HELL'S HOLE (THE AVALANCHE) (1923) Buck Jones, Maurice Flynn, Ruth Clifford

Description

Vintage original 11x14 in. US lobby card
from the 1920's train robbers-themed western drama,
HELL'S HOLE
(AKA THE AVALANCHE), released in 1923 by the Fox Film Corporation and
directed by Emmett J. Flynn
. Based upon a story by George Scarborough, a railway conductor throws cowboys Tod Musgrave (Buck Jones) and Dell Hawkins (Maurice "Lefty" Flynn) off the train because they are without tickets. Settling down in a station, Tod dreams: Dell robs the train and escapes, planting some of the money on him. After an episode of adventure and romance in which Tod is sent to prison, escapes, and finally tracks down the culprit, Tod awakens to find that Dell is still his jolly companion. The cast includes Ruth Clifford, Eugene Pallette, George Siegmann, Kathleen Key, Hardee Kirkland, Charles K. French, Rube Miller, Fred Kohler, and Dick Sutherland.
T
op-billed Charles Jones, who hadn't yet added "Buck" to his stage name
.
The image depicts two scenes featuring
leading
Ruth Clifford
(as Dorothy Owen),
one
with
Dell Hawkins (
Maurice "Lefty" Flynn
, left
) and the other with
Tod Musgrave (
Buck Jones
). This particular card includes a patterned border along the top and bottom with a tang background in the center.
Affixed over the credits box in the bottom center is a paper snipe that reads
William Fox - Presents - "The Avalanche."
If you hold a bright light to the back of the card, you can see the original credits box, which reads
William Fox - Presents - A 1924 Cine-Drama - HELL'S HOLE
. It is unrestored in near-fine condition with a 1.5 in. long fragile tear on the center of the left border where the upper surface paper has come off; a light 3 in. diagonal crease on the top right corner with a light 5 in. vertical crease beneath it; random signs of wear on the corners; . There are no pinholes, stains, writing, or other flaws.
At this time (Aug. 3), we have the complete set of 8 lobby cards. All 7 scene cards have the film's released title of
Hell's Hole
printed on them in the credits box, but each has a paper snipe pasted on top of the credits that says, "
William Fox - Presents - The Avalanche
." The AFI Catalog, IMdB, other film-related websites, as well as then-contemporary trade reviews all refer to this film's title as
Hell's Hole
. Therefore, it seems odd that the original-release lobby cards printed with the released title would have these paper snipes with this alternate title pasted onto them, and the title lobby card offered here was printed with
The
Avalanche
as the title. What is also
unusual
is that one of two of the scene cards features the three main characters inside of a rustic cabin as they all pause to look up at the
ceiling as if in response to hearing the sound of an avalanche roaring down towards them. The second card depicts the same interior cabin in a shambles as if it was hit by the avalanche with the same characters inside of it as they're surrounded by large fallen beams and rubble; however, none of the plot synopses we found makes any reference to an avalanche as part of the story.