TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

bernardoarquivo I can't understand for the life of me what people are thinking when they criticize this movie for the xeriff's jokes, the songs or the accent. First of all, IT'S A COMEDY. It's not drama, adventure or whatever genre IMDB claims it to be. It's a sweet, lighthearted romantic comedy about a mexican thief who's actually a nice guy. The screenplay is not intended to be anything else.Second of all, it's a movie from 1930. An early talkie. Directors were pretty much still learning how to work with music and accents. Overall it works out fine. We all know - as much as the audience in 1930 - that Victor Varconi and Fay Wray were not mexicans. What matters is that Fay Wray is drop dead gorgeous! She's talented and stunning. Every one of her scenes, as the cute young girl that dazzles the good bad guy and ends up with a bit of a crush on him, is a delight.Varconi does a very good job in a role that would have been perfect for Douglas Fairbanks, ten years earlier. One of the reviewers said Varconi "in spite of his age, did a wonderful job in this film". Once again, I don't understand it. What the hell is wrong with him or his age?? The man was thirty-nine!! The perfect age for any role in a romantic comedy!Forget these reviews. It's a sweet little comedy with one of the most beautiful actresses of all time.

barnesgene Welcome to 1930. Talkies are one year old and studios are continuing to experiment madly with all kinds of plots, all kinds of screenplays, and all levels of acting competence. In this film we get broad elements of slapstick and mushy love scenes, and, because it's pre-Code, a little skin deliciously displayed (Fay Wray being happy to oblige). You'll see early on that this film turns out to be way too rough-hewn, and its slapdash construction will not be successful: audiences don't want to watch a mess. The only person really trying to make it all work is Ms. Wray; she practically owns the screen every time she appears, even with her awful accent. If you find yourself attracted to her work -- as I have become -- this flick's worth a quick watch.

pml26-1 This film is not that bad. The previous reviewers have been very hard on this film. I will admit that the comic relief Commandant is very hard. Honestly he should have been deleted with the songs! Fay Wray is wonderful in this film, she always is, did she ever make a bad film, or at least one where it isn't worth seeing her? She was so beautiful. Victor Varconi, in spite of his age, did a wonderful job in this film. He had personality, and a role that actually allowed him to express himself unlike most of his other parts in films when he was mainly wooden (scripts to blame, not him). Don Alvarado, as Fay Wray's fiancé, has a larger role than his billing suggests. These three characters are the only good ones, though, and I will admit that from now on, I recorded it off of TCM, I will be forwarding to the parts with these three actors because the rest of the film is either very boring or very bad, luckily their most of the movie! I may revise this review later.

arthursward I voted a 4 for this film only because Fay Wray's Spanish accented English was well modulated and consistent. We must remember the times afforded Mexicans virtually no work in films and the rest of this turkey is evidence of the folly of that practice. The film's setting is a Mexican village populated by: the cop from Warners' gangster films, a Swede as El Commandante and an Italian as the lead El Capitan Thunder, the much feared bandito. The film drips with stereotypical south-of-the-borderisms.My problems with the film go beyond the casting. As the film opens, El Capitan Thunder's gang has kidnapped 5 women that he tries to come on to. An uncomfortable scene that gets worse with Varconi's histrionics. Wildly gesturing, Crosland's camera has not only difficulty keeping him in frame, but the composition is somewhere between medium close-up and close-up, leaving his hands out of frame. His arms flail, why? The effect I found to be jarring and this sequence is long. Seems like the director is trying to recapture Jolson's Jazz Singer magic with this somewhat ad-libbed bombast. Charles Judels as Commandante Ruiz, the police captain, is given a similar scene with the same bad framing. His scene stinks, too.And I'm not done complaining, yet. While a nice musical underscore was added to the soundtrack, it must have been mixed at the Vitaphone "sea-of-100-turntables" as my print was clear and several layers of pop and crackle were evident. Silent movie titles were frequently used between scenes and the plot is incredible. Worst of all is Varconi's acting. I got the impression he watched Fairbanks in Zorro (a silent), concluded good acting was emoting to the back row and then proceeded to emote past the lobby! You'll wish lightning would strike Captain Thunder.The positives included Don Alvarodo as Fay's love interest and two dozen men riding backwards on horseback (with hands tied) in the first reel. Best part: the film's only 5800 feet long so you'll only suffer for an hour.