In Old Arizona

The first all-talking sound-on-film feature.

Western
95 min     5     1928     USA

Overview

Army Sergeant Mickey Dunn sets out in pursuit of the Cisco Kid, a notorious if kind-hearted and charismatic bandit of the Old West. The Kid spends much of his loot on Tonia, the woman he loves, not realizing that she is being unfaithful to him in his absence. Soon, with her oblivious paramour off plying his trade, Tonia falls in with Dunn, drawn by the allure of a substantial reward for the Kid's capture -- dead or alive. Together, they concoct a plan to ambush and do away with the Cisco Kid once and for all.

Reviews

CinemaSerf wrote:
Even though Warner Baxter won an Oscar for his engaging role as the "Cisco Kid" in this film, I feel the plaudits really belong to Edmund Lowe ("Sgt. Mickey Dunn"), both of whom are being quite effectively played off by the sexy Dorothy Burgess ("Tonia") who is like a cat with two balls of wool! She deduces that there is marginally more loot in to for her to side with the soldier and together they hatch plan to trap the "Kid" and claim the substantial reward. Both Baxter - with a slightly dodgy accent - and Lowe exude quite a degree of charming charisma in this, and Burgess with "You komm ziss way, often?" has a playfulness that certainly ensures there is no menace at all to this. Indeed, it is a sort of Zorro-esque comedy romance that frequently raised a smile. The audio, given this is a very early talkie, is every bit as good as some of the dull-muted efforts being produced 90 years later, and the outdoor photography is fluid and well lit. True, there's not much to it - but it is still quite a enjoyable, well made film with a couple of songs (including a rousing rendition of " Ta-ra-ra Boom" in the barber's) to keep it alive and kicking!

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