Arms and the Gringo (1914)
ARCHIVE: George Eastman House
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I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
"Arms and the Gringo" is a two reel silent melodrama. Directed by William Christy Cabanne and starring Dorothy Gish and Wallace Reid, the film is truly poor.For instance, the editing of film seems to show Griffith-like techniques at their most over used. The director cross cuts constantly between scenes without any emotional or thematic significance. The only really powerful scene is the last, where Dorothy Gish is manhandled by arms smuggler and is rescued by the handsome American soldier Wallace Reid.The one surprise in "Arms and the Gringo" is a Mexican-American character. The character is quite stereotypical in keeping with the attitudes of the time, but he does manage to get Wallace Reid's attention at the end of the film and so that he can save Dorothy Gish. This Mexican character may have been inspired by another nameless character in the Griffith Biograph "The Battle at Elderbrush Gulch".Normally I am very kind to silent melodramas, but "Arms and the Gringo" lacks the direction or the heart to capture my attention. I would not recommend it as viewing for a person who has never seen a silent film.