Just Tony (1922)
*** (out of 4)
Tom Mix might have been a huge star but the only thing possibly bigger was his horse Tony and Fox Studios gave the creature his own movie and even gave him top billing. In the film Mix plays Jim Perris, a man who only wants two things out of life. One is to catch the wild mustang (Tony) he has seen running free. The only is to seek vengeance on the man who shot him for no reason five years earlier. Jim eventually falls in love with a woman (Claire Adams) not knowing that it was actually her father who shot him. JUST TONY isn't the greatest Western ever made but it has enough charm to where it's 67-minutes go by quick enough and will keep you entertained enough to the point where you can overlook the countless flaws with it. I think we should be honest and admit that the story is rather weak but then again it's pretty hard to make a horse the main attraction and give him top-billing over someone like Mix. The movie starts off with a rather long title card talking about how great Tony is and why humans should treat animals with respect. Throughout the running time we get scenes where the horse shows off his talent and I must admit that I found this stuff to be entertaining and interesting to see. There are scenes where he gets on his back and twists around, scenes where he's jumping over high fences and we even get a few scenes of him "thinking" about his situation. We even get a long sequence where after taking much abuse he makes an escape and then decides to seek revenge on those who mistreated him by making other horses join his cause. I'm no horse expert but I'd say this is a bit far-fetched but it's still entertaining. The human performances are also pretty good with Mix having no troubles in his part. Once again he's very good at playing the good-hearted cowboy and he's believable no matter if he's making love with the girl or threatening the toughest men on the ranch. I also enjoyed Adams and thought she made for a very good love interest. J.P. Lockney, Frank Campeau and Duke Lee make good supporting players. The film isn't long enough to ever become boring and while the screenplay is somewhat laughable I think it's heart is in the right place. Fans of silent Westerns or horses in general should enjoy this one flaws and all.
