I must confess that even though I am a silent film enthusiast with quite a collection of silent films on DVD/Blu-ray (and a number of reviews of them on Amazon), I had never heard of THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH. Now that I have seen it the surprise is even greater. Made by Samuel Goldwyn in 1926 and featuring Gary Cooper in his first credited film appearance, this movie is an outstanding example of a late American silent film. Not a classic but a well constructed, well acted and well photographed film presented here in a pristine print with color tints and a score performed by legendary organist Gaylord Carter. The speed transfer is occasionally too fast but never enough to detract from what you're watching.
The director was Henry King who made the silent classic TOL'ABLE DAVID in 1921 and whose career lasted well into the sound era with other classics such as THE SONG OF BERNADETTE, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH, and THE SUN ALSO RISES. The casting shows what silent films were truly capable of. Joining Cooper are Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky as the romantic leads which would have been impossible in the sound era as Hungarian actress Banky could barely speak English and Colman's voice was much too urbane to be believable in a Western setting. The story of Western boom towns and the building of a faulty dam which results in massive flooding is based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright and is still relevant today. Director King knows how to handle both the action scenes and the quieter moments which were his real specialty.
THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH was originally part of the 4 DVD set GARY COOPER: MGM MOVIE LEGENDS COLLECTION which was released back in 2007. In addition to BARBARA WORTH it featured 3 sound features THE COWBOY AND THE LADY (1938), THE REAL GLORY (1939), and the influential VERA CRUZ (1954) with Burt Lancaster and directed by Robert Aldrich. If you love Gary Cooper then by all means get that set for your collection. If you are a silent film enthusiast like myself or a fan of Ronald Colman and just want the silent then look no further. This Warner Archive DVD-R is the same copy that was released in the MGM set...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
