Pelas Alturas

This is a rousing and impressive Tom Mix adventure film. It is not a 'cowboy movie' because it is set in contemporary times (i.e., 1922, when it was made). True, Tom Mix wears his trademark cowboy hat and packs a six-shooter, but it is in his capacity as Chief of Border Control on the Mexican border with Arizona and Texas. He is trying to prevent illegal immigration into the United States. Sound familiar? What could be more topical today? He discovers a people trafficking gang and their hideout, which is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Although the Alpha Home DVD which I saw was of very poor visual quality, having been made from a tired print, this film must have been truly spectacular on a big cinema screen in a crisp print at the time of its release. I wonder if a negative survives, as it would be well worth making a high-quality digitized version of this film so that everything can be seen as it was meant to be seen. For the scenery is incredible, and the antics and stunts are sensational. Tom Mix seems to have done a lot of his own stunt work. He scrambles up and down the cliff faces of the Grand Canyon like a tireless mountain goat. He seems to have been as physically fit as a Navy Seal. The first aerial shots of the Grand Canyon on film are to be found in this movie, and Tom Mix suspended on a rope from a wobbly biplane as he dangles and then drops into the swirling Colorado River is really something to behold. Tom Mix is also a sensational rider, who must have had rodeo experience. It is well known that he had once been a real cowboy. There is a wonderful scene where he lassos some bad guys from his horse as they stand next to an old tree stump. He then rides round and round them in a circle and winds the rope around them tight against the tree stump, leaving them helpless prisoners while he deals with the other bad guys. I would have liked to see close-ups of his lassoing and rope tricks, for he seems to have been almost as talented at it as Will Rogers. There is a gal played by Eva Novak whom he falls for. She appeared with him in no less than ten films, so that's a lot of falling in love. If only we could see a pristine print of this film, to appreciate the beauty of the scenery, which is exploited to the full. And for those who like action and don't want to just gaze at the canyon, the film is stuffed with it. The star is, after all, Tom Mix, and we know what that means: he isn't just straight up, he's mixed three parts pure Tom, two parts actions, one part suspense, and a dash of romance, shaken hard on horseback, and served with salt round the edge of the saddle.

I have heard the legends around Tom Mix for decades. This is the first of his features that I've seen. Some legends of the past don't hold up a century later. That's not true with Mr. Mix. He was King of the Cowboys then. He's clearly King of the Cowboys now.

Sky High is a great showcase for his talents. He ropes, rides, lassos and leaps from planes. He was never the troubled antihero struggling between right and wrong. He was always the model of unambiguous virtue.

I gave this picture seven stars. It probably deserved eight. I felt compelled to reduce its score because of the racism against Chinese people displayed in the story. It was a dark thumbprint on an otherwise fun and fast paced film.

Pleasant short feature -- it times out a bit under fifty minutes -- about Tom Mix, a government agent intent on stopping unlawful Chinese immigrants coming into the US via the Grand Canyon. This feature was shot in the Grand Canyon and so has some very nice scenery. Tom smiles a lot and the villains are appropriately vicious. While not as good as his best, the surviving prints are in excellent shape.

In this silent, Tom Mix plays a federal agent who is investigating a ring that is smuggling illegal Chinese people into the country via the Grand Canyon!! This is pretty lame, but the rest of the film surprised me. Although not really a western, I was very impressed by the location shooting as well as the great stunt work. Some of it, particularly the long shots, were probably not Mix himself but they were impressive nonetheless. And some clearly were Tom doing some amazing climbing and other acts of rugged manliness! When you then consider the gorgeous location shoot, it's a film of the genre well worth seeing--especially because the production values of this film are actually much better of the average sound western of the following decades. Not a brilliant plot but exceptionally well executed.

Sky High (1922)

*** (out of 4)

I'll admit that the story to this Tom Mix Western is pretty weak but thankfully there are enough great stunts for two movies. In the film Mix plays a border agent who is trying to bust a group of men who are illegally transporting Chinese through the Grand Canyon. On one of his journeys the man discovers a woman (Eva Novak) near her death. The two of them strike up a relationship but she's soon kidnapped by the same group who are smuggling the Chinese. SKY HIGH is an awfully silly movie on one hand because the story is so far-fetched that you can't take it too serious. Everything that happens between Mix and the woman can be chalked up as really lame melodrama and by the end of the picture you really won't have a burning desire to see the two together. However, it's doubtful people in 1922 were going into a Mix film wanting romance. I'd say crowds wanted to see their cowboy hero doing wild stunts, shooting it out with the bad guys and of course getting into a few fights and all of that happens here. I'd say there's enough action for two movies because they cram quite a bit into the brief 60-minute running time. If you've seen the remaining fragments of Mix's HEARTS AND SADDLES then you'll notice some amazing stunts where he (or his double) are climbing up and down the side of a cliff. Well, that stunt is done at least six or seven times here as the Grand Canyon is certainly put to good use and it really does become its own character. The stunts are just amazing to watch and it's clear, at times, that Mix is doing his own work. Just take a look at a quick sequence towards the end where Mix must jump from one side of the cliff to the other. I'm not sure if a trick was done to pull this off but it really looks like a tremendous fall could happen if he jumped the wrong distance. The film ends with a large fight with countless extras and before that we get one chase, fight or some sort of other bit of action. It should come as no shock but Mix does his part justice as does J. Farrell MacDonald and Sid Jordan in their roles. I wasn't overly thrilled with the performance of Novak but she's not too bad. SKY HIGH isn't remembered by too many but once you see it I'm sure you'll be impressed enough to try and get someone else to watch it as well.