Silents Fan

It's hard for me to judge this version of the classic Western tale on its own merits, since I've seen the 1929 version so often and loved it so much. I would say that Kenneth Harlan in the titular role certainly looks the part and handles himself well, as does Florence Vidor as the school marm who wins his heart. Raymond Hatton turns in a fine performance full of pathos as Shorty. He's a good and simple cow hand whose dream is just to accumulate enough of a poke to buy a squeeze box, but he is led to his doom by the evil of others. I think the role of Steve is understated in this version compared to the others and the novel itself. His short time on the screen doesn't give Pat O'Malley much time to develop the character. Russell Simpson gives the role of Trampas a good shot, but Walter Huston owns that role, as far as I am concerned.

Hell Hounds of the Plains (1926) stars Yakima Canutt as Deputy Yak Hammond with the fetching Neva Gerba as his romantic interest. Yak was in the lead role rather than a stuntman and/or supporting character that he later specialized in. Supposedly he had voice problems that kept him from playing the lead in talkies. It is a fair oater, with Yak busting up a gang of horse thieves led by his girlfriend's brother, much to the chagrin of her upstanding paw when the varmint's identity was revealed at the end of the movie. Double irony, as the prospective father-in-law had made catching the gang's leader a precondition to giving Yak his daughter's hand in marriage. Features a great knock-down drag-out fist fight between Yak and the villain, and Yak was the man who invented the realistic movie slug fest. The film also offers a fine performance by Yak's mount, Boy the Wonder Horse, who scrambles down ravine walls, jumps off cliffs and dives into the water with or without Yak aboard.

This rather creaky old film is the distant ancestor of both Tarzan's New York Adventure and Crocodile Dundee. What charm and appeal it possesses comes from the titular barbarian's (played by Monroe Salisbury) native intellect and superior character in contrast with the superficial, spoiled and dishonest citizens of civilization. The leading man (Salisbury) overacts with all the dramatic gestures and rolling eyes of stage-trained actors of the early silents. As the romantic female lead, Jane Novak is winsome and appealing and considerably less a slice of ham than Salisbury. Alan Hale is effective and suitably oily as the shady villain trying to steal the backwoodsman's land. Donald Crisp's direction of the film can mainly be faulted for his failure to reign in Salisbury and produce a more realistic, less stagy performance. But it was a Monroe Salisbury Production, so the leading man who was also the head of the production company might not have been amenable to direction. This film is worth watching for its historical interest as a forerunner of other Noble Savage films and for Miss Novak's performance.