The Headless Horseman (1922 film)

The Headless Horseman
Film poster
Directed by	Edward D. Venturini
Produced by	Carl Stearns Clancy
Written by	Washington Irving Carl Stearns Clancy
Based on	"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving
Starring	Will Rogers Lois Meredith Ben Hendricks Jr.
Cinematography	Ned Van Buren
Production company	Sleepy Hollow Corporation
Distributed by	W.W. Hodkinson Grapevine Video Reelclassicdvd.com Alpha Video Distributors Cinefear Finders Keepers Video
Release date	November 5, 1922
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Headless Horseman is a 1922 American horror film adaption of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starring Will Rogers, Lois Meredith (in her last major on-screen appearance), and Ben Hendricks Jr. that was directed by Edward D. Venturini. It was the first panchromatic black-and-white feature film.

The village of Sleepy Hollow is getting ready to greet the new schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who is coming from New York. Crane has already heard of the village's legendary ghost, a headless horseman who is said to be searching for the head that he lost in battle. The schoolteacher has barely arrived when he begins to pursue the beautiful young heiress Katrina Van Tassel, angering Abraham Van Brunt, who is courting her. Crane's harsh, small-minded approach to teaching also turns some of the villagers against him. Soon there are many who would like to see him leave the village altogether.

The unlikable, stern schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who at one point beats a student, was played by Rogers, a popular actor playing against his typical roles for which he received $19,583.20. For authenticity, filming took place in the Hudson River Valley around Tarrytown, New York, the setting of Washington Irving's story, with its Dutch farm houses and covered bridges.The Headless Horseman was the first black-and-white feature film photographed entirely on panchromatic stock, which, while two to three times more expensive, did not have the tendency to turn blue eyes and skies white and lipstick as black like the commonly used orthochromatic film did. One effective special effect was the use of a double exposure to give the headless horseman a phantom-like appearance.