B-Western lovers are in for a treat with this release of two 1929 silent films starring Tom Tyler, a reigning cowboy movie star during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Included in this presentation is “The Law of the Plains,” a complex adventure mixing revolution (Latin American style) and revenge (Old West style), while “The Man from Nevada” is a more traditional Western where the hero and his comic relief sidekick help a distressed damsel and her beleaguered family protect their homestead against a band of sneering baddies.
The two films were the product of Syndicate Pictures, the forerunner of Monogram Pictures, and were directed by J.P. McGowan, who also played a villain in “The Law of the Plains.” Both films have the same leading players – Tyler as the handsome hero, Bill Nolte as his jovial sidekick, Natalie Joyce as the pretty young thing in need of rescuing, and Al Ferguson as the schemer whose dastardly plans inevitably backfire. Yes, they are all stock characters, but the actors are charming and never wear out their welcome.
Ben Model, the award-winning silent film preservationist, teamed with the Library of Congress and the USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive in presenting new 2K restorations of these titles from the original 35mm nitrate prints. Model also composed and performed new scores for the films. Considering that neither “The Law of the Plains” nor “The Man from Nevada” have been seen in over 90 years, their return is one of the most welcome happenings in this year’s home entertainment releases.