Le Gaucho

This is typical 20's Fairbanks, when he was making his grand epic swashbucklers, with typical over-complicated plots. The character reminds me of the first Zorro, but this guy is harder, and nastier (even after his miraculous reform). Fairbanks was also in his mid-forties when he made it, which explains his fined-down, but still very buff, appearance.

The plot is a mythical Argentina (with a tango thrown in to define the place, but it could take place anywhere, including Zorro's Early California. Fairbanks does wear an exotic costume, though.

Lupe Velez' Mountain Girl is the real departure. She is feisty, for one, and swashes every bit of buckle that Fairbanks does. These sort of characters are usually the one who DOESN'T get her man; here, it is with great satisfaction that she does--a woman ahead of her times!

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!

As Douglas Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance has noted, "The Gaucho" is different from the action star's swashbucklers he'd been making since "The Mark of Zorro" (1920), citing the film's shift from the prior ones' boyish adventurism to more mature themes of sexuality and spirituality. Once again, Doug, this time as the Gaucho, saves a community from a dastardly villain, but this storyline becomes secondary to his religious conversion. Initially, the Gaucho isn't the perfect hero, either, although Doug still seems to perform stunts effortlessly (thanks in part to undercranking the camera and some quick, even sometimes choppy, editing).

And, this time, the girl pursues and tries to rescue him. Lupe Velez, as the easily-jealous, not damsel-y at all Mountain Girl, matches and sometimes exceeds Doug's exuberance. At one point, she tackles a guy and beats him up, and she likewise experiences a religious conversion. Usually, these type of religious pictures, complete with faith healing, a magical fountain and superimposed Virgin Marys would bore the hell out of me. I shudder at the thought of a film where the Girl of the Shrine, with her vacant expressions-supposedly alluding to spiritual superiority-were the protagonist.

But, Doug exudes charisma, his smile is contagious, and the religion, at least, slows his rollicking down for a moment. Otherwise, the guy is non-stop motion; he only sits down to briefly strike a pose and a match for his also-fervent cigarette smoking. Plus, The Gaucho does include the usual fare of Doug as the hero of the oppressed, defeater of dastardly villains. There's no sword fighting, but he does use a whip, performs some horse riding tricks, jumps all over the place and uses his wits to overcome large armies, including the climactic cattle stampede. The sets are also grand, per usual. Doug and his merry band of gauchos even help move one of them.

Having finally read Jeffrey Vance's marvelous biography DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, it made me realize that roughly half of his 1920s action-adventure films are available in recently restored editions. THE MARK OF ZORRO, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, THE BLACK PIRATE, & THE IRON MASK have been given the deluxe home video treatment they deserve. What about THE THREE MUSKETEERS, ROBIN HOOD, DON Q, SON OF ZORRO, and THE GAUCHO? Concerning the last title only this 2001 Kino release was available for awhile but now it's been withdrawn hence the high price.

According to Vance, the original film was color tinted with two Technicolor sequences featuring Mary Pickford as The Virgin Mary. This Kino version is in pretty good black & white but the speed transfer is a trifle too fast. Nevertheless it's good enough to show that THE GAUCHO, Fairbanks' penultimate silent film, is actually one of his best. It's only 96 minutes long, has the 44 year old Fairbanks in peak athletic form performing some truly marvelous stunts, and features a star making performance from the 17 year old Lupe Velez. It also gives us a darker, more amoral character than Doug ever played before or would play again.

Set in an unspecified time before the turn of the 20th Century, the movie tells the story of "The Gaucho", a devil-may-care bandit who leads a large group of men and who does as he pleases. His story is juxtaposed with the "Girl of the Shrine" who is clearly patterned after Bernadette of Lourdes. She resides in the City of the Miracle where years before she was restored to life by a vision of the Virgin Mary. The Gaucho comes to rob the city but is mystified by the young woman while engaging in a dalliance with a young villager (Velez). A tyrant, Ruiz, seeks the city's gold and sends his troops to conquer the city and dispose of anyone standing in his way. Add a contagious leper, a religious conversion, and a cattle stampede finale and you have the most intriguing movie Fairbanks ever made.

Also on this Kino release is Fairbanks' strangest film ever, the bizarre 1916 comedy THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH in which he plays "Coke Ennyday" an outrageous parody of Sherlock Holmes who shoots up constantly and drinks cocktails composed of gin, laudanum & prussic acid! Fairbanks intended it to be a spoof of William Gillette's 1915 feature SHERLOCK HOLMES but that reference is lost on modern audiences. The drug usage is not. This print of FISH is the best I've ever seen even better than the one on the Flicker Alley FAIRBANKS set.

So Flicker Alley, The Cohen Group, Kino Lorber, and whoever else out there who specializes in silent film restorations, take note! It is time that THE GAUCHO be given the deluxe treatment that it deserves so that new generations of silent film aficionados can enjoy the movie the way that Douglas Fairbanks intended. Producer Fairbanks never scrimped on production values and he would be dismayed at the many, cheap public domain copies of his films out there...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

The Gaucho (1927) : Brief Review -

An atypical Douglas Fairbanks lavish entertainer with a spiritual zest. Far from Allan Dwan's swashbuckler flicks, Douglas Fairbanks found himself on a spiritual path with this F. Richard Jones's directorial. Counting every Fairbanks trademark right, be it scale, comedy, or surroundings, The Gaucho goes a step ahead with devotional fervour, mainly suitable for believers. The film starts with a young girl falling down from a height and yet getting up alright after the holy power saves her and blesses her with special powers. The girl prays from her heart and does miracles, which convert the place into a sacred shrine, and the place is called the town of miracles. Far up in the north, there is a disreputable leader of a group of bandits, El Gaucho, who is off to invade the sacred shrine and take all the wealth. A local strongman, Ruiz, is also after the same, which puts these two strong men against each other. Gaucho enters the place with his gang, but soon realises that the lady is no regular human. He can feel something but can't express or understand what it is. How fate turns the game against him and how he acknowledges the spiritual path are all you get to see in the film. Like I said, it's an atypical Fairbanks entertainer, so you might miss some of the trademark shots, but not much. He delivers enough for his audience; it's just a little different this time. Lupe Vélez looks beautiful as a Holy Girl, and not even for a moment did she look fake. Nigel De Brulier, Charles Stevens, and Gustav von Seyffertitz were okay, while Albert MacQuarrie left a better impact without showing his face (except once). The F. Richard Jones' movie has drama, comedy, action, and a spiritual message, and that's more than what you'd expect, I guess. "Just follow these; you need no rules."

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.