The Headless Horseman is a 1922 silent film based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. It stars Will Rogers as Ichabod Crane.
The film was really shot in the Hudson River Valley around Tarrytown, which is where it's meant to take place.
This film has the examples of:
- Alliterative Title: The Headless Horseman
- Adaptation Expansion: The middle of the film is padded out with a new storyline in which Brom Bones frames Ichabod as a "witch-doctor."
- Artistic License – History: Ichabod claims that he would have discovered the Earth was round if he lived before Christopher Columbus, repeating the nineteenth-century myth that Medieval Morons believed the Earth to be flat. Incidentally, Ichabod's creator, Washington Irving, played no small part in creating that myth.
- Dunce Cap: Ichabod is shown punishing a student with one of these.
- Headless Horseman: It's right there in the title.
- Love Triangle: As in the original, Ichabod and Brom compete for Katrina's affections.
- Ordered Apology: Brom Bones is ordered to apologize for framing Ichabod as a "witch-doctor." Brom claims a "Just Joking" Justification.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: In this version, it's made explicit that Brom Bones is the Headless Horseman. After Ichabod runs off, there's a shot of Brom throwing off the costume and laughing.
- Tar and Feathers: After becoming convinced that Ichabod is a "witch-doctor," the townsfolk almost do this to him, but at the last minute, it's revealed that he was framed by Brom Bones.
- Think of the Children!: Needless to say, the townsfolk are not happy about having a "witch-doctor" teaching their children.
