Algie is the first movie to feature a "gay" character in the lead role. He likes his lace handkerchiefs, packs a comically small gun and kisses cowboys upon greeting them. I was cringing at the start because of how they were playing the stereotypical gay character for laughs. However, as the film moves forward, the relationship between Algie and his cowboy mentor becomes much more complex.
Algie ultimately trades in his tiny pistol for a six-shooter and saves his teacher Big Jim from bandits. However, he also comforts Jim through an illness and helps him overcome alcoholism. By the end, when Algie heads back east, Jim hangs his head in sadness and decides to travel with Algie. The subtext of the scenes is striking, considering it would take almost 100 years to get to Brokeback Mountain.
Technically, the movie is pretty simple. The opening and closing have a good deal of humor in them, though the middle segment is very dramatic. All of the tonal shifts are handled really well. The camera doesn't do anything remarkable and the film doesn't feature any effects work, but none of that was necessary to tell this story.
As far as movie tropes, there some very stereotypical behavior from Algie, playing the type of character who was relatively common in films of this time. Other tropes include bad guys with facial hair and a couple of mine prospector characters who look like they are directly from central casting.
As I said above, I was pleasantly surprised by the nuance of the movie. Algie learns from his experiences in the West, but it doesn't completely change him and Jim ends up learning more from Algie than vice versa. Very well done.
Watched on YouTube.
Picture from tinypic.com
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