Der Rächer

By 1925, silent western star Tom Mix had been a headliner for a decade, first in short films and then, from 1918 onward, features. This is one of Tom's collaborations with his frequent director Lynn Reynolds and possibly their most famous film together. Mix was at the top of his career at this point, and with the advent of sound films would slide into b westerns. Reynolds would continue directing until 1929, when he shot himself.

This is an adaptation of a Zane Grey novel that has been turned to films several times over. The first one, by Frank Lloyd, has been lost to history making this the oldest surviving take. It is a classic story-line with a big time interval in the narrative. Woman named Millie (Beatrice Burnham) catches the unwanted attention of an evil judge (Warner Oland), who has Millie and her daughter Bess taken. Millie's husband dies swearing his vengeance, and the guy executing this final wish is Millie's brother Jim Lassiter (Mix), who spends years looking for the lost Bess, who has been separated from Millie.

The narrative is told neatly in an hour without a feeling that things got rushed. The film showcases Mix at the top of his game, and there was a fair amount of action. As was the case in most silent westerns, the character work is very thin. The villain is literally trying to kick a child. But if you con't come in expecting "The Searchers" level of depth and character study, this film should get the job done.

This is the old story, familiar to everyone who has seen more than three westerns. What is remarkable about this movie is the contrasts in beauty: superb scenes of nature fill the screen: towering mountains, cattle moving slowly over the sprawling prairies, high waterfalls filling the vistas shot outdoors. In contrast, the shots of 'civilization' are full of ugliness: broken palings of forts, ramshackle sheds that should fall down and disappear and cluttered interior shots. Even the heroine's home is made only half-decent by the plants that she has growing everywhere.

This contrast, between the beauty of nature and the ugliness of the works of man appears throughout the movie and makes the ending -- where Tom Mix pushes over a boulder that will simultaneously make it impossible for the bad men who are pursuing him, his heroine and Anne Shirley -- a child actor at this stage, appearing under the name of "Dawn O'Day" -- and seals them forever in a valley far from the works of man -- not only understandable, but inevitable. It's a silent movie and it works as a silent movie, where all you have are the images. Highly recommended, both as an introduction to Tom Mix and on its own merits.

THE RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (Fox, 1925), directed by Lynn Reynolds, stars Tom Mix, popular cowboy hero of the silent screen, in the second of four filmed adaptations based on Zane Grey's classic western novel, and the best known of them all, mainly due to its interesting story, good scenery, a touch of comedy, plenty of action and fine performances provided by its leading actors, especially Tom Mix as a fearful cowboy who is quick on the trigger.

Opening with the inter-titles reading: "On the far reaches of the great southwest in the late eighties, Frank Erne and his wife are making a brave fight to establish their little homestead," the story gets underway with Millye Erne (Beatrice Burnham) mother to her infant daughter, Bessie (Sissyl Johnson) and husband, Frank (Arthur Morrison) who is heavily in debt, tired of her struggling existence. She is loved by Lew Walters (Warner Oland), a local attorney, who, after being forced to leave town, decides to take Millye with him. When she refuses, he takes her by force, having his men (Fred Kohler, Jim Ritzson and Charles Newton) abducting her child and shooting Frank. Before he dies, Frank tells the situation to Jim Carson (Tom Mix), a Texas Ranger and Millye's brother, leading him to carry on a new mission, dedicating his life in locating his sister and niece as well as tracking down Walters. Walters marries Millye after learning of Frank's death. Feeling the child to be a nuisance and wanting Millye all to herself, although she really doesn't love him, Walters, now under the assumed surname of Pyer, hires Oldring (Wilfred Lucas), leader of the Riders of the Purple Sage, to take the child away. At a loss for her Bessie, Millye searches aimlessly in the wilderness for her, and dies in the process. During his years of searching, Carson, now going under the name of Jim Lassiter, learns of his sister's fate through Jane Witherstein (Mabel Ballin), who had found and befriended her prior to her death. Because Jane knows the whole story but at present refuses to tell how much she knows, Carson, accepts the job as foreman on her ranch, and bonds with Fay Larkin (Dawn O'Day, later to become teen actress Anne Shirley in the 1930s), an orphaned child Jane has adopted. As Jim saves Jane from the clutches of Richard Tull (Charles Lamorne), a ruthless cattleman, Bern Venters (Harold Goodwin), a young cowboy, encounters a masked member of the Riders of the Purple Sage, a young girl (Marian Nixon) who might possibly be Jim's missing niece.

A simple story and an above average western motion picture, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE which runs under an hour, moves swiftly across the screen. Aside from an earlier 1918 version with William Farnum, and its 1931 and 1941 remakes, starring George O'Brien and later George Montgomery, a sequel, THE RAINBOW TRAIL (Fox, 1925) also featuring Tom Mix, immediately followed.

Fans of the "Charlie Chan" movie series from the 1930s will take pleasure in watching Warner Oland some years before playing the Oriental sleuth taking part as a nasty villain here. Aside from assuming two identities to his sole character in RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, take notice that Oland's appearance changes three times during the coarse of the story. He is introduced sporting dark hair and mustache. In the middle portion of the story, he appears a trifle older minus the mustache, and for the near conclusion, which is set some 15 years or so later, now acting as judge in a town of Cottonwood, his hair has changed to white sporting once again a mustache. Regardless of how he appears, this is the man the Texas Ranger, as played by Mix, wants to get.

Of the handful of Tom Mix westerns released during the silent era, many have survived but few have been revived. THE RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE did become one of the few to be presented on television, notably on public television 13-week series of THE SILENT YEARS (1975), as hosted by Lillian Gish, accompanied by an excellent piano score by William Perry from the Paul Killiam Collection. In later years, it was distributed on video cassette in 1996 by Critic's Choice video and sometime later on DVD. Rarely shown on television these days, it can be found on one of the numerous cable stations, The Westerns Channel, showing the movie with the Perry piano score. Fine viewing for silent western fans and a fine introduction to movie cowboy Tom Mix. (***)

Based on the novel by Zane Grey, the film stars Tom Mix as the gunslinger Lassiter who hunts down the men responsible for kidnapping his sister and niece years ago. His trek takes him to a ranch owned by Jane Withersteen (Mabel Ballin) who is having her own problems with cattle rustlers. The two plots eventually meet up, and the movie features a haunting finale, remaining true to the novel.

Mix is somewhat bland as the hero, and his outfit is a bit too "ornate." However, he does have a cute, playful scene with an orphan girl played by Dawn O'Day (who later changed her name to Anne Shirley). Warner Oland, as the main villain, is suitably hiss-worthy. IMDb lists Gary Cooper in a bit, but I couldn't find him. Possibly the real star of the film is the beautiful scenery.

During the climax, Mix, with O'Day hanging onto him, and Ballin had to climb up a granite wall. Although wires held them in place, Mix admitted he was not comfortable. "I felt ill at ease because of that little shaver on my back. I kept talking all the time we were climbing to divert attention but let me tell you I watched my step."

In the novel, the kidnappers and some of the other "bad guys" are Mormons. However, there is no mention of any religious organization in this film. The 1918 version, with William Farnum, is presumed lost, although some stills exist, so this is the earliest surviving filmed version. The 1931 version, with George O'Brien, is available on youtube. There is also a 1940s version with George Montgomery.

There's an indelible magic to silent cinema that the sound era has just never been able to touch. By no means is every silent title equal; some of the greatest films ever made hail from the 1910s and 1920s, but there is plenty of middling fare from the same timeframe, too, and the occasional flop. Yet from burgeoning techniques and technology, to the use of intertitles and expression of older language, to depictions of a time far removed from our own, if not also very different values: unless there's a particular reason not to, it's hard not to kind of fall in love with any given flick. And so it is with 1925 western 'Riders of the purple sage,' the sort of movie which at many if not most points looks and feels like the type of classic that would be briefly mentioned if not showcased in a modern love letter to Hollywood like Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon,' or the Coen Brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!' The production is relatively simple, and so is the storytelling, yet there is nonetheless much to love in these fifty-five minutes, and it wants naught but to entertain. If you're someone who is keen on the rich heritage of the medium, there's really no going wrong here, and it surely remains more vibrant than no few of its brethren and successors.

A few words on the screen may portend the passing of years, cover for violence that was deemed by censors to be too bold for contemporary audiences, or represent the totality of some plot points. I can understand how some viewers have a hard time engaging with the silent era, and I'd have said the same myself at one time. Such earnest directness is part of the charm of the style, however, as we're related the tale of corruption and outlaws in the Old West, and the honorable few who seek to uphold justice and virtue. And despite the restraints and limitations this may have faced, nevertheless we're treated to some splendid stunts and effects, with swell touches of action to complement the drama. The filming locations are truly gorgeous, and I admire the detail that went into the sets, costume design,hair, and makeup. The acting doesn't make any major impression, but the players are unquestionably skilled and committed, and ably play their parts in the tableau. Why, I'd even go so far as to say that between Lynn Reynolds' direction, and Daniel B. Clark's cinematography, there are some especially excellent shots scattered throughout, and there's a certain casual, organic finesse to the orchestration of each scene and beat. Nothing about 'Riders of the purple sage' specifically stands out per se, but from top to bottom it's completely solid, with building suspense and excitement as the tale draws toward its conclusion.

I don't think this picture will be one to change the minds of any modern viewer who isn't already receptive to the silent; it's the avid cinephile who adores the art form, and treasures everything it has given us, who will get the most out of the experience. One may well argue that the storytelling tends to be a little too simple and uninvolved for its own good, with realization on celluloid, including even some choice poetic flourishes in the intertitles, that surpasses the quality of the root material. Him and haw as one may about the minutiae, however, I for one am firmly of the mind that this is wonderfully enjoyable. It's no revelation, but it also doesn't try to be. This is pure, straightforward entertainment first and foremost, and the fact that some facets are more distinctly fetching - stunts, direction, cinematography, the grand vistas themselves - is just a terrific bonus. What it comes down to, perhaps, is that the feature represents suitable if broadly unremarkable plot, rendered with fabulous skill and care. It's not something one needs to go out of their way to see, but as far as I'm concerned 'Riders of the purple sage' holds up quite well, and is very fun and pleasing in its own right. There are countless films in all the past one hundred years that only wish they could stand as tall as this does, proving that any one doesn't need to be a must-see exemplar to boast enduring worth. If you have the chance to watch, at just under one-hour long, this deserves your time.