The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Paul Leicester Ford (novel)
John Stone (scenario)

Release Date:

17 October 1926 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

The Foremost Western Thriller of the Greatest Western Star

Plot:

Cullen has hired Tom to try and stop the robberies on his railroad. Knowing Cullen's secretary Holt is tipping off the gang...

Plot Keywords:

Mistaken Identity | Horse | Railway | Railroad Hand Car | Masked Hero

Cast

Tom Mix	...	Tom Gordon
Tony the Horse	...	Tony, Tom's Horse (as Tony the Wonder Horse)
Dorothy Dwan	...	Madge Cullen
Will Walling	...	Eugene Cullen (as William Walling)
Harry Gripp	...	DeLuxe Harry (as Harry Grippe)
Carl Miller	...	Burton Holt
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Bill Tolfree (as Edward Piel)
Curtis 'Snowball' McHenry	...	Snowball (as Curtis McHenry)

Runtime:

53 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA

Company:

Lew Seiler Productions

Trivia:

In July 1926, silent film star Tom Mix arrived by train in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, for the shooting. He was accompanied by his family, 55 cast and crew members and 22 horses, including Tony the Horse, who was just as popular as his human counterpart. Two Pullman cars and two special baggage cars conveyed Mix's company and equipment.

Quotes:

Title card: Tom Gordon - Dropped down from the rim of the world - a stranger - asking no questions - giving no answers.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000) (TV)

Poor Tony!

The picture opens with a spectacular (albeit static) view of the Royal Gorge of the Colorado, with a train chugging along at the bottom. A nice touch is the introduction of the various characters by title card, including the actor playing the role. (Why do some current filmmakers insist on no opening credits at all? Let's go back to showing who's in the movie, preferably as in this and other old films where you see the person as well as their name.)

There are some genuinely spectacular stunts. The one where the sidekick narrowly misses being hit by the locomotive is great, if that was a stunt man and not a dummy doing it. The hero's horse Tony seems to get the worst of the deal, having to continually run along side the train to keep up. But he does get to jump into a pool for a dip.

The story line is a bit hackneyed. Maybe the good guy wearing a mask to hide his identity -- and all the confusion that goes with it -- was fresh in 1926. But having seen the Lone Ranger umpteenth times, it's not fresh now. And some of the characters act in nonsensical ways.

But we're watching an old-fashioned shoot-'em-up, not Eugene O'Neill, so it's wrong to be too critical. It's a fun movie, with blessedly few lulls.