User Reviews

According to Blackhawk Films who distributed the standard 8 format of this film, it originally(in 1914) was a 2 reeler, but at least 5 years later as Mix's popularity began to soar it was combined with another 2 reeler to provide a near feature length film for his ever growing audience. It still stayed true to the overall story, although the ending was altered somewhat. The plot chiefly is fairly interesting and Mix's performance is good, but the abundance of inter-titles is a drawback as well as the camera work which in general relies on the medium shot. There are about only 2 medium close shots, and no "close-ups" at all! What is really different about this Western is that the hero is definitely not your stereotypical hero, as he flirts with disaster more times than not. Dakota Joe(Mix) is on the run for crime attributed to him but actually committed by his brother. There is a $1000 reward poster for him nearby which he promptly crumbles up. Maybe he is on the run because of his pullover striped shirt he is wearing! It's a dead giveaway. There is a 1912 photograph of him wearing a similar shirt in the book, A Pictorial History of the Silent Film, so perhaps he was experimenting in a trademark style which thankfully he must have been talked out of. Anyhow, we are introduced to the characters at the Paradise Valley Ranch he has ridden up to. There is the foreman(troublemaker) and the ranch owner. Dakota joins up with the outfit and soon is well acquainted with the local beauty, Grace. At round-up time they ride together and the foreman doesn't like it. Next, a fight between two of the cattle is showcased. Then as everyone has settled down for eats, a bull is on the loose and after Grace. Dakota Joe comes to the rescue, bringing the animal down, although he also is totally spent. At his weakest now, the law happens to ride up and take advantage of the scene in order to capture him. As they begin leading him into town, he escapes. Dakota then is able to steal a gun from a sleeping man. The law return to the ranch hands and seek their help. Next we see, a rare(in this film) medium close shot of Dakota shooting his handcuffs apart. Before you know it, the posse once again catch up to him and there is a shootout. Dakota Joe gets away, but not long after gets thrown from his horse! What Western star does this? He is not too far from the whole crowd now, and in fact Grace takes out a telescope(how many of those do you see in a Western?) and is able to ascertain Dakota's safety. Well, the law once again captures and leads him off to jail, with Grace remarking, between sobs, that she will wait for him. Maybe events now will take a turn for the best, as when we see Dakota Joe behind bars he is wearing a white dress shirt! After a short interval Grace gets concerned that Dakota will be mistreated at the jail house. What follows is a scene that no doubt was not new even then, but would be repeated countless times in future Westerns. It's the old "hiding the saw in the picnic basket trick" that Grace resorts to! This works and he soon breaks out. Once again, though, luck is not on his side. He suffers more hazards than the "Hazzards of Helen" and "Perils of Pauline" put together! What happens this time is his horse goes lame. To escape his pursuers, an inventive scene, which once again would be used in later pictures, takes place. Dakota takes apart his rifle and uses it as a breathing tube to hide under water. As the posse pass him by and are out of site, he continues for some distance on foot. It is not long before he collapses. An old prospector(is there any other kind?) with a telescope(they must be on sale!) finds him and brings Dakota to his cabin to get well. There is some confusion later which reminds the viewer that they are actually viewing 2 combined films, but the conclusion is nicely worked out, and one more medium close shot is thrown in for good measure. The print quality is very good and running time approximately 44.5 minutes.

Imagine saying that to Tom Mix! In this early movie, he is a wanted man -- for a crime his brother committed, and for which he has taken the blame. When we first meet Tom, he's gotten a job as a ranch hand for round-up. Over the course of the show, he escapes twice, falls in love with Myrtle Stedman, and performs some nice stunts, including being dragged over the ground with a foot caught in a stirrup.

Mix was beginning to get a reputation by the time Selig sent him out to Arizona to shoot this, one of a series of shorts, Perhaps that explains why, while it is listed as a two-reeler, the copy I saw took just shy of 40 minutes to play out. True, the titles are far more elaborate than was common in 1913, and the film seemed to have been played a bit slower than warranted, but it takes only 16 minute to go through two reels of movie. I suspect that scenes from other movies were added to bring it up to (very short) feature length.

It's a standard western plot, well shot and played. Selig seems to have prospered off Mix's movies; after he signed with Fox, Selig's studio went into rapid decline.

This is very truly a feature offering and justifies its length (two reels) very creditably. It is a story of the cattle country by Tom Mix and J. Edward Hungerford and was produced by William Duncan. In the first part, we find the outlaw coming to the ranch and being "taken on" by the foreman. Soon, a love affair begins between him and the ranch owner's second daughter, who has seen his dare-devil riding; but this her people discourage. The love story as it is carefully developed in the first reel is sincere and strongly convincing. The best things in it are the simple, natural and realistic glimpses of ranch life, including some big pictures of the great herd; but there are one or two thrills that made the audience here gasp and shout out. One of these is the rescue of the heroine from a mad bull by the hero, who jumps upon it from his horse and bull-dogs it. Tom Mix plays the leading role with skill, verve and nerve, regardless of breath or even of personal safety. Myrtle Stedman plays opposite to him. After the rescue and while the hero is lying breathless under the horns of the bull he has just thrown, the sheriff appears and puts the bracelets on him in front of the girl. In the first scene of the second reel, the outlaw escapes from the sheriff and a desperate man-chase follows, during which the outlaw, whom the sheriff calls "some man," shoots the handcuffs off his wrists. At the end the girl says she will wait. It is a desirable offering for most places. - The Moving Picture World, June 21, 1913