La conquête de Barbara Worth

I must confess that even though I am a silent film enthusiast with quite a collection of silent films on DVD/Blu-ray (and a number of reviews of them on Amazon), I had never heard of THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH. Now that I have seen it the surprise is even greater. Made by Samuel Goldwyn in 1926 and featuring Gary Cooper in his first credited film appearance, this movie is an outstanding example of a late American silent film. Not a classic but a well constructed, well acted and well photographed film presented here in a pristine print with color tints and a score performed by legendary organist Gaylord Carter. The speed transfer is occasionally too fast but never enough to detract from what you're watching.

The director was Henry King who made the silent classic TOL'ABLE DAVID in 1921 and whose career lasted well into the sound era with other classics such as THE SONG OF BERNADETTE, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH, and THE SUN ALSO RISES. The casting shows what silent films were truly capable of. Joining Cooper are Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky as the romantic leads which would have been impossible in the sound era as Hungarian actress Banky could barely speak English and Colman's voice was much too urbane to be believable in a Western setting. The story of Western boom towns and the building of a faulty dam which results in massive flooding is based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright and is still relevant today. Director King knows how to handle both the action scenes and the quieter moments which were his real specialty.

THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH was originally part of the 4 DVD set GARY COOPER: MGM MOVIE LEGENDS COLLECTION which was released back in 2007. In addition to BARBARA WORTH it featured 3 sound features THE COWBOY AND THE LADY (1938), THE REAL GLORY (1939), and the influential VERA CRUZ (1954) with Burt Lancaster and directed by Robert Aldrich. If you love Gary Cooper then by all means get that set for your collection. If you are a silent film enthusiast like myself or a fan of Ronald Colman and just want the silent then look no further. This Warner Archive DVD-R is the same copy that was released in the MGM set...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

A familiar title, as it was Gary Cooper's debut, I've always thought it was some sort of drama about settlers in which a fort or township called 'Barbara Worth' (as in 'Santa Barbara') gets saved at the end.

However Barbara Worth turns out to be the name of the heroine, and the plot proves more of a soap opera than an action movie, as Ronald Colman and Gary Cooper vie for her affection.

Who cares? Despite their combined star power, Colman has little to do, and Cooper even less. Vilma Banky is charming in the title role, but the personal drama proves remarkably uninteresting. What makes the film live is the superb photography by George Barnes and Gregg Toland - shown off to perfection in the beautiful tinted print available - and the flood created when the Colorado bursts its banks, engineered by special effects veteran Ned Mann, (best-known for his work in Britain for Korda during the 30's), who presumably also created the Dust Devil we see at the start.

Early in the 20th century a well-to-do settler in Colorado (played by Charles Lane) plans to divert the Colorado river in order to irrigate the desert. He wins an investor from the East, whose engineer (Ronald Colman) soon becomes interested in his adopted daughter (Vilma Bánky). In this, the engineer finds himself the rival of a local cowboy (Gary Cooper). There is a lot going on in this film. People are killed in sandstorms, dams are built and rivers diverted, cities founded and destroyed, there are gunfights etc. Etc. In short: there is everything a great epic movie needs - a movie of the kind I usually love. Still, 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' does not rock my boat. This is because so much stuff is happening that director Henry King pays as good as no attention to character development. None of the people mentioned above are more then empty cyphers. You could easily exchange the cowboy for the engineer - the story would work just as well or poorly. Cooper and Colman have exactly the same kind of character, meaning none at all except that they are handsome, courageous and considerate. The picture is heavily tinted, and this is another issue. Granted, the amber desert scenes are beautiful (not only because of the tinting but also because they are beautifully filmed), but in other scenes the colour is far too dominant. And while the pale grey-blue works well for dusk, the pink, for example, could have been applied more carefully. Still, this is a minor point compared to the weak character development. Essentially, it was that issue which spoilt the film for me.

This is a great example of a silent film that captures some of the original pioneering spirit of those American settlers determined to make a go of it - even in the harshest of circumstances. Charles Lane is "Jefferson Worth" - a rancher who rescues orphaned "Barbara" (Vilma Bánky) and brings her up as his own daughter. Years pass and as she grows, so do the ambitions of the territory - and when a developer arrives with an engineering project that could irrigate the arid land, they jump at the chance. Problem is, the developer skimps on the construction of the dam, and so at the first heavy rainfall upstream it all goes a bit awry. Meantime, both the stepson of the crooked developer "Willard" (Ronald Colman) and her father's ranch foreman "Abe" (Gary Cooper) are fighting for the favour of "Barbara" and it's not long before everything comes to a head. Technically, the imagery is super - the film copes well with what must have been very intense sunlight, and the detail is perfect. Maybe just the odd too many inter-titles that can break up the pace a bit, but in the round it's a well made, enjoyable piece of cinema history with a decent story and lovely score from Ted Henkel played on the Wurlitzer to boot.

Henry King directs this Western full of romance and heroics. Irrigation engineer Willard Holmes (Ronald Colman) is hired to build a water system for a parched Southwestern community. Barbara Worth (Vilma Banky), the adopted daughter of ranch boss Jefferson Worth (Charles Lane), falls for the debonair outsider, much to the annoyance of Worth Ranch foreman Abe Lee (Gary Cooper). This romantic rivalry leads to hardship and danger, all of which serves to empower local baron Greenfield (E. J. Ratcliffe).

It is odd seeing Colman in a western setting, but he handles himself well enough in the milieu. Cooper, in his first starring role, is green but has undeniable screen presence. Banky is lovely and satisfactory. The most memorable sequence is the big finale river flood, and it's well executed.