The Arizona Express

The opening credits of this superficial but well-crafted bubblegum silent western describe it (somewhat defensively) as "an honest melodrama", which doesn't make what follows any less improbable or entertaining. The cast includes a handsome railway mail sorter, a virtuous missionary daughter, her upstanding bachelor brother, a beautiful Mexican vamp, a den of murderous thieves, and the streamlined eponymous luxury train, all thrown together in a convoluted plot revolving (spinning out of control) around a bank heist, a cold blooded murder, a frantic race to the State Governor's office to save an innocent man from execution, and true love. Only the mantle of silence keeps it sane.

Seen at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California,on January 17, 1989, alongside excerpts from other silent Railroad films, most notably 'The Great K & A Train Robbery', an early Tom Mix adventure wherein our white-hatted hero foils a gang of desperadoes while performing various feats of daring-do, such as lassoing an imperiled hobo safely out from under a runaway freight train!

A prolific writer of blood-and-thunder melodramas, Lincoln J. Carter specialized in railroad settings. Although his plays were not acclaimed by the critics (in fact they rarely opened in New York), they were extremely popular with touring companies before World War One. "The Arizona Express" was one of his most famous offerings, and here, considerably expanded, it has been brought to the screen with at least three times as many thrills.

Director Thomas Buckingham is another forgotten man who deserves to be re-instated. That "The Arizona Express" is so successful is due not only to its many edge-of-the-seat action highlights (all of them breathtakingly staged against real locations), but to the skill with which the movie has been cut and paced and to the fine acting Buckingham has elicited from his players. The only disappointment is Pauline Starke, who displays plenty of stamina but little charisma here.

Production values are mighty impressive, with lots of location shooting and first-rate photography by Sidney Wagner.

A second look (after a period of about ten years) of "The Arizona Express" (1924) was far, far better than the first! I have a couple of DVDs of this meller's meller, the first on an absolutely awful DVD print called "Rare Films of Evelyn Brent, Vol 1 (don't buy any of those "Rare Films of..." series!!!), and the second on a Grapevine Video release that is also toned and a relatively fine print (the one screened last night). Starring Pauline Starke, Harold Goodwin, Evelyn Brent, Francis McDonald, David Butler, Anne Cornwall and others, this is a rip snorting railroad drama with simply superb stunt work, incredibly good editing, astute direction, decent acting (some of it older-fashioned), and fairly good camera work. The last named quality wasn't always top notch, or I should say well thought out (way too many night scenes - you'd have thought the cameraman was trying to create film noir), but the scenery captured on the rail tracks is very, very good. Frankly, it's obvious that the budget said, "Keep the shots on inside studio sets as much as possible; the outdoor set-ups are expensive enough!"

The story involves a young man (Goodwin) who gets involved with a new dancer at a club in town (Brent) who is also looking for a simp who can lead to a cash dividend in the form of money from the bank in which he works for his uncle. She's part of a gang led by Francis McDonald, a man "known on three continents" for his doings - all bad. Pauline Starke is the young man's sister, and she's been sent on a missionary deed. After a murder which is attributed to Goodwin of his uncle, he is sentenced to death and Starke now needs to come back. The action from this point is headway frantic and non-stop (implausible but loads of fun!!), with railway mail-sorter David Butler falling for Starke who needs to reach the governor to stay the execution of her brother! Due to intervening circumstances, she now has an incriminating letter that will prove her brother's innocence. Will she make the deadline?

For 1924 this is the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" of its day. It's filled with heart-stopping, non-stop action, incredible stunts, and a storyline that, though possibly known over and over and over today, was fresh and thrilling in 1924. If you want to go back to 1924 and re-live the excitement of that day - minus the jazz age - this is your cup of tea. There is, however, a long scene in a room (a den of thieves) with jazz age cocktails! Recommended, although be aware that the melodramatics are over the top, way over the top, but gobs of entertainment. Have a big bowlful of popcorn ready. Or red hots. Or something...