Riders of the Purple Sage
Zane Grey's best-known story was filmed by Fox in 1918 with William Farnum, in 1925 with Tom Mix, in 1931 with George O'Brien, and in 1941 with George Montgomery. The sequel, The Rainbow Trail, was also filmed with Mix, Farnum and O'Brien. All three versions of Riders of the Purple Sage still extant (the Farnum one is no longer) are similar in sequence of dramatic events and action. For many years, the Fox westerns of Tom Mix and George O'Brien were "lost" and when producer Alex Gordon became Fox Studios' archivist he traced the only remaining nitrate print of what still remained around the world in Mix and O'Brien Fox western material. This print of Riders of the Purple Sage is the only one in existence, on safety film. Leading lady Marguerite Churchill was for a time George O'Brien's wife.