Post by rmichaelpyle on Nov 19, 2011 11:26:55 GMT -6
I watched a decent DVD print of "The Light of Western Stars" (1930) with Richard Arlen and Mary Brian. I mention the DVD thing only because I own an old VHS tape of this whose soundtrack was so bad that it was literally unlistenable. This Zane Grey title has been a staple in the Western genre for nearly the extent of movies. In the silent era Tom Mix's "The Heart of Texas Ryan" was loosely based on this title, then the next year William Farnum made a film wholly based on the novel. In 1925, Jack Holt reprised the role and re-made the film; then came this one. Victor Jory re-made the film again in 1940. Interestingly enough, the DVD cover for this 1930 version with Richard Arlen has a still from the Victor Jory 1940 version!
Arlen and Brian had already made many, many films together, several of them Westerns, and they made more after this one, too. Most notably, "The Virginian" (1929) with Gary Cooper comes to mind. Now the baddie of this one, "The Light of Western Stars", is played by Fred Kohler, Sr., a man whose acting ability is often questioned, but who certainly looked tough enough to be the bad guy! Very menacing, and he didn't take anything from anybody, either. He was always on the giving side - giving the bad doses of bad stuff!
Guy Oliver is the other baddie of the piece. The three partners of Arlen in this one are George Chandler, William Le Maire, and Syd Saylor. Harry Green plays the Jewish peddler named Plotz, who goes by the nick-name of Pie-Pan. Green usually can be nearly offensive in his characters, but he fits in just fine here.
This is a well-made western with the usual kind of straight-forward plot one expects from Zane Grey. They were all well-written and exciting, and this one is no different. I have many Richard Arlen vehicles, and his westerns from 1929-31 are really superb, a couple of them superior films for their day. This one is very good, but not great, Arlen not the finest actor who ever lived, but facile and easy on the eyes and ears. Mary Brian always looks as if she's troubled by the situation unless she's being held in the lead's arms, and she has a chance to be on both sides in this one.
Good show. Definitely recommended to those who love the early Westerns. There are better, even from Arlen, such as "The Conquering Horde" and "Gun Smoke", both released the following year, 1931, but this is still very watchable at just about 70 minutes
Arlen and Brian had already made many, many films together, several of them Westerns, and they made more after this one, too. Most notably, "The Virginian" (1929) with Gary Cooper comes to mind. Now the baddie of this one, "The Light of Western Stars", is played by Fred Kohler, Sr., a man whose acting ability is often questioned, but who certainly looked tough enough to be the bad guy! Very menacing, and he didn't take anything from anybody, either. He was always on the giving side - giving the bad doses of bad stuff!
Guy Oliver is the other baddie of the piece. The three partners of Arlen in this one are George Chandler, William Le Maire, and Syd Saylor. Harry Green plays the Jewish peddler named Plotz, who goes by the nick-name of Pie-Pan. Green usually can be nearly offensive in his characters, but he fits in just fine here.
This is a well-made western with the usual kind of straight-forward plot one expects from Zane Grey. They were all well-written and exciting, and this one is no different. I have many Richard Arlen vehicles, and his westerns from 1929-31 are really superb, a couple of them superior films for their day. This one is very good, but not great, Arlen not the finest actor who ever lived, but facile and easy on the eyes and ears. Mary Brian always looks as if she's troubled by the situation unless she's being held in the lead's arms, and she has a chance to be on both sides in this one.
Good show. Definitely recommended to those who love the early Westerns. There are better, even from Arlen, such as "The Conquering Horde" and "Gun Smoke", both released the following year, 1931, but this is still very watchable at just about 70 minutes
