Gaucho (1928) [DVD] [2028] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Film producer-star Douglas Fairbanks Sr. didn't merely craft eye-filling escapist films for audiences of the 1920s. Each film created a world unto itself with its own philosophy. Doug's 1927 hit, THE GAUCHO, came after a long string of swashbuckling epics that began with the relatively modest MARK OF ZORRO in 1920. Each subsequent film was really just a various on the ZORRO theme, some more obvious than others, most notably the sequel, 1925's DON Q, SON OF ZORRO. Bigger than ZORRO yes, but not particularly better.

Stunning audiences with his physical dexterity and acrobatic skill than would make Jackie Chan envious, Fairbanks astutely sensed the dangers of repeating himself. It has been said that he got the idea for making THE GAUCHO while visiting Lourdes in France, the site of a miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then too, Mary's repeated appearances in Fatima, Portugal only ten years earlier in 1917 was widely known. Fusing the elements of ZORRO with a religious theme, Fairbanks created a wonderful adventure that had more substance than his previous light-hearted adventures.

THE GAUCHO works best when Fairbanks is in his familar action element. For once, he choses a vivacious leading lady with Lupe Valez and they make an energetic team. More surprising is Doug's decision to play a Latin lover type, chain-smoking his way through the film, a decided departure from his earlier roles. Perhaps due to the death the previous year of Rudolph Valentino, the supreme Latin lover of films, Valentino successors began appearing in 1927 - even Ronald Colman was pressed into service in two or three elaborate swashbucklers opposite Valentino's former leading lady, Vilma Banky. THE GAUCHO seems to be Fairbanks' entry into the Valentino sweepstakes.

The opening prologue seems inspired by the Fatima appearance of Mary to a young girl who is unaffectingly played. But moving ahead ten years in the story, the girl, now an adult, seems more Hollywood than Fatima with her pencilled eyebrows and obvious wig. So too is Fairbanks' treatment of the miraculous when he contracts leprosy - but only on his left hand - and is cured surprisingly quickly by short visit to the shrine. Now seeing "the Light," Fairbanks posts the Ten Commandments on the front of the church proclaiming that they are the only law to live by. But his boastful manner suggests that he has not learned the lesson of humility and the film ends ambiguously over whether he has retained his outlaw ways. The treatment implies that Fairbanks' grasp of Christian theology was rather weak with Our Lady appearing a little too conveniently on cue. But, after all, this is a Fairbanks film. If we want true theology, we should watch a DeMille film (just kidding).

The Gaucho is a fine Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, which shows his athleticism and charm to good effect. Fairbanks never claimed to be the greatest of actors. The variety of his expressions are somewhat limited. All he really does is laugh at danger. However he had a presence which is irresistible, a quality which draws the viewer to him. As the Gaucho, he plays a South American cowboy/outlaw, who turns into a sort of Zorro like liberator without the mask. He performs any number of great stunts, climbing walls, swinging through the trees like Tarzan and finding all sorts of ways of getting on and off a horse. Fairbanks also has a huge number of party tricks up his sleeve which are wonderfully enjoyable. He never seems to light a cigarette the same way, but performs this simple task with bravado and great skill. The leading lady in The Gaucho is "Mexican Spitfire" Lupe Velez. She grabs Fairbanks at the first opportunity and clings to him with great tenacity, fighting off any other female who comes within reach. She is very fiery, passionate and great fun to watch. One of her best scenes is a tango where she is literally joined to Fairbanks at the hip. The main villain of the piece is Gustav von Seyffertitz. He is always worth watching as he has a very unusual look and a sinister, creepy manner. Unfortunately he doesn't have as much screen time in The Gaucho as he might. It is also worth noting that Mary Pickford appears briefly as a vision of the Virgin Mary. Her cameo only lasts a few seconds, but what she does, she does well.

The black and white print of the Gaucho, on the Kino DVD, is very good. It is clear, sharp and bright and enables all the details of the fine sets to be seen easily. The musical score composed by Sydney Jill Lehman, is highly effective. It consists of South American style tunes which really fit the action. As a bonus the DVD includes an incredible Fairbanks short film from 1916. In The Mystery of the Leaping Fish he plays a detective who is constantly injecting himself with various drugs. He even apprehends the villains by drugging them with narcotics. This is a truly bizarre little film with some jaw dropping scenes which probably would be considered impossible, or at the very least tasteless to film today. This is a really good DVD showcasing one of the biggest of silent film stars. Fans of Fairbanks, or silent films in general, should not hesitate to get it.

While Douglas Fairbanks, Sr's action-adventure dramas such as "The Mark of Zorro", "Robin Hood", "The Three Musketeers" and "The Iron Mask" have become legendary screen classics - and deservedly so - this lesser-known film Fairbanks made in 1928 has actually been praised by some critics as being his very best film of all. "The Gaucho" has all the elements and qualities of his other famous swashbuckling smash hits of the 1920s, with the exception that the story was not already a well-known book. Fairbanks wrote the screenplays for all of his successful movies, and adding the skills and experience of many years in the film industry, he was able to repeatedly give the movie audiences exactly what they wanted. Nearly 80 years later, "The Gaucho" can still thoroughly entertain and even astonish and impress an audience, as I have personally witnessed at a screening of this unique film. There is never a dull moment as Fairbanks and his vibrant co-star, Lupe Velez, entertain with humorous action and adventure, while at the same time telling a solid, good story involving an oppressive military regime, a young woman who performs healing miracles at a Lourdes-like shrine, and a leper who passes on his disease to `the Gaucho' - the leader of a gang of Andean bandits who finds himself in a Robin Hood role when he enters the `holy city' looking for gold and treasures. The comedy and action scenes are very satisfying, as is the outcome of the story, balancing dark elements with religious and spiritual, spicing it with just the right amount of tricks and stunts which only Douglas Fairbanks can perform. The good black & white picture quality is enhanced by lively music with a distinct South American flavour which suits the film perfectly, so that no matter what the viewer's preference; be it comedy, action, adventure or deeper, meaningful messages, "The Gaucho" has a little of everything to please and entertain everyone.

The second and shorter film on this disc, being just under half an hour long, has become a cult classic, and like "The Gaucho", shows a very different side of Douglas Fairbanks. Although he had successfully starred in various comedies in the years 1915-1921, "The Mystery of the Leaping Fish", made in 1916, stands out as being his most unusual but also one of his best comedy performances. Deliberately quirky and outrageous, Fairbanks plays a private detective who needs frequent cocaine injections to keep functioning, and is delighted when the case he is assigned leads him to an opium-smuggling racket. Along the way he gets the girl, and captures the bad guys while high on opium. An equally quirky musical score heightens the mood, and almost gives the viewer a sense of escaping reality in a haze of mind-altering substances. Overall, this DVD is double the fun with Fairbanks at his best and most unusual, and therefore definitely not to be missed!