The Cavalier (film)

The Cavalier is a 1928 American synchronized sound Western film directed by Irvin Willat, distributed by Tiffany Studios, and starring Richard Talmadge and Barbara Bedford. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.

Plot
The story takes place in old Mexico, where a masked rider (Talmadge) and an impoverished girl (Bedford) fall in love, against her father's wishes. When she leaves with him, her father sends his gang in a chase after the two lovers.

Music
The film featured a theme song entitled "My Cavalier” composed by Hugo Riesenfeld (music) and R. Meredith Willson (lyrics).

Background/Production
Originally intended to be an all-sound film, the picture was shot silent and was distributed with a music and special effects soundtrack, with no dialogue, due to technical issues with the sound synchronization equipment.

Preservation
Previously considered to be a lost film, the film exists in the Spanish archive Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona. Another print survives at the BFI film archive.