First, the problems with the print I looked at: it's about fifteen minutes shorter than the listed runtime, it's a silent movie instead of the part-talkie that others have reported on, and it's pretty fuzzy. Still given the poor condition of Fleming's next movie with Gary Cooper, THE VIRGINIAN, it's a matter of taking what we can get.
Coop is a trapper, hooked up with mountain men Louis Wollheim and Constantine Romanoff. They arrive in Taos with a lot of furs, and prepare to celebrate, when Cooper falls in love with local senorita Lupe Velez and she with him. Her father objects, of course, so they all lead off to another town. Lupe is happy, but time hangs heavy on the guys in town, and when his partners head out to the mountains, can Cooper be far behind?
Victor Fleming may be best remembered for directing GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ late in his career, but he was one of those directors whose main strength seemed to be directing movies about men among men, like Ford, Hawks, and Wellman. He could work with strong actresses and get great performances out of them like Clara Bow. Here, although he celebrates Coop's masculinity, even having him bathe naked in a river, it seems more an effort to appeal to the women in the audience. He was nothing if not a practical director. The result is a fine movie for people who want to see Cooper's growth as a star.
Coop is a trapper, hooked up with mountain men Louis Wollheim and Constantine Romanoff. They arrive in Taos with a lot of furs, and prepare to celebrate, when Cooper falls in love with local senorita Lupe Velez and she with him. Her father objects, of course, so they all lead off to another town. Lupe is happy, but time hangs heavy on the guys in town, and when his partners head out to the mountains, can Cooper be far behind?
Victor Fleming may be best remembered for directing GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ late in his career, but he was one of those directors whose main strength seemed to be directing movies about men among men, like Ford, Hawks, and Wellman. He could work with strong actresses and get great performances out of them like Clara Bow. Here, although he celebrates Coop's masculinity, even having him bathe naked in a river, it seems more an effort to appeal to the women in the audience. He was nothing if not a practical director. The result is a fine movie for people who want to see Cooper's growth as a star.