The Arizona Kid

I finished my Art Acord couple of evenings with "Pursued" (originally titled "The Arizona Kid") 1929. Of the three Acord films I've seen, this was easily the best of the three. It was also the single worst print. The beginning is nearly unwatchable, the figures and even the scenery so blurry as to be nearly unrecognizable; however, as the film progresses, it becomes quite watchable, though light and faded and full of endless artifacts.

Acord actually acquits himself quite well, both as actor and rider. In the other two films I've seen ("The White Outlaw", also 1929, and "Fighters in the Saddle", again 1929) Acord was barely seen on a horse, and when he mounted, he looked as if it were more than a chore. At one time he was considered one of the best horsemen in the Western acting business. Well, here he shows his stuff on his trick horse, Star. Acord is a marshal who goes undercover to catch a gang of thieves led by the nasty Cliff Lyons. Lyons and his gang have captured a mail truck with large amounts of cash on it. Of course this is in the West, so everybody rides a horse, while the mail is delivered in a 20s truck that looks as if it dates from the early teens. Anyway, Acord acts, not a tad dippy, but actually extremely effeminate and wheedles his way into the gang. I'm sure the LGBT community would not especially appreciate the character Acord plays in this, but it's used as a ruse - and it IS funny, or at least was to me - to capture the gang. It succeeds, and Acord gets the girl (Carol Lane). Of the three films of Acord, I liked this one best. Let's say, 5 stars out of 10. I'd give it 1½ stars out of ten if I need to include how the print affects the rating, but I'll leave that alone and just settle with an overall 5.

This is a second film on a double-filmed DVD from Alpha. As far as I know, the three films I've watched are the only Acord films available on DVD. Of the over 100 films Art Acord made, only less than 10 are known to survive in any major form. It's curious, too, that the three surviving films of Acord are all from 1929, and all of them are still silent, while nearly all the film world - for the most part, anyway - was already going to sound.

My copy of this film is from a mid-thirties (I think) reissue with a different title (PURSUED) and title card and end card (all the other cards throughout the film are original and tastefully done, not like the cheesy reissue cards). It also seems to be missing the first minute or so, as Art Acord is present from the first frame, yet no title card announces him, although every other minor character gets his/her own title card. The quality of the print is also just fair--only in close-ups can one see details in faces as the print is washed out as if duplicated one too many times or perhaps blown up from 8mm. In any event, this film actually borrows heavily from another Horace "Maniac" Carpenter directorial effort done three years earlier, THE LAST CHANCE with Bill Patton. One or two of the puns in the dialog cards are even re-used here! Acord is quite funny as a marshal posing as a dude in a department-store "outlaw outfit" who acts like a clown as he tries to infiltrate a gang. Since he's such a harmless clown and since the gang needs a new member, they accept him. Acord plays this role more outrageously than Bill Patton did, even acting a bit swishy here and there (and I'm not reading this into the film, since the dialog cards confirm it was intended). No great analysis is needed of this film--and the quality of the print keeps me from saying much about the photography or the performances of the supporting actors. Carpenter himself has a small role, but I can't really see what he's doing with his face, just a white blur. The rating of 6 is for what the film might be in a good quality print--the print I saw would get a rating of 3 or 4. For the serious silent western fan only. I look forward to seeing more of Acord's work (he's from my one-time home of Stillwater, Oklahoma!)--see my review of FIGHTERS OF THE SADDLE.