Starring Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe and Dorothy Burgess
Produced by Fox Film Corporation
In an old western town, a mismatched group of people await passage on a stagecoach to take them across the desert. As the passengers board and set out, there are jokes and jibes. All of that frivolity is forgotten however when the stage is set upon by the notorious Cisco Kid.
The bandit disarms the drivers and demands they throw the strongbox down. The robber is not without honor and refuses to steal from the individual passengers. Even when a piece of jewelry worn by one of the travelers catches his eye, he doesn't just take it; he pays her in cash for the trinket.
We soon learn why he needs so much cash and jewelry. The Kid is in love with Tonia, a local girl who likes nothing more than to be treated like a queen. She oohs and aahs over everything her beau brings her. He thinks it's true love, and she is more than happy to let him think that. Of course, as soon as the Kid leaves, Tonia is entertaining a new gentleman caller.
In order to deal with the Cisco Kid once and for all, the army dispatches Sergeant Mickey Dunn to bring him in dead or alive. Dunn catches the eye of the lawman and, at first, protects her paramour. Of course, once she hears the Cisco Kid is worth $5000, her allegiance shifts quickly.
A scheme is hatched and a trap is set. Will Dunn and Tonia bring down the legendary outlaw? Or will the Cisco Kid turn the tables on his foes?
If I give my child a new toy car, he's going to be so excited, he won't know what to do. He'll race that car down a track. Across the floor. Up a wall. Around his brother's head. As a parent, you can correct him, but you also know the shine will wear off that car and your child will move on to the next thing.
I've reached the point with sound where I am waiting for Hollywood to lose interest.
In Old Arizona is rightfully recognized as an historic achievement. It's the first film to feature sound recorded outdoors. Actors are no longer limited to performing on soundstages indoors. Directors can capture their movements and their voices anywhere. When you consider that two years earlier, sound films were almost nonexistent, this a big step forward.
Of course, you hand that kind of new toy over to the wrong guy and...
This film is a full-on sonic onslaught.
The director is so fascinated with sound, he forgets how to be quiet. Every scene has some constant source of noise in the background. The guitars of a mariachi band. The singing of a barbershop quartet. The rhythmic tapping from a telegraph. If there are only two people in a room, turn on the phonograph. One person trying to sleep? Queue the wailing infant.
What could be impressive with a modicum of restraint becomes mind-numbing. Once the sound hits during the overture, it almost never stops.
There are some more forgivable and unintentionally amusing aspects of this first foray into sound. A gunshot in a canyon produces a muffled thump. Wagons sound pretty much the same whether they are five feet or five hundred feet away. And horse hooves make the same clopping sound on hard scrabble ground and a stream.
Warner Baxter is fun as the Cisco Kid. He has a swagger and charm that immediately has the audience rooting for him, despite being an outlaw.
On the flip side, Edmund Lowe's portrayal of Dunn constantly brings the film to a screeching halt. Part of it is in Lowe's blustering performance, but a lot of the problem comes down to the script. We know Dunn is a gambler and a womanizer because we spend a lot of time watching him do those things in a boring, obvious way. We don't know why he'd be a danger to our hero. We are told by others that he's the Army's best shot, but we never see any evidence of it.
As for Dorothy Burgess' Tonia, I hated the performance. It was by turns over the top and wooden. One moment she's a flurry of activity and the next a statue with her emotion chiseled onto her face.
On the whole, In Old Arizona remains an important step in the development of filmmaking technology. That and an engaging lead performance from Baxter are all this has going for it.
** out of *****
Note: Baxter won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. As much as I like his work here, I have no idea why he won an Oscar.
Photo from Alt Film Guide
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