La barrière des races

With plenty of both action and substance, this hard-to-find silent melodrama is a nice surprise for a movie that is barely known today. Besides being interesting in itself, the story treats some real issues. While it observes some of the standard conventions of the melodramas of the era, it does not come across as forced or contrived, but is generally thoughtful and is also good drama for its own sake.

Rod La Rocque stars as the young Indian Braveheart, who gets caught in the middle of a bitter fishing rights dispute. His tribe is divided as to how they should best protect their rights, and so while Braveheart pursues peaceful means of serving his tribe, others are planning more violent actions. The story puts La Rocque's character in quite a variety of situations, and while his portrayal is rather stoic, it is also convincing. Most of the other characters remain one-dimensional but are believable. Things move at a good pace, with some action scenes and other more thoughtful moments. This is the kind of story that today would likely get overloaded with self-indulgent dialogue and heavy-handed detail, but here the issues are handled with efficiency, and are for the most part simply allowed to speak for themselves.

The production is mostly straightforward - more low-key than many melodramas of the era - but it works quite well, with several strong points to it. It's a nicely made little film, and definitely worth watching for anyone who enjoys silent movies.