NEVADA is a 1927 silent Western from Paramount, starring three actors who would go on to have notable careers: Gary Cooper, William Powell, and Thelma Todd.
Jim Lacy (Gary Cooper) breaks his friend Cash (Ernie Adams) out of jail, and the two go on the run, looking for a quiet place to settle down and change their ways. During a stop at what appears to be a sleepy town, Jim and Cash come to the aid of an English cattleman named Ben Ide, and the man gives them jobs on his large ranch. Jim goes by the alias "Nevada", and he's assigned to look after Ide's beautiful sister Hettie (Thelma Todd). Jim and Hettie start to fall for each other, while a gang of rustlers causes trouble on the Ide ranch. Jim decides to infiltrate the rustlers, and this puts him into conflict with another rancher named Dillon (William Powell), a man who also desires Hettie.
NEVADA is based on a Zane Grey novel, but it's a very standard Western. Nearly everything in it is familiar or predictable: the good bad man who wants to go straight, his comic relief sidekick, the rancher's daughter who at first acts haughty and proud towards the hero, and the man behind all the cattle rustling supposedly being a respectable member of the community. The main reason to watch NEVADA are the three stars. This film was made very, very early in Gary Cooper's career, but he already has tons of screen presence, and he looks and acts as if he's been riding the range his whole life. William Powell is essentially the bad guy, but he plays the role in a disarming, self-assured manner.
As for Thelma Todd, NEVADA was one of her first important film roles, and just like Cooper she already shows plenty of onscreen charisma. It goes without saying that she's also gorgeous, and she appears to know how to handle a horse. Cooper and Thelma have a typical classic movie "At first they act like they don't like each other, but they really do" relationship--at one point Cooper ties her to a tree to keep her away from harm. Cooper and Todd make an extremely handsome couple--director John Waters (no, not that John Waters) smartly gives the two of them several long close-ups.
One major problem with watching NEVADA today is that the version of it available on a number of internet sites is in very poor condition. Due to this one isn't able to fully appreciate the outdoor locations used for the film. Completely restoring any silent picture is a costly and time-consuming process, but it's surprising that up till now someone hasn't attempted to do so for NEVADA--the three stars of the movie alone would attract interest from film geeks.
NEVADA was such a formulaic Western, it was remade twice during the sound era. (I have not seen the other versions.) The 1927 NEVADA is a decent enough film, but it's the starring trio that makes it worthy of attention. One wishes a much better looking print of it was out there somewhere. When you realize how good Gary Cooper and Thelma Todd look in this movie, you can only imagine how attractive they would be in a restored print.
No comments:
Post a Comment