In Old Arizona

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source: In Old Arizona

In Old Arizona was probably one of the two pictures of the 1928/29 "season" -- the other being The Broadway Melody -- that finally brought home to a resistant industry that sound was here to stay, rather than just a passing fad. As the first outdoor all-talkie, it tends to be remembered merely as a technical milestone, while patronized for its now primitive seeming sound film technique, stilted acting style, and slow pacing. In fact it is a surprisingly enjoyable movie. A rather tongue-in-cheek Western, the emphasis is on character, color, and humor, rather than action. Not for fans of the shoot-'em-down-by-the-dozen Spaghettios, but well-tailored for those who like quieter, more subtle Western stories, even for those who normally don't like Westerns. Full of crackling dialog, authentic to the 1890's time setting, colorful, well-developed characters, and easy, ribald humor. In fact much of the humor was down-right raunchy. If you have ever wondered what they were saying in those 1920's silent flickers when it just showed them moving their lips and grinning naughty-like, this picture will clue you in! In Old Arizona rises above the limitations and the novelty aspect of the early sound equipment to present genuine entertainment -- the main point of a movie. Much of the credit for this goes to the three principle players. Warner Baxter is charming and exciting in his Academy Award-winning performance as the Cisco Kid. Edmund Lowe is a good foil for the roguish bandit as a cocky Bowery-bred Army sergeant out to collect the reward for Cisco's hide -- and his girl as well. Dorothy Burgess absolutely sizzles as Cisco's flirtatious, mercenary, and unfaithful mistress. The three stars get a big boost of support from Soledad Jimenez, as Burgess' sardonic old cook. Of course they all over-act -- at least by the standards of this present generation, who are so low key, one sometimes wonders if actually conscious. This picture is played mostly for laughs, a fun romp rather than a serious Western. Much unfair criticism due to misunderstanding has been repeated in this forum. Ms. Burgess was not acting with a silent movie style. She never made a silent picture, but came to Hollywood from a successful career as a Broadway actress and dancer. Baxter was not an American playing Mexican. Cisco stated that he was actually Portuguese, rather than native Mexican. Acting style in this an other movies of the era was not quite so stilted as some think. It hasn't apparently occurred to some pundits that real-life people in times more than a century past may have actually acted and spoken with a completely different style than this generation. Never mind. In Old Arizona was stiff all right. But the sets, costumes, and cinematography were first-rate, story engaging, dialog funny, snappy. Refreshingly absent were the inner titles between scene changes seen in many early talkies released as much as four years later. In Old Arizona is an entertaining picture all the way through, and a giant-step toward the wonderful mature sound movies of Hollywood's Golden Era.

In Old Arizona (1928) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A rather landmark film was the first all sound Western and it was also the first film to do sound outdoors. Another thing worth noting is that actor Warner Baxter would pick up the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as The Cisco Kid. Thirdly, director Raoul Walsh was originally set to star and direct but his automobile wreck, which cost him his eye, forced him to leave production for several months. As for the film itself, The Cisco Kid (Baxter) is romancing his lovely lady (Dorothy Burgess) while a government man (Edmund Lowe) is out tracking him down. Soon a love triangle forms and one person will have to go. Several review I read had me somewhat nervous about this film but it turned out to be a lot better than I expected. There are many problems and, like with many early sound pictures, the filmmakers spend more time showing everyone talking that they forget to do much else. The entire film is pretty much all talk with very few action scenes. This gets a little tiresome after a while but the ending is certain effective but of course I won't spoil it for you. The early sound techniques are also quite weak as is the cinematography, which seems more like something you'd see in 1900 rather than 1928 but then again they were shooting outdoors with sound for the first time so the camera didn't move much. What really works are the performances by Baxter and Lowe. Baxter of course won an Oscar but this isn't anywhere near his greatest role or performance but he's quite fun. I viewed this film via TCM during their Mexican Heritage month where they had a guest speaker talking about a good point, which is that future Mexican roles, in regards to their speech, all borrowed from this film, which pretty much started the stereotype. I was also impressed with Lowe who was quite charming. In the end this is a historically important film that all film buffs should at least check out once but repeat viewings would be pushing it.

A pioneering western, the first "talkie" shot outdoors, which makes its soundtrack rather crowded sometimes. Like all great westerns, this one builds on an archetypal theme—in this case, a love triangle. By far the most attractive element of the movie is the twinkly-eyed charm and humour of the Cisco Kid (Warner Baxter), who carries the entire story. He is courtly, smart, funny, and well-dressed. The movie's always better when he's on screen. As his fickle girlfriend Tonia Maria, Dorothy Burgess is less convincing. She is a Latina vamp in the flouncing mode, unable to move through a space without holding her arms akimbo and looking over her shoulder, and tossing her pretty head, and wiggling her hips, and sashaying where a less attractive woman might just walk. Her fake Mexican accent is off-putting, too, though not as off-putting as the fake Brooklyn accent of the cavalry sergeant Mickey Dunne (Edmund Lowe) sent to capture the bandit. He says "goils" for "girls," and "poifect," and stuff like that. Lowe is a big man in a uniform, sort of a film history stand-in waiting for John Wayne to come along and play that sort of part without the sneering humour and waggling eyebrows. The sergeant is a caricature of western manliness, full of contempt for women and the other half of the formula, eagerness to spend time with them. Ironically, as he lures the Cisco Kid's fickle girlfriend Tonia Maria to betray her lover for the $5000 reward, he seems to be falling for her in earnest. Aware of her betrayal, the Kid spends a little time with her pointedly speaking of constancy. He has replaced the note she's sent to the sergeant with one warning they're planning to switch clothes for the getaway, and the sergeant shoots her. The Cisco Kid pauses to light a cigarillo. Looking back toward the hacienda, he quotes two lines from a song he'd been singing earlier: "Her flirting days are over, and she's ready to settle down." He turns and rides away into the night.

Although this film was released in January 1929, it was filmed in 1928. That makes it truly amazing when you think that the first all-talking picture wasn't even released until July 1928 - "Lights of New York". As others have mentioned, this film does not have lots of action - much screen time is spent with characters just talking in specific locations. There are no exciting shoot-outs or chases as you would expect in a western made just five years later. This is probably due to the motion constraint of the early sound cameras. However, you do get some tremendous long shots of some stunning western vistas. This was because Fox was an early adopter of sound-on-film versus sound-on-disc. This gave Fox the ability to shoot outside and made the studio an innovator in the production of newsreels - they could take their cameras anywhere. As for the film itself, I'd recommend it only if you're interested in early sound films. Otherwise, you'll probably be bored stiff due to the lack of action. Warner Baxter's portrayal of the Cisco Kid is quite good. He doesn't get too campy with a role that could have been over-the-top in the wrong hands. I do have to wonder - why is every single member of the army that is pursuing Cisco speaking with a Queens accent and why are they using urban New York slang? Was there a mix-up at central casting that day? Was the cast of this film supposed to show up for a Bowery Boys film or a gangster picture and wound up here by mistake? In 1928 there were dialogue coaches, but probably not many coaches on regional dialect. It's a shame to think that if John Wayne had tried out for this early sound western he would have been turned down because he didn't sound like he was from Brooklyn.

As an artifact of cinema history that came along at a point of volatility in the industry, this creaker is worth a look. It was filmed in 1928 - Hollywood's main year of transition to talkies. Considering the time when it was made, it's extraordinary that it was actually shot outdoors in what looks like Arizona. It carefully recreates the look and feel of the late 1890's with authentic looking interiors (chiefly a ranch house and a sleazy saloon populated by grizzled cowhands and fallen women) and props, which include a cylinder phonograph player. Spanish is spoken liberally by the Mexican characters, adding to the realism. The acting is uneven. Warner Baxter's Mexican accent is not believable by contemporary standards, but at least his performance as the swaggering and good natured Cisco Kid is emotionally solid. Dorothy Burgess as the femme fatale overacts and mugs to distraction. Edmund Lowe as the soldier pursuing the Kid is obnoxiously self-confident but provides a refreshing counterpoint with his East Coast accent and slangy vocabulary. The dialogue, especially Lowe's and Burgess's, is delivered broadly and slowly and accompanied by facial expressions that linger long beyond necessity lest the audience miss the point; it also abounds with sexual double meanings. The ending is suspenseful and exciting. A pop song, "Tonia Maria," by DeSylva Brown and Henderson, who were under contract at Fox during the making of this film, plays on the soundtrack both as an overture and as exit music at the end. It doesn't sound right as accompaniment to an 1890's scenario. All in all, a very mixed bag, but reflecting a fleeting time of upheaval in movie history.

Sound came to Hollywood via many paths. But the system that stuck grew out of Fox's MovieTone Newsreels when John Ford & Raoul Walsh reasoned that those mobile sound trucks would work just fine for shorts & features. ARIZONA is generally considered the first 100% Talkie shot on location and if it's predictably lumbering, the first third is quite watchable with tasty character bits (at a snail's pace) & stunning lensing from the great Arthur Edeson who'd also shoot Walsh's 1930 70mm Western THE BIG TRAIL. Walsh originally directed & starred in this, but because of a car accident that cost him his left eye he shares directing credit w/ Fox studio hack supreme Irving Cummings. Accent challenged Warner Baxter stepped into the lead & even got an Oscar for his cornball perf. This was the first Cisco Kid pic & it's worth hanging in there not only for historical merit points, but for the ultra-pragmatic/Nietzschean ending which still packs a bit of a shock. BROKEBACK ALERT!! Watch for a scene where Baxter's Cisco & Edmund Lowe's Sergeant first compare the size and then pat (!) each other's holstered guns.

Wow, does this film creak with age--as did most of the award-winning films of the late 1920s (such as Broadway MELODY OF 1926 and COQUETTE)! While it won the Best Actor Oscar for Warner Baxter, today it seems very antiquated and his performance seems very broad and, at times, silly. Now I can't blame this all on Baxter, as overacting was still rampant in talking films--and the studios demanded it. The subtleties and realism that would be standard in the 1930s just weren't seen in the early talkies. Baxter play the Cisco Kid was painful at times because the character seemed even less realistic than Charlie Chan!! However, I think most of the problem was the direction, as Baxter was able to credibly play Latinos, as his ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO (1936) was an exceptional performance--playing a guy much like the Cisco Kid. And, in THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, Baxter was spectacular--showing he really was a capable actor. Another problem with this odd award-winning film is that although it is an adventure film and has many outdoor scenes, most of the film is static and set indoors. There are just too many scenes filmed inside a studio and it shows. In particular, his scenes with his lady love dominate almost the entire second half of the film and really slow down the film to a crawl. It also didn't help that Dorothy Burgess (as 'Tonia Maria') was a terrible actress who way overplayed all her scenes--far more than Baxter did in the film. There are a few things of interest in the film. Being a Pre-Code film, there is some cursing in the film that might surprise viewers. In addition, the way the film ends is really cool---and something they probably wouldn't have allowed in the post-Code world. The Kid just doesn't act as heroic as a post-1934 hero did!! See for yourself to find out what I mean. So, if you want to see a better Cisco Kid film, see one of the later ones. I cannot find a copy of the 1931 CISCO KID (also starring Baxter) but have seen and enjoyed the Cesar Romero versions of the Cisco Kid and know that the films can be great fun. IN OLD ARIZONA, unfortunately, isn't all that much fun--it's more just a curio for film historians. Interesting but not all that good. It still gets a 7 because for this era, it's a good film--just don't compare it to films made just a year or two later, as the quality and production values improved tremendously in the interim. By the way, the DVD has absolutely no extras whatsoever! I would have loved a featurette on the series--information on the Romero or Gilbert Roland or Duncan Ronaldo versions of the Cisco Kid.

Despite the desert setting and saloons and the presence of a Mexican bandit, cavalry officers and senoritas, this is really an exotic romantic drama (based on a story by the renowned O. Henry) as opposed to a straight Western. Being an early Talkie, it's obviously creaky – with very dated acting – but retains plenty of interest for the non-casual film-buff even after all these years: for one thing, it basically served as a template for the myriad Westerns that followed involving the exploits of some famous bandit or other (beginning with King Vidor's BILLY THE KID [1930]); besides, the flirtatious character of Dorothy Burgess may well have inspired Linda Darnell's Chihuahua in John Ford's classic MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) nearly twenty years later! Warner Baxter was a popular star of the era who has been largely neglected over the years; his Oscar-winning performance here isn't bad, but seems hardly outstanding at this juncture – his talent is more readily evident, in fact, in such later films as 42ND STREET (1933) and John Ford's THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936). The same can be said of Edmund Lowe: if he's at all remembered today, it's for his "Quirt & Flagg" series of war films with Victor McLaglen (three of them helmed by this film's original director, Raoul Walsh), the Bela Lugosi vehicle CHANDU THE MAGICIAN (1932; in the title role), and the noir-ish gangster drama DILLINGER (1945). While his character curiously speaks in modern i.e. 1920s slang, he interacts well with both Baxter and Burgess – especially effective is the scene where he comes face to face with Baxter's Cisco Kid at a barber shop and, ignorant of the latter's identity, lets him slip away. The film features a couple of songs (one of them, by the famed songwriting trio of DeSylva-Brown-Henderson, is heard several times throughout and even serves as an Overture to the feature proper) and archaic comedy relief by a number of minor characters – notably Burgess' long-suffering elderly maid. There's far more talk than action here, but the twist ending (subsequently much copied) is remarkable – if anything, because it's unexpectedly pitiless for a film of its era! Incidentally, the lead role was to have been played by Raoul Walsh himself but he was injured (eventually losing an eye) in a driving accident; Irving Cummings replaced him behind the cameras (and, oddly enough, alone received the Best Director nomination, despite Walsh's name still appearing in the credits)! P.S. Baxter, Lowe and director Cummings were re-united shortly after for a sequel – THE CISCO KID (1930); one wonders whether copies of the film still exist as, ideally, it should have been paired with the original on the bare-bones Fox DVD...