as cow punchers take advantage of an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of firearms to hold up the owner and escape with the payroll. The new foreman Jack trails them and in a running fight unhorses them, one by one. He fights with the leader of the outlaws but subdues him and wins the girl.
Nancy Burton, niece of the sheriff, is in love with Deputy Tom Farrell, but she as an aversion to bloodshed. She overhears that he shot and killed an outlaw three years in the past. He swears to her that it never happened but she does not believe him. Later her uncle tells he that it was he who killed the outlaw, Trevis, in the line of duty. She also learns that the brother of Trevis, seeking revenge, is on his way to kill Farrell.
Martin, the heroine's father is falsely believed to be in league with fur thieves, but the real villain, not content with robbing the old man of his furs, also plots the theft of his fair daughter. He nearly succeeds, but the resourceful Martin blocks both games.