Wild Beauty

I was thoroughly impressed with this film, even though the DVD copy I obtained came from a mail order company that has done nothing to restore their print. I hope someone with the means and time to do so will take an interest. WILD BEAUTY was a Universal Jewel production. The hero of the film. Bill Moran(Hugh Allan)is an infantryman in World War I. He rescues a white Thoroughbred mare from a hastily abandoned château that both the Germans and the Americans want. Bill takes "Valerie" back to the United States after the War and is vexed that a wild stallion (Rex) tries to steal her for his herd.

There is the usual plot wherein the hero's girlfriend is in some sort of trouble. This time the trouble is caused by her father, who is somewhat of a gambling fool. The villains of the story want his land really badly and are pretty sleazy in the means by which they trick him to try to get it. The wild stallion character is the fulcrum by which the story is spring-boarded. Unlike contemporary films with plots similar to this one (see American BLACK BEAUTY), the action is nonstop and the plotting is relatively free from contrivance. Producers and scriptwriters of modern family films would do well to study silent films because they could learn a thing or two about pacing.