WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928)

Enjoyable dark silent film about a magician (Lon Chaney) who, when he finds out that his wife is running off with Lionel Barrymore, gets in a fight with him and ends up paralyzed from the legs down.  Later on he hears that his wife has returned with a baby girl.  Chaney rushes to go see his wife, but she's dead.  So in an act of revenge he takes the baby and believing that it's Barrymore's child, has her raised in the "lowest dive in Zanzibar" while he himself has tracked down Barrymore who is now an ivory trader.  Chaney uses his magician skills to trick the local tribesmen and with their help he's been stealing ivory from Barrymore's men.  As planned this enrages Barrymore.  Chaney then reveals that he's behind the thefts and sets up a meeting to enact his final revenge.

For being made in 1928, WEST OF ZANZIBAR is pretty grim, especially the revenge on the child aspect.  When it was first mentioned I almost thought it was gonna go an OLDBOY way, but it ended up going the MANON OF THE SPRING direction instead.  If you are interested in silent cinema then you should definitely check it out.  It's not the greatest silent ever (or even in the Top 100), the pace is kinda slow and even though the mood is dark (and this was Pre-Code), really nothing too unacceptable happens onscreen, but it's still an enjoyable film and watching Chaney's sneering while he's dragging his legs around the joint is worth the price of admission alone.  The biggest problem I had with the film was believing that Lionel Barrymore could be evil.  He's made such a powerful impression in my handsome brain with his performances in films like GRAND HOTEL and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU that it's really difficult to take him seriously as the bad guy.

FORT MASSACRE (1958)

After an cavalry troop is ambushed by Apaches, the highest ranking soldier is sergeant Joel McCrea.  He takes charge, but the other soldiers quickly begin to question his ability to command since it's widely known that he has an extreme hatred for Indians ever since his wife and children were murdered by Indians.  Their only hope is to hopefully connect with a larger cavalry column or make it back to the fort, but either way they desperately need water and the only watering hole around is controlled by the same Apaches that wiped out most of their troop.

I really enjoyed FORT MASSACRE and especially liked seeing McCrea in a darker role.  He wasn't evil or anything, but tortured inside and filled with hate.  Supporting cast of familiar faces (including the under appreciated John Russell one year before he squared off against John Wayne in RIO BRAVO), quick pace, strong story by Martin M. Goldsmith who also penned the film noir classic DETOUR, the phrase "milked the donkey", exciting action sequences, good acting.

FORT MASSACRE is an above average western that I look forward to watching again.

THE TEXAS RANGERS (1936)

Early Fred MacMurray western finds Fred along with buddies Lloyd Nolan and Jack Oakie as outlaws.  Times get tough and after a close scrape with the law they get split up and MacMurray and Oakie get so hungry they sign up for the Texas Rangers with no intention of ever putting in an honest days work.  Naturally though once they see how caring and selfless the Rangers actually are their hard hearts thaw out and they fight for the side of good.  Unfortunately their old friend Nolan has, during this time, become the most notorious outlaw in the land.

I really didn't have that high of hopes for THE TEXAS RANGERS, but I ended up enjoying it thoroughly and watch parts of it twice.  I especially liked seeing MacMurray and Nolan in sinister roles.  The comedic antics of Oakie got a little tiring, but it wasn't too bad.  All in all THE TEXAS RANGERS is a pretty good mid-30's western.  Not a classic by any means, but a good solid and entertaining film.  Quick pace, good story, strong supporting cast (including Edward Ellis, Jean Parker, Charles Middleton and George Hayes), nice scenery, exciting action scenes.  Recommended.