THE STOLEN RANCH (1926)

Director-in-chrysalis William Wyler, captured here in his early twenties plugging away at Universal Pictures, alternating two-reel Western shorts with the occasional five-reel Western feature, often with regular leading man Fred Humes.  Most of these films long gone (and not much to be missed if contemporary reviews can be believed), so we’re lucky this surviving five-reeler is such a charmer.  (Possibly thanks to a lot of on set rewriting; possibly by Wyler.)  It follows a pair of WWI buds (note freshly shot war footage), the two very bromantic after swapping life saves in the war which left one severely shell-shocked.  Now out West back home, with an inherited ranch to run, our shell-shocked vet lucky his pal (Humes) plans to hang around to keep him from freaking out whenever a shot rings out.  Especially since a couple of con men have counterfeited a fake will and plan to sell the farm from its shell-shocked rightful owner.  The buyer’s a neighboring rancher with a pretty daughter who soon develops an eye for the wounded vet while his fellow vet, his protector, hired on the ranch where the forgers are plotting, hits it off with the pretty gal he shares K.P. duty with.  (Humes is staying undercover to expose the scam and no one knows he’s the wounded vet’s BFF nor that he’s an expert horseman.)  Boilerplate stuff, but what a swell job Wyler makes of it.  Pacing, horsey showmanship, handsome locations, daring use of blackout action, great shot composition on the romantic roundelay mix-ups (how’d Wyler find the time to get these things so precise on a 6-day shoot?), neat comic relief (check out the potato juggling on K.P.), with the forgotten Fred Humes putting out darn pleasant aw-shucks two-fisted Western appeal.   Modest fare, but doing just what it came to do.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Only the second credit for cinematographer Alan Jones which means Wyler likely took charge photographically.  It helps explains why Wyler’s partnership with lensing icon Gregg Toland only warmed up once someone told Wyler not to tell Toland what lens, what lights and what angles to use on every set up.  ALSO: Note Wyler’s natural use of compound silent storytelling as when Humes starts getting on with his romance while on kitchen duty; turning potato peeling into a bit of comic relief; listening thru the door on the plot to steal the ranch from his shell-shocked pal; and playing dumb when he’s nearly caught.  Four or five narrative balls in the air all at once without breaking a sweat.  Maybe all newbie directors should make five-reel silent Westerns instead of going to film school.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  See Wyler triumphantly emerge from his apprenticeship on his last silent, THE SHAKEDOWN/’29.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-shakedown-1929.html