The Fighting Coward

This comedy--based on Booth Tarkington's play, Magnolia--sports a wonderful cast. Southerner Tom Rumford (Cullen Landis) was sent up north to be raised by relatives who happen to be Quakers. As a result, he returns home a passive, peace-loving young man, completely out of place in an area where men kill over issues of honor. One such character, Major Patterson (G. Raymond Nye), is Rumford's rival for the hand of his cousin Elvira (Phyllis Haver). When Rumford refuses to fight Patterson, his disgusted father (Bruce Covington) kicks him out of his house. Everyone turns against him, except for Elvira's sister Lucy (Mary Astor). Rumford heads for another town, where he meets up with the tough General Orlando Jackson (Ernest Torrence). Jackson has just lost his gambling hall to a rival, Captain Blackie (Noah Beery). Rumford becomes so infuriated at the treatment received by his new friend that he actually beats up Blackie. The grateful Jackson teaches the young man everything he knows about guns and swords and introduces him all around as Colonel Blake, a notorious killer. Everyone is deathly afraid of Rumford, and he returns home to teach a lesson to those who sneered at him. When he reveals to Lucy that it's all a pose, he wins her love. (official distributor synopsis)