A top-notch early western. A gold rush hits a western town, now booming - and soon cowboy Tom Mix arrives on his wonderful horse Tony. When a man is murdered for his gold mine at the hands of two bad men - Tom takes charge of the dead man's now orphaned little girl (Edith Fellows) and she's soon all dolled up in a fancy dress and telling him how much she enjoys being "washed and dressed" by him - then Tom proceeds to tell her "remember, that's our little secret" (okay, what's that all about?! - I believe these lines didn't have the intention or meaning they seem to have today, but this caused a big reaction from the audience at a live screening at Cinecon 43 in Hollywood). Well, the child's young, attractive aunt (Lois Wilson) arrives in town to take over and and is none too happy to find the little girl in a saloon ("mixed drinks - 2 bits") at the bar, alongside a beer-drinking saloon gal (Mae Busch in much too small a part). The dead father has left a map to his gold mine (intended for his family), which the two bad men have got ahold of. But smart Tom gets it and divides the map into three pieces, one for each of them. They trek out into the Death Valley desert to find the mine - but a wagon accident leaves the three men, plus the aunt, stranded in the blazing hot desert with close to no water. Of course, while Tom and the woman are "strong and brave", the two bad men keep trying to steal water - the only one who can really help them out is Tony the horse, sent back out across the desert to the rescue!
A riveting, gripping, suspenseful film that really held my interest, especially memorable are the later scenes in the desert - the extreme thirst, the debilitating heat, the parched throats, the madness, all expertly and realistically brought to life. Tom Mix is an engaging star who gives a nice performance here, young Edith Fellows is an adorable child, but I must say, it is really Tony the horse who completely steals this film - what a neat horse, and he's the real hero here too! A very entertaining watch.
A riveting, gripping, suspenseful film that really held my interest, especially memorable are the later scenes in the desert - the extreme thirst, the debilitating heat, the parched throats, the madness, all expertly and realistically brought to life. Tom Mix is an engaging star who gives a nice performance here, young Edith Fellows is an adorable child, but I must say, it is really Tony the horse who completely steals this film - what a neat horse, and he's the real hero here too! A very entertaining watch.