It's an oft told tale - Dan Malloy, a renown rodeo performer, is in love with Marie LaFarge and she with him, but her father, the game warden in a Canadian national buffalo preserve, is adamant that Marie and Dan not marry because no daughter of his is going to marry a man named "Malloy," presumably because Dan is Irish. Dan and LaFarge have an argument and LaFarge is shot dead. But it wasn't Dan, it was a man named Burgess who LaFarge had imprisoned for poaching. Burgess' girlfriend, Marie's "half-caste" maid witnesses the murder, but says nothing to the Mounty who arrives on the scene. Dan flees to a ranch near Calgary and using the name Chuck Jones, takes a job as an odd job man on the Reagan ranch. A year passes and then a local Mounty becomes suspicious of Dan. As typical in the Hoot Gibson silent films there is a dash of humor and no gunfights. At one point, the Mounty asks "Chuck" "Do much ridin?" He replies "Nope, if I gotta get blisters, I want 'em on my feet." Chuck's boss Reagan has an ongoing friendly dispute with a neighboring rancher named Morton over who has the best Roman racing horses with Morton claiming "I've got a couple of horses that travel faster than gossip." Morton keeps goading Reagan into placing a big bet on the Roman racing event in the forthcoming Calgary Jubilee and Stampede. Foolishly, Reagan ends up betting his ranch on the race. At another event at the Stampede, Reagan's rider is injured and is unable ride. Among the attendees at the Stampede are Marie, Burgess, Burgess' girlfriend and the Mounty Harkness who can identify Chuck Jones as Dan Malloy. Even knowing he will be arrested, Malloy replaces the injured rider and wins the Roman riding event. Fortunately, Burgess had coldly dumped his girlfriend who after the race identifies him as the killer of LaFarge. Aside from the Hoot's boyish charm, what makes this movie special are the early scenes of the buffalo park and the spectacular scenes of the actual events of the Calgary Stampede at the Exhibition Park. During the chuck wagon race there is a horrific accident and it appears that one of the horses was seriously injured or killed (something that evidently somewhat frequently happens at this particular event even today). The Roman race was very exciting and I assume that Hoot, in real life a champion rodeo performer, did the actual riding. A 1919 Calgary Herald report says that "... wild mule roping and standing Roman racing were also crowd favorites." I don't know about mule roping but the Roman racing event was amazing to see. Recommended not only for Hoot Gibson and silent film fans but also for this interested in seeing some early Calgary Stampede film footage.
2 Reviews
Outstanding Romance/Sport/Western/Drama! Gibson sits a horse as though he's part of it
mmipyle24 October 2021
"The Calgary Stampede" (1925) is a magnificent romance/sport/western/drama with Hoot Gibson, Virginia Brown Faire, Pierre Faunce, Jim Corey, Philo McCullough, Ena Gregory, Charles Sellon, Inez Seabury, W. T. McCulley, and others (including a very early Walter Brennan in a crowd scene in a bleacher). Lots of plot, though it boils down to a trope for future "B" Westerns used over and over: man is alone with a father of the girl he loves, a father who doesn't want his daughter to marry the man (here because the father is a Calgary game warden and the man's an Irisher, a cow bum, and named Malloy!), but father is killed and man goes to window with his gun and tries to shoot shooter of man; daughter rushes into the room, finds the father dead, and her love is standing over the father with his gun smoking. What's a man to do? Run, of course. But this man is from Cheyenne and this is Canada. He's there to ride in the Calgary Stampede, a world famous rodeo and horse event and wagon gala race. Next thing you know, the man is the prey of the Mounties.
The IMDb calls this an hour show. The new release on "Early Universal", volume 2, is a beautiful sepia toned print that runs over 100 minutes and is a hoot to watch! Pun intended. Filmed entirely in Calgary, Alta, with a whole host of rodeo scenes from the actual Calgary Stampede - all I can say is that if you love horses, this show is more than a feast. First of all, Hoot Gibson was a champion rodeo rider and, though he's definitely not the typical trim cowboy you think of when you see the likes of Mix or Steele, but actually a tad paunchy, he sits a horse at any speed as though he's part of the horse! He's as good a rider as Bob Steele ever was, maybe as good as Yakima Canutt. Also a genuine treat in this show is the bison range with hundreds and hundreds of the animals. They even stampede in one scene. Magnificently caught on film. Cinematography by Harry Neumann in general is excellent. There are also no prolonged gun battles, only the one gun play, and there's always a dose of humor sprinkled in the mix which is subtle, fun, and not in-your-face.
This won't be for everybody because the rodeo show goes on a long time. It's amazing, though. It also puts the suspense where it belongs. Gibson's being chased by a couple of Mounties who still want him for the murder he didn't commit! But watching Hoot ride the Roman horses in a race is outstanding!!
This new release from Eureka Masters of Cinema from Britain has a fine accompanying score by Chris Tin. Region B, but played when I set my all-region Blu-Ray to 2. Also on the discs are "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1916) and "What Happened to Jones?" (1926). Really pleased with this release. Keep 'em coming, Universal!
The IMDb calls this an hour show. The new release on "Early Universal", volume 2, is a beautiful sepia toned print that runs over 100 minutes and is a hoot to watch! Pun intended. Filmed entirely in Calgary, Alta, with a whole host of rodeo scenes from the actual Calgary Stampede - all I can say is that if you love horses, this show is more than a feast. First of all, Hoot Gibson was a champion rodeo rider and, though he's definitely not the typical trim cowboy you think of when you see the likes of Mix or Steele, but actually a tad paunchy, he sits a horse at any speed as though he's part of the horse! He's as good a rider as Bob Steele ever was, maybe as good as Yakima Canutt. Also a genuine treat in this show is the bison range with hundreds and hundreds of the animals. They even stampede in one scene. Magnificently caught on film. Cinematography by Harry Neumann in general is excellent. There are also no prolonged gun battles, only the one gun play, and there's always a dose of humor sprinkled in the mix which is subtle, fun, and not in-your-face.
This won't be for everybody because the rodeo show goes on a long time. It's amazing, though. It also puts the suspense where it belongs. Gibson's being chased by a couple of Mounties who still want him for the murder he didn't commit! But watching Hoot ride the Roman horses in a race is outstanding!!
This new release from Eureka Masters of Cinema from Britain has a fine accompanying score by Chris Tin. Region B, but played when I set my all-region Blu-Ray to 2. Also on the discs are "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1916) and "What Happened to Jones?" (1926). Really pleased with this release. Keep 'em coming, Universal!
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