The Gaucho (1927)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

F. Richard Jones

Writer:

Douglas Fairbanks (story)

Release Date:

30 January 1928 (Finland)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

A glorious tale of gay adventure and romantic daring on the wild plains of South America!

Plot:

A girl is saved by a miracle after she falls from a cliff in the Argentine Andes, and is blessed with healing powers...

Plot Keywords:

Miracle | Swashbuckler | South America | Religion

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks	...	The Gaucho
Lupe Velez	...	The Mountain Girl
Joan Barclay	...	The Girl of the Shrine (younger) (as Geraine Greear)
Eve Southern	...	The Girl of the Shrine
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Ruiz, The Usurper
Michael Vavitch	...	The Usurper's First Lieutenant
Charles Stevens	...	The Gaucho's First Lieutenant
Nigel De Brulier	...	The Padre
Albert MacQuarrie	...	Victim of the Black Doom

Also Known As:

Douglas Fairbanks as The Gaucho (USA) (copyright title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Elton Corporation

Trivia:

A new preservation print of the film, created by the Museum of Modern Art, was first shown at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2008. It has subsequently been screened at MoMA (2008), the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (2009), and the National Gallery of Art (2009) to promote the new book "Douglas Fairbanks" (UC Press/Academy Imprints, 2008) with the author introducing the screenings.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Terror Night (1987)

THE GAUCHO (F. Richard Jones, 1927) ***

Unusual but beautifully made and typically enjoyable Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, which finds the star at his most roguish (while still being his dashing and athletic self); with the Argentine pampas for backdrop, the film – whose full official title is DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS AS THE GAUCHO – can be considered a semi-Western. The narrative encompasses romance (supplied by fiery Lupe Velez), religion (via the presence of a miraculous shrine overseen by a saintly shepherdess – we even get a couple of visions of the Madonna herself, played by Fairbanks' own equally popular actress wife, Mary Pickford!) as well as more characteristic action (in the form of The Gaucho's opposition to the rule of tyrannical Gustav von Seyffertitz). A subplot which ties in with the element of faith sees the hero being deliberately contaminated by a carrier of "The Black Doom" whom he had previously slighted, though both are eventually cured. Fairbanks' trademark pioneering spirit in the technical department is also well in evidence here – with matte paintings giving the illusion of a truly elaborate visual design, reversed film for one particularly showy leap by the star onto his faithful steed, and even the wholesale horse-driven transportation of a house at one point!