Romance of the Wasteland

"Romance of the Wasteland" (1924) stars Art Mix, Alma Rayford, Wilber McGaugh, Virginia Marshall, Clifford Davidson, and Neola May. Nicely written by Milburn Morante and directed by Victor Adamson, the latter a man whom some consider the worst director and producer before Ed Wood; yet here he does a creditable job all around in a cheap "B" Western that's definitely worth the watch. At first we have plot line after plot line, but all with the same characters, though sometimes with an addition: so, we have character development continuing. Then all the plot lines converge into an interesting story, one of them finally solving a mystery that has probably baffled the viewer: does Alma Rayford have a husband? Was she ever married? Who's the father of her young daughter? Of course there are the baddies. One of them is genuinely a real baddie, Clifford Davidson (evidently part of the Adamson coterie in 1924, as he appears in other films directed by him, all which starred Art Mix). Young Virginia Marshall plays Rayford's daughter. She's cute as a button, but she's not a very good actress, not that anyone will care that much. Unfortunately, whole scenes are missing, and a couple of them are plot-worthy. Whether they are missing because of wear or whether they were cut to make this seemingly cut-down version (re-released a couple of years later) is a mystery possibly past solving. This is on the same Grapevine release with "Ace of Cactus Range" (1924), also starring Mix. Worth the watch if you're a silent "B" Western fan.

What is more interesting yet is learning about Victor Adamson. His alias was - oh, yeah, Art Mix. (He also directed under the name of Denver Dixon!) NO, though, NOT the same as the actor who played the cowboy; who, by the way, was really George Washington Kesterson! There were two other Art Mix people who ended up in Hollywood, too. Both were given these nom de plumes by - yes, Victor Adamson. If you're confused, imagine what Tom Mix thought about it. His team sued Adamson. Art Mix, the cowboy actor, continued to use the name for a while, but eventually began using his real name later. Adamson kept going as director, actor, you name it. He appeared in nearly 300 films, mostly uncredited until he died at 82 in 1972. Some of the worst films ever made appeared under his name or with his name as one of the actors, but he made a fair living, sometimes appearing in 25 films a year as a "barfly", a "henchman", you name it. This film, "Romance of the Wasteland" was a masterpiece for Adamson, and it remains quite watchable. I would have called it "Romance IN the Wasteland" because it takes place next to a cactus desert (same one that appeared in "Ace of Cactus Range"), and the romance takes place in shacks in the desert and in a little desert town next to the desert, but I didn't write the story. Ex-vaudevillian and silent short comedian Milburn Morante wrote the scenario from his own story. Because this film was probably never a first run film in a major city, but only released in the rurals, we can only hope someone made a dime out of all this. Very nice desert location shooting. It was probably cheap as can be to film in because the snakes, rocks, and scorpions didn't charge for use of the property.

One little extra: there's a scene where young Virginia Marshall sees a very, very young boy (probably no older than 2, and drags him bodily down to a river to wash him. He's been playing in the muddy dirt and is filthy. She tries to drag him into the river, but he gets up and runs away. It's obvious that he's had an enormous bowel movement in his white long underwear he's in... Whether or not this was left in for amusement or wasn't seen by the cameraman is a question that isn't worth pursuing, but the scene breaks away quickly to something else as though the film broke at this point or it was hurriedly cut for the cut-down version.

On the same Grapevine disc as "Ace of Cactus Range" is another 1924 release from our Mr Art Mix (no relation to Tom, whose lawyers threatened to sue him, forcing Art to revert to his real name, George Kesterson). This one, a "Romance of the Wasteland" was produced by Mr Mix himself. Although no director is credited, we suspect that Denver Dixon of "Cactus Range" handled this one too as the style (the slick use of real locations – we love the train!) is very similar. The script, on the other hand, is more detailed and crams quite a lot of plot into a mere 48 minutes. In fact, Mr Mix often takes a back seat to the heavies and the agreeable heroine, Alma Rayford, who, despite her somewhat heavy build (which was totally unfashionable at the time), still enjoyed a modest career along Poverty Row in the 1920s.