Trail of the Spider transposes Western genre motifs and the suppressed racial history of the American west (where one in three cowboys were black or Mexican) onto the transforming landscape of East London. Questioning and re-imagining the Western’s portrayal of the “Vanishing Frontier” , the film extends the metaphor to the material and psychological conditions of a present day city increasingly dominated by volatile financial speculations and private interests.
The setting of the story is Mexico. Violent bandit and cattle rustler Pancho, his rude henchman Santas and a group of raiders have sworn to drive the settlers out of the Border country. In the conflict that follows, Harry's father Bill is mortally wounded, and Pancho's hands are crushed, supposedly by the ranchers, though the act is actually committed by his traitorous and vengeful lieutenant Santas and his equally slimy compatriot Rodriguez, whom Pancho has offended by denying one his daughter's hand, and the other permission to pursue Rancher's daughter Ruth Chadwick. Pancho swears bitter revenge on the Burrels and the two factions resolve to destroy each other.
Tom is given the position of Cowboy on Sid Jordan's ranch. Vicky, Sid's daughter, is annoyed by Buck, the ranch foreman, who is discharged and Tom is given the position.
Two little orphan brothers, Sammy and Bobby are looking for their father who left before they were born.They camp in the woods and call from a phone booth in the middle of nowhere, to ask random man one question: Are you our Dad? Dave, a suspicious man returns their call and claims to be their father. The boys knock on Dave's door with hope and one important question, the only clue their Mom left them before she dies: Do you love us more than money? 'I love you guys more than anything...' Dave does not know that he answers the question wrong...
Fuzzy's niece is killed in a stagecoach hold-up. Billy and Fuzzy quickly learn that the culprit, who not only killed all the passengers but also absconded with $40,000, may be holed up in lawless Pecos City.
Sioux leader Chief Gray Otter sends his son Tiah to the white man's school so that he can become a great leader. The son returns home drunk, disappointing his father. Things get worse when the son joins a group of renegades and robs a payroll wagon. The father, observing the clash from a distance, takes a side.
A young woman named Remington (Ann Howe) arrives out West and soon meets the old man known as Wilbur (Val Harris). Soon after the brief introductions we get Wilbur's stories on romance and women while Remington does a dance.
A description of the surviving scenes: Two girls are dancing in the inn, one wearing a white dress, the other in black - a bandit arrives - the bandit has an argument with another guest about one of the girls - the fight continues on the rocks - the bandit throws his rival off the cliff - the girl in black mourns the dead man - a cowboy appears on a horse - the girl in black laments the crime to him - the cowboy catches up with the bandit, he disarms him and ties him to a tree - the old man who is to watch over the captive gets drunk and falls asleep - the girl in white, armed with a revolver, frees the bandit, her lover, and they both tie the watchman to the tree instead - the cowboy returns and again fights with the bandit - the girl in white is accidently shot during the ensuing duel - the cowboy leads the handcuffed bandit away.
A cowboy gets a message that his sister's husband has left her in ill health. When he gets there, Texas finds her dead. He sets out to track down the promise-breaker and avenge his sister. On the way, Texas meets Moya Dalton, the fiery daughter of a rancher, and attempts to court her.
Slippery Slim uses his position as postmaster in order to hold back all the invitations to Sophie's birthday party, except, of course, his own and that of the parson.
Three soldiers desert the Revolution to put a plan into action to reclaim the estate that was usurped from one of them. Plan involves kidnapping the usurper's daughter...
From his hard and lonely life with his foster father, the adopted son finds solace in Cynthia, the neighbor's daughter. Father promises to give them money to start their happy married way, but forgets when a widow, with a little girl, comes home with him as a bride. Then it is that the abandoned well comes into play and father's eyes are opened to his neglect.
Winnie Allen, a pretty western girl, is loved by Dan Wild, whose father owns the Circle C Ranch. Broncho Billy, foreman of the Circle C, also loves Winnie and she favors his suit. Knowing this, and to make his way clear, Dan persuades his father to discharge Broncho. Broncho is unable to learn the cause of his dismissal from Wild.
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