The Village Sleuth is a 1920 American silent comedy drama film directed by Jerome Storm and written by Agnes Christine Johnston. The film stars Charles Ray, Winifred Westover, Dick Rush, Donald MacDonald, George Hernandez, and Betty Schade. The film was released on September 12, 1920, by Paramount Pictures. A copy of the film is in the Gosfilmofond film archive.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, William Wells (Ray), a farm boy with a consuming desire to be like Sherlock Holmes, takes his first "detective" commission from his father Pa Wells (Morrison) and seeks to discover the identity of some watermelon thieves. Discovering the culprits among his own gang of friends and his father finding this out, he goes on a wider path to become a detective. Obtaining work as a hired man for a health resort, William begins an untiring hunt for a mystery. He gets a taste of the real thing when a robbery and murder come rapidly racing one over the other. In the end, the man supposedly murdered makes his appearance and the sleuth uncovers the robbery culprit in an ex-convict guest of the resort. Pinky (Westover), a chorus girl in cahoots with the "murdered" man, gives William a lively time in keeping faith in her, but proves her trust in the end.