The legendary William S. Hart's last film is a large scale homage to the passing days of the Old West, with star Hart portraying a grizzled veteran cowboy who sees the death of his lifestyle in the Oklahoma land rush and the last great cattle drives. It is often visually moving, but not very psychologically astute (nor perhaps does it attempt to be).
Hart's character Don Carver falls for a young woman named Molly (Barbara Bedford) who has come west to try to make a land claim along with her older (J. Gordon Russell) and younger (Jack Murphy) brothers. Unbeknownst to her, the elder brother is making plans with a villainous criminal (Richard Neill) to take the best spot of land and leave Molly out in the cold. They frame Carver as a "sooner", so that he can't help Molly. But Carver escapes from his prison and rides at breakneck speed across the plains to try to win the land for his lady love.
The scenes towards the end with the land rush are quite impressive in scale, and the fast riding Hart really impresses with his own stunt prowess. It's the very definition of a "set-peice" scene, basically a film version of one of the Wild West shows that used to be so popular at Expos and so forth (Buffallo Bill's show being the most famous). However I felt a bit let down by the actual fighting... the two bad guys didn't really fight Hart, they just ran away like cowards. I suppose that was the point, but it makes for a less exciting western when we don't get to see a good shoot-out.
Hart's presence is excellent, but his actual performance is at times laughable. Never moreso than at the very conclusion of the film, when he wipes his brow and gives the camera a look of anguish that would have embarrassed even some of his Shakespearean brethren (Hart was a classically trained actor, and it shows). He's excellent in the early scenes when his presence is more stoic, but whenever the film asks him to show emotion he betrays it with showy affectations.
I'm glad I saw it, if only as a history lesson in western film. The movie is not as goofy as a lot of the westerns from that time, but also not quite as self-serious as Ford's silents. It's a film that knows its place as a spectacle entertainment, and also manages to convey the sadness and majesty of the last days of the West.
Hart's character Don Carver falls for a young woman named Molly (Barbara Bedford) who has come west to try to make a land claim along with her older (J. Gordon Russell) and younger (Jack Murphy) brothers. Unbeknownst to her, the elder brother is making plans with a villainous criminal (Richard Neill) to take the best spot of land and leave Molly out in the cold. They frame Carver as a "sooner", so that he can't help Molly. But Carver escapes from his prison and rides at breakneck speed across the plains to try to win the land for his lady love.
The scenes towards the end with the land rush are quite impressive in scale, and the fast riding Hart really impresses with his own stunt prowess. It's the very definition of a "set-peice" scene, basically a film version of one of the Wild West shows that used to be so popular at Expos and so forth (Buffallo Bill's show being the most famous). However I felt a bit let down by the actual fighting... the two bad guys didn't really fight Hart, they just ran away like cowards. I suppose that was the point, but it makes for a less exciting western when we don't get to see a good shoot-out.
Hart's presence is excellent, but his actual performance is at times laughable. Never moreso than at the very conclusion of the film, when he wipes his brow and gives the camera a look of anguish that would have embarrassed even some of his Shakespearean brethren (Hart was a classically trained actor, and it shows). He's excellent in the early scenes when his presence is more stoic, but whenever the film asks him to show emotion he betrays it with showy affectations.
I'm glad I saw it, if only as a history lesson in western film. The movie is not as goofy as a lot of the westerns from that time, but also not quite as self-serious as Ford's silents. It's a film that knows its place as a spectacle entertainment, and also manages to convey the sadness and majesty of the last days of the West.