L'agonia di una stirpe

Considering that this was made only 5 years after sound was added to movies, I think that some of the negative comments is extremely unfair. This is one of the problems in reviewing old movies. Should they be judged by current standards or should allowances be made for age? Personally my answer is that the only fair way to solve the problem is to give two ratings on all movies prior to say 1935, one using current standards and the other allowing for age . This would be particularly important for silent films. Using that approach I would give this serial a five for today but a 7 for 1932. If you doubt this try watching other movies of its day-they do not make very interesting watching today with very few exceptions.

This antique serial stars Harry Carey as Hawkeye. It is a chore to watch this film because it is as slow as molasses. Some video versions have added some equally dull music. A couch potato may wear out his rewind button on his remote because this version induces sleep. It does not come close to being faithful to the novel. One of the only serials I have bought and erased, one one should stick to the great 1992 version or the good Randolph Scott version.