The Great K & A Train Robbery

Contrary to the IMDb rating and its reputation, this movie is very good. If you are a fan of westerns but are tired of all the talking and waiting, of endless meaningful glances and a meditative rhythm and you want some ACTION, get this film! This is one of the best action films of all time, with some exemplary stunt work. The storyline is easy to follow, but without any plot holes as has become a standard nowadays. Tom Mix is a great Cowboy and fits the character he is portraying wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, I love Douglas Fairbanks, and admire his artistry, but besides his greater charm, he is nowhere as good as Tom Mix in this film. This is meant as an invitation to all Fairbanks' fans, because this will be exactly their kind of film. At 53 minutes, the film never drags and does what it set out to do almost perfectly. If only more films where this modest.

Cullen, president of the K & A railroad, is at a loss to stop the robberies occurring on his line, even though he is unaware his secretary, Holt, is secretly tipping off the bandits with the shipments. Tom Morgan is called on to investigate, even though he needs to disguise himself as an outlaw in order infiltrate Tolfree's gang and hear their plans. When Cullen decides to send a shipment of bonds with him on another train, Holt tells Tolfree, who's going to lead his gang into robbery unless Tom's assistant, a hobo named Deluxe Harry, can relay the information to him in time. This is one of the more enjoyable Mix silents (of which there are still way too few) with a brisk pace, exciting chases, thrilling stunts throughout, and an exciting climax in an underground cave. A prologue to the film points out the exterior shots being in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and they are very striking adding a lot of beauty to the picture. I think the film tried to be too mysterious with Mix' characterization and the character of the butler could have been eliminated since Deluxe Harry fit in well as the comic relief. Rating 8.

I am not a fan of silent movies and I didn't know this was a silent film when I started watching. But... it got me from the start. Tom Mix was 46 when he made this film and he did his own stunts! The opening stunt with the ropes over the raging river got me into the film. His horse " Tony " is really good. How did they get him to go across a rope bridge? Apparently Mix rode Tony for many years. The story is predictable but well done as well. The train scenes are fun to watch and although there are some scenes which seem to me over acted I found it a really enjoyable film. It is also interesting to see the furnishings of the railway cars and the steam engines, which are so obviously authentic for their time. It's a duster, not a great movie, but fun to watch. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. There are so many little things of interest throughout the film which give one a glimpse of what life was like - way back when.

For those interested in American silent movie history, this film provides a rare look into movies as popular culture. Sadly, 95% of all silent fims made, have been lost through nitrate decomposition or outright destruction. This film made in 1926, is a rare survivor of the cowboy genre targeted for a youth audience. The plot to say the least is simplistic. But it was loaded wonderful stunts, constant action and spectacular scenery. Tom Mix was a hugh boxoffice draw, and as well know then, as was Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, or Mary Pickford. If you're curious to see a film that might well have thrilled your great grandfather and great grandmother when they were kids, check out *The Great A&K*.

Popular actor Tom Mix was a veteran of the screen by the time John Wayne's first appearance in front of the camera, debuting in a short for Selig Polyscope's 1909 "The Cowboy Millionaire.'" By the time he was in October 1926's "The Great K & A Train Robbery," Mix was Hollywood's top Western actor, pulling in well over $7,500 per week. Wearing his trademark wide-brimmed white hat and wearing flashy clothes, Mix performed all his physical stunts. He's first seen in "The Great K & A Robbery" dangling high above the Colorado River eavesdropping on a conversation between two baddies on the edge of a cliff. Once Mix gets the lowdown on what those two desperados are up to, he proceeds to get on his trusty horse, 'Tony the Wonder Horse,' a celebrity in his own right, to chase after a speeding train with Madge Cullen (Dorothy Dwan), on board. She's the object of a kidnapping scheme by the gang looking to cash in on a big ransom payback.

Based on a Paul Leicester Ford 1896 novel, "The Great K & A Robbery," the film sees Mix as a detective investigating a series of robberies on the K & A Railroad. He discovers the president of the rail company's secretary is an insider working in cahoots with the bandits responsible for holding up his employer's trains. All the exterior action takes place in the rugged terrain of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where scores of that town's citizenship came out to watch Mix perform his daredevil feats before the camera.

By the time the silent film era ended, Mix had been in 282 movies. His transition to sound was not quite as successful, since, because of a previous accident where a bullet entered his throat, as well as several broken noses over the years from stunt work, Mix's voice didn't have that strength of authority required for a macho cowboy he had been portraying all those years. He did make nine films for Universal Pictures when talkies entered the pictures. But his extravagant spending and a purchase of a circus which his daughter ran into the ground, resulted his finances being squandered away. In 1940, while driving to visit a sheriff in Tucson, Arizona, Mix swerved to avoid construction barriers marking a washed out bridge. A heavy suitcase in the backseat hit him square in the back of his head as his car overturned in a gully, breaking his neck. He was instantly killed at the age of 60.