In Old Arizona (1928)

The western meets synchronized sound in this Fox classic film, In Old Arizona. Based off the character the Cisco Kid originating from the O. Henry story The Caballero's Way, the film took the next step in talking motion pictures as for the first time the audio was recorded outside, not in the safety of a sound stage. The film would prove to be a hit in theatres and at the Academy Awards making it quite an enjoyable movie to watch.

The film is of the story of the Cisco Kid (Warner Baxter), a handsome and charming bandito of the old west, as he makes his way into one of his favorite towns where his beloved Tonia (Dorothy Burgess) lives. Unbeknownst to him the woman he loves so dearly is one that has many secret lovers, which she has mainly to get what she wants, and what she gets from the Cisco Kid is gold purely out of the goodness of his heart in hope that he could one day leave his past behind him and settle down with Tonia. But plans would be on hold as an army sergeant from New York, Mickey Dunn (Edmund Lowe), makes his way to town in search of this legendary Latin bandit. Tonia becomes infatuated with this new man in town for he would collect a large sum as a reward in nabbing himself the Cisco Kid which Dunn says he would share with her. Here the story turns into a love triangle where Tonia tries to two time the Kid to fall in the hands of the lawman, but he would get wind of her true intent setting up a situation where Dunn would kill Tonia mistaking her as the Cisco Kid, leaving the movie with the sad ending of the Kid heart broken that he will not be free of his fugitive life and must continue roaming the west getting by the only way he knows how.

Although the movie is considered a western it is purely for the sake of its setting as the movie is romantic suspense thriller, where the audience knows what is going on before the characters do, building suspense as the ending comes closer. The sound recording was quite good considering it was a first in cinema history sound was recorded outside a studio, and it even included a song written for the movie as the Cisco Kid sings from his heart about "My Tonia." The film is an enjoyable story of a love triangle with two men that you rather like and a misleading woman in the middle who seems to get what she deserves.

The film was quite a success garnering the most nominations at the 2nd Academy Awards with five, including nods for Arthur Edeson's cinematography, best writing, Irving Cummings' directing, best picture, and a win for Baxter as best actor. All of that success came despite a major road block in the production proccess when the original director and star Raoul Walsh was driving back from locations in Utah had a jackrabbit fly through his windshield and striking him in the head. This accident would give him injuries that would make him unable to director or star in the film leading to his replacements. Also the injuries would end with him unfortuantely losing an eye. The film would untilize many popular locations seen in many westerns through the years including Zion National Park in Utah.

The film has since long been a footnote in the history of cinema, especially with the early sound era, but is an enjoyable movie with suspense that keeps the audience watching. The picture is definitely deserving as one of the very best for the 1928-29 which is why it led to many sequels made that pepper through the 1930s, but were nowhere near as fine quality is the original film that stared the Cisco Kid.