Blanco, cheval indompté

Wild Horse Mesa has storekeeper George Irving packing up and closing his store down to go out to the wild west where there are still herds of thousands of wild horses on the open range. Good money to be made in capturing these animals, but he runs into Noah Beery, Sr. who has a scheme to trap them by the herd using barbed wire and he doesn't care how many of these animals are killed and maimed and then have to be killed with the wire. He actually persuades Irving the dope that the horses will shy from the wire. Irving is an amateur in a game which is not friendly to amateurs.

Saving the horses is the job of Jack Holt and a tribe of Indians whom he's friends with. He's in the same business, but respects the animals he captures.

Billie Dove who is Irving's daughter is along and Beery villain that he is has designs on her as well. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. then a callow youth of 16 clerks in Irving's store and he is also up for a little adventure. Wild Horse Mesa is one of his earliest screen appearances. Look sharp and you also might find Gary Cooper among the cowboys in the film.

The story is from one of Zane Grey's novels which Paramount was busy filming in those days. They spent some bucks on this one with location shooting in Colorado and nice cinematography of those stampeding horses. Wild Horse Mesa got two sound remakes, one with Randolph Scott and another with Jack Holt's son Tim.

Western fans and fans of author Zane Grey will approve.

I dare say it can't escape anyone's attention that the very first intertitles, remarking on how wild horses roam free in the vast landscapes of the United States, look quite different after one hundred years. For as much as the natural world has been destroyed in the name of plundering its resources, taking wildlife and biodiversity with them, the whimsy portended in those first words is far more tragically nostalgic now. But then, though not to such an extreme, such reflections are no mistake in a picture where the plot involves white men of ignorance, greed, and shortsightedness heedlessly threatening the balance and natural order of the wild west, and specifically the well-being of the equines that call it home. Add elements of human drama and romance to that root idea to pad out the tale, and we have ourselves a plot. Notably, however, 'Wild Horse Mesa' takes a long while to meaningfully begin developing that plot; whether we attribute the unhurried gait to screenwriter Lucien Hubbard, director George B. Seitz, or maybe even original author Zane Grey, the flick just kind of lazily stirs the pot for much of the runtime while slowly adding this and that into the narrative. Lovely as the Coloradan vistas are, and the animals, and the sets and costume design, the first major impression that this makes isn't a particularly strong one.

Along the way one will note that surviving prints bear the mark of the wear of time, with the image quality having been impacted. That's no fault of the filmmakers, of course; on the other hand, some intertitles, invariably presented in a light font, are shone against a light background that makes them incredibly difficult to actually read (if not impossible), and only more so as prints deteriorated prior to digital preservation. Taken together with the approach here to building the plot, so unbothered as to feel unwieldy, we can only hope that the whole will find its feet and gel more as the length advances. I think of a jigsaw puzzle: all the pieces are laid out one by one on a table (some of them effectively faded with time), and in the appropriate positions relative to each other, but they aren't orientated in the necessary manner, let alone connected - not starting until, in this case, at least halfway through. It's odd, really; even as stunts and action sequences are peppered throughout in hearty doses, probably the top highlight, and story threads progress in a chosen direction, the cohesiveness of the entire saga is rather tenuous. We get a feature of western adventure and drama, most certainly, but this is an example that is overall far more about a general vibe than a concrete plot. Or at least, I must generously assume so; if the intent truly was a concrete plot, then I'm extending too much credit and the end result is even more troubled.

I appreciate all the work that went into the production; the crew operating behind the scenes turned in swell contributions. The cast is fine. Bert Glennon's cinematography is a bit unremarkable at some points, yet at others, gratifyingly smart and thoughtful. All the ideas in the story are solid enough in and of themselves, I think. Unfortunately, all told the narrative just isn't drawn together very well; considered all as one some notions might have just as reasonably been left out completely, for I don't believe 'Wild Horse Mesa' does a good job of establishing who some characters are, or how they fit in relation to other characters or into the sum total. Beyond the core of interacting with a herd of wild horses, too many aspects receive thin treatment. We get what we came for, sure, but it's less than fully convincing, and it's hard to drum up especial enthusiasm even before we note tinges of casual racism dotted here and there. I'm glad for those who get more out of this picture than I do, but I'm of the mind that whether you're a fan of westerns or the silent era or just looking for something good to watch, there are better options awaiting you anywhere you might look. This 1925 movie is still suitably okay for a lazy day, I suppose, if you happen to come across it. I'm just disappointed that the storytelling broadly comes off as weak and watered down as it does, and I wonder if my time wouldn't have been better spent elsewhere.

A spectacular western with an interesting, many-stranded plot, which abundantly confirms Seitz's reputation in the 1920s as a first-class action director. And this is not to say that he misses out on other aspects. The acting is uniformly excellent, with Beery in his element as the villain and Jack Holt a revelation as the conscientious hero. Also presenting plenty of welcome charisma is the beautiful Billie Dove as the troubled heroine, while George Magrill enjoys one of his best roles ever as the two-faced schemer.

Equally outstanding behind-the-camera credits include Bert Glennon's superlative cinematography that has captured the most exciting images of wild horses thundering through inhospitable locations. Thrilling vistas like this are never likely to be seen again.

A rare glimpse of the greatness of the silent western. This is one of the first filmings of the classic Zane Grey story and one of the best. A chance to see why Jack Holt was a major star of silent action movies. Noah Beery is at his most villanous. Beautiful shots of horses running wild through canyons and over rocks. If possible, this one shouldn't be missed.