This film was one of Paramount's great successes in 1924 but now, in 2011, it is a largely uneventful western lacking in camera movement and story originality. The story and camera flaws are the result of its age, as technology and subsequent improvement in plot and storyline make this picture seem quaint by comparison. Westerns had to have a start somewhere, but this film was supposed to be a follow-up to James Cruze's great "The Covered Wagon" from the previous year. Haven't seen it so I can't compare.
Taisie Lockheart (Lois Wilson) inherits her Dad's ranch after his death. There are possibilities to make lots of money on the ranch's huge herd of cattle, if she can find a way to drive them north of the 36th parallel, from deep in Texas to Abilene, Kansas, a brand new railroad town almost a thousand miles away. The time is immediately after the Civil War, and the railroad has just been completed. Don McMasters (Jack Holt) rides up to the ranch, under suspicious circumstances, and claims he can be the sought-after ramrod. Ranch foreman Jim Nabours (Ernest Torrence) doesn't trust him, and local mob boss Slim Rudabaugh (Noah Beery, Sr.) vows to stop him.
I guess second unit direction was not in use yet because the bulk of the picture is a slog northward with some setbacks such as Indian attacks, stampedes, etc. without aforementioned camera movement or sufficient pacing to keep one from squirming in one's seat. The films 85 minutes seems much longer. It is not a compelling picture and there is very little tension or excitement in the action scenes. I think it is sad how audience perspective changes over time - a picture that once thrilled audiences can become tedious with the passage of too many years.
Shown on a restored 35 mm print from The Library of Congress at Capitolfest 2011, Rome N.Y.