This film is reputed to be one of Bill Cody's best in spite of some of the worst camera work, acting, and directing in the history of westerns. The first omen is in the opening credits where the director, Robert Hill, appears to have been supervised by Al Alf. Imagine such a credit under the name of Howard Hawks or Clint Eastwood.
This film shows either very early use of a hand-held camera, or the camera dollied on rocky ground or a very rough floor without benefit of a track. Lots of home movies are better than this.
At the beginning of the film Hill, who also wrote the screenplay under a pen name, makes an uncredited cameo appearance as Chief Burrows. He is one of the better actors in the film.
As silent screen actors, the cast employs a panoply of quirks, quivers, and tics that were outmoded by 1934 when the film was made. Much of this could have been solved with some editing that simply tightened up the dialog.
Much has been made of Chico the horse, which was featured in the opening credits much as the horses of Tom Mix, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. Chico is often left to stand untied until the Kid whistles for him. In one scene the Kid rushes out to call Chico, but the faithful horse is nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he wandered out of camera range, and the Kid had to retrieve him in order to escape.
Twice in the film the Pinto Kid attempts a flying mount, ala the Pony Express riders, but barely gets one leg over the saddle and must clamber up the rest of the way.
At one point the Pinto Kid escapes by crashing through a window. His flight through the air and to the ground is almost Chaplinesque as Cody struggles mightily to subdue his over-sized hat. He rebounds immediately, jamming the hat securely on his head as he scampers out of sight.
Speaking of hats, the cowboy hat of the period generally was "crushed" in the front in the shape of a valley. Much of the time in this film, it looks like the cowboys have crushed their hats with a tomahawk or branding iron, or some such.
One bright spot is in Bill Cody Jr.'s turn as Bart Wilson. As well as deliver his dialog authoritatively, the boy can run as fast as a horse. Late in the film the outlaws leave young Bart tied up, galloping away hell-for-leather. With the help of his burro, Bart wriggles out of the rope and takes off to catch up with the bad guys. Because his donkey is so slow, the young fellow hightails it on foot.
Along the way the Pinto Kid knocks out two of the outlaws, and Bart arrives close behind to tie them up with their belts. When the rest of the outlaws arrive at their hideout full tilt, closely followed by the Kid and Bart, the young guy isn't even breathing hard. All in all, Cody Jr. is a welcome relief from the mess cooked up by the adults.
At that, this is a must-see western that is a textbook lesson in early cinematic techniques.
