| The Only Road | |
| Director: | Frank Reicher |
| Studio: | Metro Pictures |
| Starring: | Viola Dana |
| Cinematography: | John Arnold |
| Distributor: | Metro Pictures Corp. |
| Runtime: | 5 reels |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | Silent English intertitles |
The Only Road is a 1918 American silent Western film starring Viola Dana. It was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures and directed by Frank Reicher.[1] [2]
This picture is preserved at the BFI National Film and Television archive in London.[3]
As described in a film magazine,[4] Nita (Dana), in order to escape marrying Pedro Lupo (Blue), vainly calls for help and Bob Armstrong (Ferguson), who once before had rescued Nita from Pedro, again plays the hero. However, through the father of Pedro, a wrong light is placed upon this brave act such that Bob is forced to marry Nita. As Nita is of poor parentage while Bob is the son of a millionaire sent out west to gain his manhood, the match does not strike Bob as being a choice one, but the point of a pistol has considerable to do with his acquiescing. Nita is placed in a convent but escapes and, in the garb of a boy, seeks employment at the ranch where Bob is living. When found in the arms of her husband, the owner of the ranch, Clara Hawkins (Chapman), unaware of the inside facts, sends Nita away. Later explanations come and Nita turns out to be a child of Hawkins who she thought had died at childbirth. When love enters the heart of Bob, Nita finds happiness.
Like many American films of the time, The Only Road was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors cut, in Reel 4, the binding of a man's hands, all views of putting rope around a man's neck, and all views of a man with a rope around his neck except the scene where the young woman shoots the rope.[5]