So few two-colour Technicolor films survive one breathes a loud sigh of relief that we can still see this beauty in something like its original form. Sadly not all the original Vitaphone discs have survived, but visually the version now available on dvd is a triumph, making magnificent use both of the Arizona landscape and of the frame, the colour remarkably realistic (it does a good job of approximating the authentic blue of Tully Marshall's denims in one sequence) and details like the hero running along the top of a distant mesa pin sharp.
Although craggy Richard Dix as usual looks much, much older than a recent collage graduate, he's otherwise his usual solid self in the title role, and after nearly 90 years the script's treatment of the American Indian stands up pretty well.
Although craggy Richard Dix as usual looks much, much older than a recent collage graduate, he's otherwise his usual solid self in the title role, and after nearly 90 years the script's treatment of the American Indian stands up pretty well.