Sky High (1922)
*** (out of 4)
I'll admit that the story to this Tom Mix Western is pretty weak but thankfully there are enough great stunts for two movies. In the film Mix plays a border agent who is trying to bust a group of men who are illegally transporting Chinese through the Grand Canyon. On one of his journeys the man discovers a woman (Eva Novak) near her death. The two of them strike up a relationship but she's soon kidnapped by the same group who are smuggling the Chinese. SKY HIGH is an awfully silly movie on one hand because the story is so far-fetched that you can't take it too serious. Everything that happens between Mix and the woman can be chalked up as really lame melodrama and by the end of the picture you really won't have a burning desire to see the two together. However, it's doubtful people in 1922 were going into a Mix film wanting romance. I'd say crowds wanted to see their cowboy hero doing wild stunts, shooting it out with the bad guys and of course getting into a few fights and all of that happens here. I'd say there's enough action for two movies because they cram quite a bit into the brief 60-minute running time. If you've seen the remaining fragments of Mix's HEARTS AND SADDLES then you'll notice some amazing stunts where he (or his double) are climbing up and down the side of a cliff. Well, that stunt is done at least six or seven times here as the Grand Canyon is certainly put to good use and it really does become its own character. The stunts are just amazing to watch and it's clear, at times, that Mix is doing his own work. Just take a look at a quick sequence towards the end where Mix must jump from one side of the cliff to the other. I'm not sure if a trick was done to pull this off but it really looks like a tremendous fall could happen if he jumped the wrong distance. The film ends with a large fight with countless extras and before that we get one chase, fight or some sort of other bit of action. It should come as no shock but Mix does his part justice as does J. Farrell MacDonald and Sid Jordan in their roles. I wasn't overly thrilled with the performance of Novak but she's not too bad. SKY HIGH isn't remembered by too many but once you see it I'm sure you'll be impressed enough to try and get someone else to watch it as well.
