Passable film made more interesting by presence of a young Gary Cooper. Cooper and his dog, Lightnin', along with an undercover Eileen Sedgwick, solve a crime. Sadly, Lightnin' is no Rin Tin Tin or Lassie. In fact, his primary talent appears to be little more than the ability to jump various hurdles. Also, Cooper isn't really called upon to do any serious acting here. He does appear to do a bit of fighting and stunt work, however. Then again, the action is sped-up and choppy, so it's possible a stand-in was used as needed. In any case, the real star of this picture is Eileen Sedgwick. All eyes are definitely on her when she is on the screen. Zalla Zarana, however, also makes an impression with her dark, mysterious eyes (she played Cleopatra in another short made this same year).
2 Reviews
Action!
GManfred16 August 2016
The accent is on action in this silent 2-reeler starring Gary Cooper. Actually, Coop doesn't have much acting to do, but most of his time here is spent in two fistfights. They appear strenuous and exhausting and take up a lot of screen time, so much so that, as the reviewer above observed, a stunt double must have been used for some of the action.
Briefly, Coop and his girl friend are out for a walk on the waterfront somewhere and his dog, Lightnin', comes upon some illegal activity under the dock. The dog alerts Cooper, who becomes involved and gets knocked out. His girl friend is captured by the crooks and taken to a hideaway. Lightnin' follows the group to the hideout, runs back and urges Coop, who is now conscious, to follow him. This dog must have run about five miles in record time, and is still fresh enough to run and get two motorcycle cops to follow him.
As stated, the fight scenes are long and a great deal of energy is expended. I thought the short was absorbing, and made all the more so by the stamina of all involved, including Lightnin'.
Briefly, Coop and his girl friend are out for a walk on the waterfront somewhere and his dog, Lightnin', comes upon some illegal activity under the dock. The dog alerts Cooper, who becomes involved and gets knocked out. His girl friend is captured by the crooks and taken to a hideaway. Lightnin' follows the group to the hideout, runs back and urges Coop, who is now conscious, to follow him. This dog must have run about five miles in record time, and is still fresh enough to run and get two motorcycle cops to follow him.
As stated, the fight scenes are long and a great deal of energy is expended. I thought the short was absorbing, and made all the more so by the stamina of all involved, including Lightnin'.
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