User Reviews

Of the more than two thousand films produced by Selig Polyscope from 1896 through 1918, very few survive. That is a tragedy for lovers of early films. However, several of the films that Tom Mix, the second cowboy superstar (after "Broncho Billy" Anderson) do. They were filmed out of Selig's Edendale studio, the first permanent studio in Los Angeles. This is one of them.

It's also one of the better Mix shorts I've seen. Tom writes a fan letter to Goldie Colwell; when her company comes out to his ranch to shoot westerns, the actors and she play tricks on him. Eventually things sort out.

In the meantime, there are some lovely moments. Tom's dismount from his horse is a thing of beauty; his neatening his outfit with a corn broom is funny and there are a couple of very funny titles.

Sagebrush Tom (1915)

*** (out of 4)

Cowboy Sagebrush Tom (Tom Mix) sends his favorite movie actress (Goldie Colwell) a fan letter and he's shocked when shortly afterwards she shows up at his ranch. It turns out that her studio has sent her there to make Western pictures but the leading man (Ed Brady) decides to have some fun with the love struck cowboy. SAGEBRUSH TOM is a pretty entertaining film that manages to mix some slight romance with a pretty bitter comedy. I'm not going to give away the ending but you have to give Mix credit for willing to embarrass himself as this character is pretty much a loser and gets made fun of from the start of the picture to the end. Of course, one reason I love silent pictures is that you simply never know how they're going to end and I must admit that the ending here really threw me as I wasn't expecting anything like it. Once again Mix turns in a pretty good performance as you really do believe him in this role as a man in love with a fantasy. I thought Brady made for a good villain that you love to hate and Colwell is cute in her part. Silent buffs will certainly want to check this one out.

Tom falls in love with a moving picture actress, goes to the ranch where her company is making a western film, and is persuaded to do the "Quo Vadis" act, and throw the bull. The five minutes of excitement contributed by Tom Mix and a long-horned Texas steer, are of a most realistic nature. - The Moving Picture World, April 3, 1915