Reviews

This is a real gem of a cartoon that doesn't deserve the obscurity under which it seems to have fallen. Nominally, it's supposed to be a silent animated Western melodrama. However, the real premise is that the film is a very old, very battered print that's full of scratches, breaks, bad splices, etc., which keep interfering with the hero, heroine, and villain in wildly surreal ways. The gags are excellent and there's something vaguely metaphysical in the way the physical medium of the film affects the story. Definitely one of my all-time favorites...

If you're a lover of really old movies, this is a real charmer. This is an animated version of a 'chalk talk' or 'lightning drawing' vaudeville act. It has an animated title, and each segment of the film begins with J. Stuart Blackton drawing each character. Sure, the animation is crude and occasionally Mr. Blackton's hand pops up during the animated parts, but is forgivable since this is recognized as the first animated cartoon ever. The white-on-black drawing and caracatures from an era gone by give it a sublimely surreal quality.