Dick Turpin. 1925. Directed by John G. Blystone.

(6/30/01)

This film came alive for me sporadically. I had trouble following it at first, but after a while I was able to follow it better. Set in eighteenth-century England it is a very handsome production.

Tom Mix was likable enough, but I just didn't find him a very interesting presence. He's basically a product--a name one associates with westerns that feature a lot of action and stunts. He does have one very moving scene in Dick Turpin, however. It is the scene when his horse is killed. Mix brings that scene off, but I find I have more feeling for the horse than for him.

None of the human characters in Dick Turpin were really all that interesting. They went through their paces supporting an action story about a highwayman who rescues a damsel in distress. They were all a supporting cast.

The horse, though, was interesting all the way through. Early on, Mix leaves it on its own to follow him, which it does.

For all of the quality of the production, some of the action sequences weren't as exciting as they should have been. I'm thinking of the boxing sequence in which Turpin hides from his pursuers by impersonating a boxer in the ring--this scene just seems to hang there--and the final chase which just seems to go on forever.