Tumbleweeds

After a while, watching "Tumbleweeds" starts to feel like homework. The movie wore me down after a while. I've seen a lot of silent movie comedies. Many of them aged quite well. As for as dramas go, I haven't seen nearly as many. For me they haven't aged as well. They are a lot harder to watch than the comedies. Add into the mix a very stiff (and seemingly self-serious) William S. Hart and "Tumbleweeds" doesn't stand a chance. There are a few laughs and some exciting action but they are too few and far between. "Tumbleweeds" is okay but it feels a lot longer than its actual running time.

"Tumbleweeds" is a classic of the silent era. It marked the final film in the career of western movie pioneer William S. Hart.

The plot revolves around the Cherokee Land Rush of 1889 Oklahoma where a large tract of land was thrown open to the public for the taking by the American government.

Don Carver (Hart) and his pal Kentucky Rose (Lucien Littlefield) had been earning their living as "tumbleweeds", another name for drifting cowpokes. When the last roundup is completed, they decide to take part in the land rush. Carver meets up with the charming Molly Lassiter (Barbara Bedford) after having had an altercation with her half brother Noll (J. Gordon Russell). Noll teams up with Bill Freel (Richard R. Neill) to acquire a choice ranch section by any means necessary. Turns out that Carver has his sights set on the same ranch which he wants to get for Molly.

The highlight of the film is of course, the land rush sequence. It is marvelously staged by Directors King Baggot and Hart himself. A cast of thousands was employed. A remarkable piece of film making for this or any other time.

The version of the film that is usually shown these days is the 1939 re-issue which had sound effects added, as well as a moving prologue filmed especially for this version. It features Hart coming out of retirement and describing the film and then talking about his career and in effect saying goodbye to all of his fans. He had left films after "Tumbleweeds" following a dispute with the film's distributor.

Hart had always insisted on realism in his films. This had worked in his early films but in the 20s, he had to compete with the more popular films of the flamboyant Tom Mix. He had reached his 60s by this time so he wisely decided to go out on top.

Ohh...the thrill of it all!

Once it was among the most popular movies of its kind, and now it's generally remembered only by silent movie fans, but "Tumbleweeds" is a classic silent Western that's still worth seeing. To be sure, a lot of its appeal now comes from nostalgia, but in its time it was close to the top of its genre.

The opening scenes start the story nicely, and they also give it some thoughtful overtones, with cowboys Hart and Lucien Littlefield coming to realize their role as "Tumbleweeds" in a changing world. The 'tumbleweed' image is used well in developing Hart's character, as he faces the consequences of the land rush and of the personal affairs he gets involved in. The story itself has a lot of familiar elements, without many surprises, but the atmosphere and the characters are enough to carry it.

The land rush sequence is probably the most exciting part of the movie, and it is quite a fine set piece. It's later followed by a fast-paced climactic chase that also works well. The action makes a good complement to the atmosphere of the changing frontier, making it a movie that fits together nicely, and that still works pretty well.

In 1925 when TUMBLEWEEDS was released, William S. Hart was 60 years old and been had supplanted at the box office by a host of cowboy stars like Tom Mix who were much flashier and far less realistic. Hart wanted to go out on top and that is just what he did. TUMBLEWEEDS is set in 1893 during the opening of the Cherokee Strip and his recreation of the mad scramble for the newly opened up Indian lands is a landmark in cinema history which has been copied many times but without the same sense of immediacy that is depicted here.

All the elements of earlier Hart westerns are here, the shy hero, the woman in distress, the 19th century code of honor (Hart was born in 1865), rugged action sequences involving Hart and above all the rugged natural locations of a now vanished West. The production values are high, the photography splendid, and the supporting cast top notch especially Barbara Bedford as Hart's love interest Molly. Bedford played strong independent women during her brief career most notably in the 1920 LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

This new DVD release is an enhanced copy of the old Killiam Collection VHS version that has been around for a while but it has never looked this good. Also included is the 1939 eight minute prologue that Hart did for the film's reissue. Hart was 74 by this time and his recounting of the making of his films and the Old West that he knew is not only informative but also quite poignant. This film is his lasting legacy, a legacy that stretches from Gary Cooper to Clint Eastwood, and it's great to have it on DVD at last...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

In the 1939 re-release's introduction, William S. Hart explains, "The story of 'Tumbleweeds' marks one of the greatest epochs of our American history. It tells of the opening of the Cherokee Strip in the year 1889. Twelve hundred square miles of Cherokee Indian lands, on one front, over two hundred miles long, were thrown open by our government to those seeking good earth upon which they might make their homes."

Mr. Hart (as Don Carver) and comic sidekick Lucien Littlefield (as Kentucky Rose) are two of the cattle ranchers who are put out when as the Oklahoman Cherokee Strip is "thrown open" by the government. For Hart, the silver lining comes in the form of a several decades younger sweetheart, homesteader Barbara Bedford (as Molly Lassiter); however, her nasty half-brother J. Gordon Russell (as Noll Lassiter) threatens to spoil the fun. Little brother Jack Murphy (as Bart Lassiter) and his pup have the highest profile relationship that actually works. Still, the film has Hart, and its exciting "land rush!" sequence.

The re-release (which, apart from Hart's cool Shakespearian appearance, is the inferior version, by the way) features the legendary star's farewell:

"My friends, I loved the art of making motion pictures. It is as the breath of life to me…no longer a cloud of dust, but a beautiful golden haze through which appears a long phantom herd of trailing cattle. At their head, a Pinto pony…with an empty saddle…the boys up ahead are calling -- they're waiting for you and me to help drive this last great round-up into eternity…

"Adios, amigos. God bless you all, each and every one."

******* Tumbleweeds (12/20/25) King Baggot ~ William S. Hart, Lucien Littlefield, Barbara Bedford