O Gaúcho

Combining the familiar Douglas Fairbanks action scenes with some unexpected material, "The Gaucho" is interesting and pretty good. It might be just a cut below Fairbanks's very best movies, but it has more than enough to satisfy most silent movie fans. The story is involved, and it features some creative turns, while the production is resourceful and quite good for the most part.

Fairbanks's character here is not quite the same as in his usual roles. While the story does give him plenty of action and adventure sequences, his character is not nearly as likable as most of the ones that he played. The way that "The Gaucho" treats the other characters is not at all what you would have expected from his other movies - normally, even when his character is an outlaw in the eyes of the authorities, you get the feeling that you'd have nothing to fear from him unless you deserved it. Not so here.

That does make the character interesting. As with Fairbanks's usual roles, he seeks justice and respect, but unlike most of the others, he also needs redemption in a much deeper sense. And that fits in well with the other unusual aspect of the movie, which is established at the very beginning with the founding of the miraculous shrine. It introduces a supernatural or quasi-religious dimension that is not at all part of movies like "The Black Pirate" or "The Three Musketeers". Yet, for all that it requires a suspension of disbelief, it works pretty well as part of the overall story.

The detailed and sometimes impressive settings, along with the supporting cast, also help out. Lupe Velez has plenty of energy, Gustav von Seyffertitz is a suitable villain, and it's enjoyable to see Mary Pickford's brief appearance. Overall, it's pretty good, despite varying in some respects from time-tested formulas.

Producer Douglas Fairbanks was getting tired playing the same chaste character who not only respected women in an honorable way, but was barely close enough to his love interests to plant a kiss. All that changed in his November 1927 "The Gaucho."

Maybe it was for the fact, as a pallbearer for cinema's male sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino, and witnessing the female hysteria of the actor's sudden death, Fairbanks realized there was a void for a Latin lover on the screen. Soon after the near-riots on the streets surrounding Valentino's coffin, he sat down and wrote the scenario for "The Gaucho," set in the mountains of Argentina. His character, The Gaucho, goes after women with abandon, especially with The Mountain Girl (Lupe Velez). He even dances a provocative tango number with Velez, establishing a physical presence with the opposite sex never witnessed in a Fairbanks' movie before.

Of course, Fairbanks realized he couldn't disappoint his legion of fans by portraying a libidinous character throughout his adventurous motion picture. "The Gaucho" turns on its heels when he becomes infected by some unnamed disease (most likely leprosy). Once he takes his health seriously, he goes to the City of the Miracle, named after an event from a woman's miraculous survival of a fall from a nearby cliff. Fairbanks' wife in real life, Mary Pickford, plays the Madonna, who pays a visit to the city.

"The Gaucho" was directed by F. Richard Jones, the same person who brought back to Hollywood Mabel Normand, who was battling drug addiction for three years. He also worked with Stan Lauren on 19 films before his pairing with Oliver Hardy. Laurel credited Jones with teaching him everything he learned about cinematic comedy. Jones later directed Ronald Coleman in 1929's "Bulldog Drummond" in his first talkie.

For The Mountain Girl role, Fairbanks auditioned several soon-to-be famous young actresses, including Myrna Loy, Fay Wray and Loretta Young. He was especially impressed with Lupe Velez, his love interest in "The Gaucho." The movie gave the actress, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, visibility after appearing in just a couple of Hal Roach shorts, including "Sailors, Beware!" with Laurel and Hardy. Her private life lived up to her nickname "The Mexican Spitfire," including fiery relationships with Gary Cooper, Johnny Weissmuller, Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable, among others.

Fairbanks himself was experiencing quite a year in 1927. He was one of the first to imprint his hands and feet into cement next to the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Mel Brooks in his 1974 black comedy 'Blazing Saddles" has one of his characters say after spotting the actor's mold, "How did he do such fantastic stunts ... with such little feet?" The members of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences also voted him to be the first president of that organization. "The Gaucho" was released one month after Hollywood's first talkie "The Jazz Singer." The Latino-flavored movie proved to be Fairbanks' last fully-silent movie; his next one, 1928's "The Iron Mask" contained a musical and sound effects track along with two short speeches by Fairbanks.

Of the Douglas Fairbanks films I've seen so far, there is not one that came across as bad. The Gaucho may be my least favourite of them, it does get a tad too heavy-handed at times and the religious stuff sometimes bogs it down and give off an odd feel. But what makes Fairbanks' films as good as they are are most definitely present in The Gaucho. The sets are some of the most exotic and lavish of any Fairbanks film, and the same can be said of the costumes. The photography is equally beautiful, and the music score is appropriately rousing which make the stunts and such even more exciting than they already are. There is a strong sense of humour that is as fresh and current now as it was then, the director handles things deftly and the story cannot be called routine, if anything of all the films Fairbanks did The Gaucho is perhaps his least conventional story-wise. It is also very briskly paced and with a constant sense of fun and energy, as well as memorable scenes like the aftermath of the healing miracle. It's not a Fairbanks film without mentioning the stunts and they are spectacularly choreographed and dazzlingly executed. And with real athleticism that has not been matched much by many films today standards. Fairbanks steals the show, as he should as he is the star, he is charisma personified and clearly looks like he's enjoying every moment. His stunts are athletic and youthful and he does show some expressive acting like in the healing miracle scene and its aftermath. He is very well-supported by the rest of the cast, the standouts being Lupe Velez, who plays with a lot of appealing spunk and is sexy without even trying, and Gustav von Seyffertitz, whose suave charm but very twisted malevolence makes for one of the nastiest villains of any Fairbanks film. All in all, while not one of Douglas Fairbanks' best it is still a treat. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Unusual but beautifully made and typically enjoyable Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, which finds the star at his most roguish (while still being his dashing and athletic self); with the Argentine pampas for backdrop, the film – whose full official title is DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS AS THE GAUCHO – can be considered a semi-Western. The narrative encompasses romance (supplied by fiery Lupe Velez), religion (via the presence of a miraculous shrine overseen by a saintly shepherdess – we even get a couple of visions of the Madonna herself, played by Fairbanks' own equally popular actress wife, Mary Pickford!) as well as more characteristic action (in the form of The Gaucho's opposition to the rule of tyrannical Gustav von Seyffertitz). A subplot which ties in with the element of faith sees the hero being deliberately contaminated by a carrier of "The Black Doom" whom he had previously slighted, though both are eventually cured. Fairbanks' trademark pioneering spirit in the technical department is also well in evidence here – with matte paintings giving the illusion of a truly elaborate visual design, reversed film for one particularly showy leap by the star onto his faithful steed, and even the wholesale horse-driven transportation of a house at one point!

He is feared by men and adored by women - but only one woman will tame him. He acknowledges no creed, but only One Faith will claim him. No jail shall hold him or treasure elude him. He is South America's greatest bandit and soon the fate of the Andes' most venerated shrine will be in his hands. He is THE GAUCHO.

Douglas Fairbanks was at the pinnacle of his fame when he made this wonderful adventure film. His buoyant on-screen charm is matched only by his superb & graceful athleticism. He is secure in his position as one of the very greatest of cinema legends.

Lupe Velez makes a fiery & beautiful love interest as the Mountain Girl, flirting or fighting with Fairbanks at every twist of the plot; Nigel De Brulier as The Padre & Eve Southern as the Girl of The Shrine are saintly in their supporting roles. That's Mary Pickford in a cameo as the Virgin Mary. And once seen, who can ever forget The Victim of the Black Doom?

The sets and the special effects shots - using glass mattes - are exceptional. The very long City of the Miracles set is one of the finest ever created for a silent film.