Teeth

We first see Duke the Dog in the baggage car of a train, where owner Lucy Fox has given him to the charge of conductor George Bancroft. He discharges his duties by beating the dog and throwing him off the train, because he is the villain of this movie -- Bancroft, not Duke. Bancroft is spotted by the chief conductor, who fires him. Meanwhile, Duke, a paw injured, limps into the loving care of Tom Mix, who tends his wounds. While this is going on, Bancroft has established himself in town and shot a man; he flees to Mix's cabin, where Duke has poor memories of him. Tom, being a noble but stupid creature, doesn't shoot him, but goes about his business. When the posse shows up, Bancroft talks about how Mix attacked him with his dog, and so forth. Meanwhile, Miss Fox is searching for her dog. Remember Miss Fox?

While Tom is not too bright, Duke is a regular genius. He tracks down Tom in jail as a lynch mob is forming to hang him -- Tom, not Duke -- and then easily follows Tom's instructions to bring him his rifle, the keys to the cell, and go fetch Tony. Parts of the film is missing, but there is a big fire that survives in the print that was recovered from the Czech Archive. The parts that survive are in great shape, with extensive tinting. We get performances from Edward Pell Sr, bears, and Lucien Littlefield. Despite the occasional easy idiocies of supernally intelligent dogs, I can't but be pleased to see another surviving Tom Mix film. And Tony, too.