THE OUTLAWS OF RED RIVER (1927); THE BEST BAD MAN (1925)

Pickford, Fairbanks, Valentino, Chaplin or Lloyd, Garbo, even Rin Tin Tin; all still names to conjure with as silent cinema’s #1 Sweetheart, Swashbuckler, Latin Lover, Comic, Goddess and Dog.  Only Tom Mix, by far the biggest Western star, no longer a known name.  Two recent restorations show why he’s mostly forgotten, if not why he was once so ubiquitous.  An anodyne presence in the formulaic BEST BAD MAN, he’s better in one of his ‘Special’ productions, OUTLAWS OF RED RIVER/’27.*  The former mostly of interest for a chance to see nineteen-yr-old co-star Clara Bow as the land owning gal who thinks Mix has duped her out promised water irrigation when it’s really Mix, an effete out-of-state landowner, who’s been duped by locals who’ve stolen the money he sent out West.  So, heading West undercover, he sorts things out (with a light comic touch) and falls for Clara after a couple of back-loaded action set pieces: a roller-coaster of a train ride thru the mountains and a flood/rescue after that unfinished dam explodes.  (Note director John G. Blystone credited as co-director with Buster Keaton on OUR HOSPITALITY/’23, also with a flood/rescue finale.)  OUTLAWS is much better, with a nifty backstory for Texas Ranger Tom whose foster parents were murdered by outlaws and his little foster-sister taken.  Sixteen years later, he finds the head of the gang who’s ‘adopted’ the now grown little sister and clears everything up (by  posing as an outlaw & joining the gang) with many thrilling action scenes all thru the pic.  Some for him and some for his remarkable ‘wonder’ horse, Tony.  (It’s Tony who’s worth the price of admission!)  Well staged on great locations with good stunt doubles for Mix, it’s neatly-plotted, well-acted and physically handsome, with exciting direction from B-pic stalwart Lewis Seiler and even a black hat on Tom for a change.  One of Tom’s best.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Mix’s ‘Special’ release of ‘25 was Zane Grey’s RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, possibly his best pic.*  So it was back to programmers like BEST BAD MAN.  (PURPLE survives in superb physical condition, but all home viewing options are lousy dupes.)  OR: Blake Edwards had a great idea in SUNSET/’88: Tom Mix and pal Wyatt Earp (Bruce Willis; James Garner) solve a murder mystery during Hollywood’s silent-to-sound transition.  It opens with a bang up runaway stagecoach sequence then quickly turns lazy, inaccurate and dumb, in Edwards’ worst late period manner.

READ ALL ABOUT IT:  *Au contraire per silent film expert William K. Everson whose ‘Pictorial History of the Western Film,’ a far more serious look at the genre than its title suggests, celebrates the standard Mix mix of horsemanship, action, top technical work & consistent use of stunning filming locations in his regular output, and finds him stumbling on attempts to step out of this formula, listing DICK TURPIN and PURPLE SAGE as rare misfires.