Movies I've Missed Until Now: The Law of the Plains (1929)

I’m familiar with Tom Tyler mostly as the hero of the CAPTAIN MARVEL and THE PHANTOM movie serials, plus a few Three Mesquiteers entries playing Stony Brooke, and assorted parts as villains and supporting characters. I wasn’t aware that he starred in dozens of silent Westerns during the Twenties. Undercrank Productions has just released a couple of them on a DVD and Blu-ray collection, THE LAW OF THE PLAINS (1929) and THE MAN FROM NEVADA (also 1929). I recently watched THE LAW OF THE PLAINS.

As this one opens, Tyler plays Dan O’Brien, formerly an American Marine who has settled down and owns a ranch in an unnamed South American country, where he lives with his young son Dan Jr. A couple of renegade Americans take advantage of the chaos caused by a revolution to steal the ranch and kill O’Brien, who dies in his son’s arms.

Years later, Dan Jr. (also played by Tom Tyler) has grown into a stalwart cowboy who continues to work on ranches in South America. A trail drive brings him back to the ranch where he grew up, which is still being operated by the two villains who stole it. Dan arrives in time to save the beautiful niece of one of the villainous partners, who’s about to be married off to the other bad guy. Recognizing Dan as the son of the man they murdered in order to get their hands on the ranch, the varmints set out to get rid of him. All this plays out just like a traditional Western. There’s only an occasional indication that it takes place in South America.

I think silent Westerns are great fun and I always enjoy watching them. THE LAW OF THE PLAINS is definitely a cut above average. The restoration done by Undercrank Productions from a copy held by the Library of Congress is just superb. The film looks great, very close to what it must have looked like when it was brand-new. There’s a reel missing in the middle, but a couple of title cards fill in what happened, so the story carries on without any trouble following it. The accompanying musical score is a new one, not the original, composed and performed by Ben Model, and it’s excellent as well and really fits what’s happening on the screen.

Tom Tyler does a good job as the hero, doesn’t overact, and looks great as a cowboy. Natalie Joyce is the girl and I wasn’t as fond of her, but to be fair, she really doesn’t have much to do other than be menaced by the bad guys. And speaking of the bad guys, one of them is played by J.P. McGowan, who also produced and directed the film, and he does a great job as a character described in a title card as “depraved in mind and body”. Sure, he’s a little over the top, but it seems like he’s having a fine time being evil, and that’s contagious. Al Ferguson is the other main villain, and the great stuntman Cliff Lyons plays a henchman and coordinates all the stunt work.

Many of the same people worked on the other film in this set, THE MAN FROM NEVADA, so I’m looking forward to watching it. If it’s as much fun as THE LAW OF THE PLAINS, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.