I was thinking, toward the end of this movie, that had it been a talkie and had you told me it was made in the '40's my immediate reaction might have been to believe you ( I can be naive). "Tide of Empire" is a western full of high spirits and exuberance, folksy humour, a touch of melodrama, and a grand theme, and it's delightfully entertaining. It held me for its entire length (past my bedtime), simply because I continually HAD to know what happened next. For me, that's not necessarily the sign of a good movie, it simply means that I'm quite taken by it. I've seen a few silent movies, but not one quite like this. Directed by Allan Dwan with panache, the action is entirely three-dimensional within the film frame and there are some nice fast-moving tracking shots and attractive landscapes. The sound effects, which are carefully interwoven, give the scenes an added dimension, and the silent dialogue, surprisingly, didn't seem incongruous to me. I don't know if Tom Keene is a good actor or not, but he makes a good matinée idol, smiling and laughing his way through the movie - plus he's ridiculously handsome. A comment, from a reviewer, that the movie lacks humour, seems a bit hard. It's frequently funny, but the jokes, remember, are for a 1929 audience. A very amiable entertainment, and had I seen this flick back then, after leaving the theatre I would have topped it up with a visit to the nearest ice cream parlour.
By the way, Pathfinder is a horse. He has a leading role in the story. The movie also references two gentlemen by the names of Henry Wells and William G. Fargo who form a company offering overland transportation services to the gold buyers in California. Thanks to this movie and subsequently, Wikipedia, I learned something. Who said movies aren't educational?
