Lynn Reynolds

A former newspaper reporter from Iowa, American silent-screen director Lynn F. Reynolds played character leads for the Burton King Company before embarking on a lengthy career as a writer-director at Universal and Fox. A competent but unimaginative technician who rarely rose above his material, Reynolds was at his best handling charismatic stars such as Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix, both of whom he left pretty much to their own devices. Reynolds' marriage to western heroine Kathleen O'Connor became severely strained in early 1927, during the location filming of Back to God's Country. On February 25, the couple got into a violent argument during which Reynolds suddenly grabbed a gun and shot himself through the head in front of several friends. The suicide was explained publicly as caused by the stressful location work. Back to God's Country was finished by (and credited to) Irvin Willat.

~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide