Tote Du Crow Movies

Two popular genres merged in this above-average silent comedy-drama: the western and the haunted-house farce. Universal's lackadaisical Hoot Gibson starred as a cowboy who, having broken a dinner plate over the head of a Chinese cook, is ordered by the sheriff (Frank Rice) to investigate a notorious "haunted" ranch. The "spooks," as they inevitably did in the silent era, turned out not to be supernatural at all, but a gang of outlaws who have kidnapped a young girl (Helen Ferguson). There is one distasteful element to this otherwise entertaining film: Gibson's African-American comedy valet, played according to the credits by "Ed Cowles," is actually veteran funny-man Jules Cowles in black-face! Leading lady Helen Ferguson later became one of Hollywood's more notable publicists. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Jackie Coogan stars as Mickey Hogan, the young orphan who is shipwrecked on his journey from San Francisco to Australia in this adventure drama. He and a black cat raft onto an isolated tropical island inhabited by cannibals. When the fiery youngster fights back, he is made the official god of war by the tribe. Mickey rescues two men and a young girl who inadvertently end up on the menu of the hungry tribe. He is rescued by a U.S. Navy destroyer and reunited in California with his friend Captain McDavitt (Will R. Walling). Tom Santschi, Noble Johnson, and Tote Ducrow co-star with Bert Sprotte and Gloria Grey. After the box-office failure of his previous film A Boy Of Flanders, Coogan re-established his considerable reputation with this performance. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Douglas Fairbanks is at his most graceful and charismatic in one of the classic silent films of the 1920s. As the thief of Baghdad, his movements are dance-like -- nothing like the athletics he performed in most of his other films. In this Arabian take, the thief ignores the holy teachings and sneaks into the palace of the Caliph (Brandon Hurst). All thoughts of robbery slip away, however, when he sees the beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston). Princes have come from many faraway lands to win the princess' hand (and it's amusing to watch her face growing ever more alarmed at their arrival, because each one is uglier than the last). The thief disguises himself as a prince and the princess falls in love with him. After having a pang of conscience, the thief confesses all to the Holy Man (Charles Belcher), who sends him to find a magic chest. He braves many obstacles to get it, and when he returns he discovers that the Mongol Prince (Sojin) has taken over the city. Using the chest, the reformed thief creates armies of men out of nothingness and recaptures the city. He then uses the cloak of invisibility to spirit the princess away on a magic carpet. Fairbanks stole some of the special effects for his film from Fritz Lang's Der Müde Tod, which he had purchased for American distribution. The Thief of Baghdad, with its look of unrealistic beauty (courtesy of art director William Cameron Menzies), was not fully appreciated in its day. Because of its huge cost (two million dollars -- a real fortune in those days), it made little money. After that, Fairbanks stuck closer to the swashbuckling persona he felt his audience wanted. Available now on DVD, the remastered film features a new score by Carl Davis. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

This virile drama, produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures, was based on the novel by then-popular author Peter B. Kyne. After serving in Siberia during the Great War, Don Mike Farrell (Forrest Stanley) returns to California to discover that his father has died and the family ranch is now in the hands of John Parker (Alfred Allen). Parker's daughter, Kay (Marjorie Daw), falls in love with Farrell and tries to help him get his rights back. Her attempts, however, are in vain. Parker is working in partnership with Okada, a Japanese land speculator (Warner Oland), who is determined to have the ranch for himself. Farrell has to use all his resourcefulness to defeat the two men. First, he raises the necessary money through chasing down one of his father's debtors, and raises the rest at the racetrack. He then bluffs Parker and wins back his land -- along with Parker's admiration and Kay's hand. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Johnston MacCulley's 1913 adventure yarn The Curse of Capistrano was given its first filmization in Douglas Fairbanks' 1920 The Mark of Zorro. Fairbanks plays the outwardly foppish Don Diego de la Vega, the son of wealthy Spanish Californian rancher. In reality, Don Diego is the dashed masked-and-caped Zorro, who wages a one-man war to rescue his fellow citizens from the tyranny Captain Juan Ramon (Robert McKim). The lovely Lolita (Marguerite de la Motte) despises the namby-pamby Don Diego, but loves the devil-may-care Zorro, never dreaming (until the end, of course) that the two men are one. In turn, Lolita is loved by Captain Ramon, who is as ruthless in his domestic dealings as he is in his political weight-throwing. Noah Beery Sr. plays Sgt. Garcia, a buffoonish minion of Ramon's who eventually casts his lot with Zorro--after being bested time and again by the hero's swordplay. Best scene: Zorro insouciantly challenging Ramon's soldiers to capture him while he wines and dines at a local cantina. At the time he made Mark of Zorro, Fairbanks was best known for his peppy contemporary comedies. He hoped that Zorro would be an interesting temporary change of pace for him, never dreaming that the film's popularity would lock him into the swashbuckling mode for the rest of the silent career. In 1925, Fairbanks starred in a sequel, Don Q, Son of Zorro; the original film has, of course, been remade many times since 1920. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Americano is Douglas Fairbanks Sr., the son of a wealthy mining engineer. Sent by his dad to oversee a mine in South America, he falls in love with Alma Rubens, the daughter of a deposed below-the-border president. With Fairbanks' help, the kindly ex-leader is restored to his former position and the insurgents are sent scurrying back to the hills. Even after eight decades, The Americano retains its exuberant entertainment value; the only drawback is the distressing presence of white actor Tom Wilson playing a character in blackface. The film was adapted by its director John Emerson and his wife Anita Loos from a novel by Eugene P. Lyle Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi