Symbolizing the rootless cowboy who freely rides the range, tumbleweeds inspire the title of William S. Hart's most notable western. Tumbleweeds also marks the last major role of his seventy odd features. Like General MacArthur, old cowboys never die . . . they just fade away, duly illustrated in the famous 8-minute 1939 prologue to the film that leads off the DVD release. No longer able to saddle up due to injuries and advancing age, the 75 year old silent acting legend slowly ambles to his spot and delivers an emotional tribute to the old westerns. While some may find his speech moving, most are more likely to feel uncomfortable with its extreme sentimentality and melodrama. Calling upon his old stage drama days, Hart alternates between pontificating and coming close to tears:
"My friends, I loved the art of making motion pictures. It is as the breath of life to me ... the rush of the wind that cuts your face, the pounding hooves of the pursuing posse, and then the clouds of dust! Through the cloud of dust comes the faint voice of the director, 'Now, Bill, OK! Glad you made it! Great stuff, Bill, great stuff! And, say, bill! Give old Fritz a pat on the nose for me, will ya?'
. . . The saddle is empty, the boys up ahead are calling, they're waiting for you and me to help drive this last great round-up into eternity."
A pioneer of the Western who began his film career in 1914, Hart sought to make truer representations of the Old West than the earliest dramas. He was adamant about striving for more authentic costumes and scenarios, so his films are always heavy on plot. Without sound the writers (often with Hart's collaboration) incorporate western dialect into the intertitles and his heroes were more fully drawn than typical films from the era. What Hart clearly established was the idea that Western hero relies more on honesty, courage, and inner character than it does on six-shooting expertise. Tumbleweeds' Don Carver (Hart) certainly follows the Western code by consistently fighting for righteousness, but he also remains humble and surprisingly humorous.
The year is 1889 and the Cherokee Strip is on the verge of being opened to settlers for homesteading. After moving his Box K cattle off the range, Carver figures that he's destined to move on like the proverbial tumbleweed, but he fortuitously runs into Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford) and decides to help her obtain the Box K ranch. Naturally, forces of evil provide complications to the plan, and the chief obstacle turning out to be Molly's half brother, Noll (J. Gordon Russell).
We are actually introduced to Noll early on when he slaps 13-year old Bart Lassiter (Jack Murphy) around for sharing water with a dog. Carver intervenes with awesome comical timing to render justice, deftly using the water trough to force Noll to apologize to both the boy and the dog. Carver's subtle double-take when he later discovers that Noll is Molly's half brother is worth noting. Providing additional comic relief is Carver's trusty side-kick, who takes a fancy to plucky settler Kentucky Rose (Lucien Littlefield), who definitely looks the part of a pioneer woman who's raised four kids.
Carver faces a slight moral dilemma when mistaken for an illegal "Sooner" after he ventures into the Cherokee Strip to retrieve lost cattle. Arrested for jumping the gun, he isn't allowed to participate in the land rush, but predictably does the "right" thing at the crucial point even if it isn't strictly the "legal" thing. Along the way Carver further establishes his heroic sense of justice by helping an elderly couple rightfully retain their land claim over a scumbag. Like most of Hart's westerns, his better side becomes inspired by the good woman and any indiscretions are fully redeemed by the last reel with hints that the old "tumbleweed" may even settle down at the end.
Sixty years old when he made Tumbleweeds, Hart himself realized that his time was near the end. A stickler for what he believed to be realism, he wasn't willing to switch to the more light-hearted fare that box office favorite Tom Mix provided. His more realistic portrayals certainly remain more in tune with modern day anti-heroes than the more popular cowboy heroes that appeared on screen before the advent of John Wayne.
Ironically Hart's last feature remains his most well known, sparking debate whether Hart should have continued his career.
This is a case where an actor goes out on a high note. Judging from his overblown melodramatic opening prologue, Hart best remains remembered for his body of silent work. Tumbleweeds stands up remarkably well, and most film devotees will find it among the more interesting and entertaining melodramas of the silent era.
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