The Gaucho (1916)

Douglas Fairbanks was 44 when he made The Gaucho, one of his most thoughtful and visually rich adventures. As the lusty, live-for-today leader of a South American outlaw band preying upon small villages, he drives out a corrupt garrison from a holy mountain village (which seems to literally hang off the edge of a cliff by the grace of God) and takes over the town like a benevolent dictator. When a plague victim infects a wound of his, the impish roustabout becomes a brooding cloud of despair, until he's selflessly saved by the blessing of the fabled "Miracle Girl." As in The Thief of Bagdad, Fairbanks plays the repentant rascal, but one whose acrobatic antics and cigarette tricks mask a hard-living, hedonistic life: he smokes, drinks to excess, and lives in sin with the sexy Lupe Velez, and a sudden conversion isn't about to change a long life of debauchery overnight. Fairbanks hasn't slowed down a bit, leaping and cavorting with the same jaunty bounce and hearty laugh, but the dark undertones and surprising coda suggest the work of a mature artist rethinking his swashbuckling superhero image in light of his advancing years. Lushly designed and handsomely shot (by Tony Gaudio), The Gaucho is also one of the most gorgeous pictures of the silent era. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

An entertaining spectacle

Like just about all other Fairbanks films, this one too is a thrilling, exciting, gorgeous spectacle. Set in South America, it begins when a young girl falls off of a cliff and is miraculously cured by the pool of water she landed next to. She then sees the Virgin Mary appear from out of the side of the cliff, and all of the villagers are in awe of this sight. The girl then uses the water to heal a dying baby, and the locals are even more convinced that this place is really special. Ten years later, it has become a sacred shrine, similar to Lourdes, and an entire city has been built up around the shrine. Because of how many people regularly flock to it to be healed, the city is doing quite well for itself financially. Trouble arises when the evil Ruiz comes to town, takes over the city, confiscates all of the gold for himself, shuts down the shrine, has all of the city's beggars thrown into jail, and basically makes himself a totalitarian dictator with total power over everyone's lives. The hope of the people is the Gaucho, played wonderfully by Fairbanks, who was still looking amazing and able to do all of his trademark stunts, swashbuckling, and other physically demanding things at age forty-four. Most men should be that gorgeous and physically fit at that age. However, in spite of being an exciting story that's also got some beautiful sets and costumes, it's one of those films where the real meat of the story doesn't really kick into high gear for awhile. While I've never been bored watching one of Doug's films because of what an exciting performer he was (even if he wasn't technically an incredibly gifted actor), it would have been nice had the plot been established and got going a lot sooner instead of having to wait while only the characters were established before the plot was really established as well. His character also isn't incredibly sympathetic for most of the film; while he's certainly not evil and blackhearted like Ruiz, he also is a far cry from his earlier characters, such as Zorro, Robin Hood, and D'Artagnan, who cared about helping the less fortunate and fighting for justice, and who weren't obnoxious womanizing playboys. Doug's leading lady, a young Lupe Velez, is however one of his most interesting, as she takes a far more active role in the story than most of his other leading ladies did. She's far more than just the requisite love interest with little to do.

Included as a bonus feature is the bizarre 1916 short 'The Mystery of the Leaping Fish.' Doug plays a detective who is constantly shooting himself up with or snorting cocaine and opium, and who yet manages to solve all of his cases and be respected in spite of being a drug addict. Just about all of the other characters are on drugs as well, and almost not a moment goes by that someone isn't shooting up or having drugs shot into them by someone else. There's so much drug humor in this that it probably couldn't have even been made today, let alone still have been considered funny or appropriate in the modern era. People sure had a different idea of drugs back in the Teens, back before they were criminalised and considered automatically dangerous. It's certainly one of the most bizarre films one will ever hope to see. (One also wonders if the people who came up with the idea for this film were high on cocaine themselves!) Also included are excerpts from the original 1927 pressbook for 'The Gaucho.' Overall, it's a very nicely-presented disc (both prints are in wonderful shape and have wonderful musical scores), another great Kino release, even if it might not be the topmost ideal film to introduce a new fan to Fairbanks. Though he is great in the main feature, as always, the film itself could have used a bit more substance. February 13, 2007

Fairbank's best silent film

People just don't make movies of this kind anymore. The closest recent film I can think of was the painfully horrible "The Three Amigos." There isn't anything in this movie that can be called original, avant-garde, or really even intelligent. All it has is a cheery exuberance, a desire to entertain with a well-used story formula told with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. That, and its two leading characters, played by Fairbanks and the sassy Lupe Velez, who gave a surprisingly good performance.

Fairbanks made many movies of this kind (I also recommend "The Black Pirate"), and it is unfortunate that his career in sound films had such a small output. He dominated every scene of "The Taming of the Shrew" - a movie that shows that there is more to his talent than a dashing grin and athletic stunts. "The Gaucho" is the best of his silent movies - recommended to anyone looking beyond just the recent past for good entertainment, and a must for anyone who likes silent movies period.

"The Mystery of the Leaping Fish" on this DVD is as funny and off the wall as anything I've ever seen - Spike Jonze couldn't have made anything wierder - but it lacks responsibility. The amount of cocaine and opiates imbibbed by Fairbanks's character over the course of the reel -- well, I suppose it won't be taken seriously. September 16, 2005

Big, Exciting Film But Thematically Superficial

Film producer-star Douglas Fairbanks Sr. didn't merely craft eye-filling escapist films for audiences of the 1920s. Each film created a world unto itself with its own philosophy. Doug's 1927 hit, THE GAUCHO, came after a long string of swashbuckling epics that began with the relatively modest MARK OF ZORRO in 1920. Each subsequent film was really just a various on the ZORRO theme, some more obvious than others, most notably the sequel, 1925's DON Q, SON OF ZORRO. Bigger than ZORRO yes, but not particularly better.

Stunning audiences with his physical dexterity and acrobatic skill than would make Jackie Chan envious, Fairbanks astutely sensed the dangers of repeating himself. It has been said that he got the idea for making THE GAUCHO while visiting Lourdes in France, the site of a miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then too, Mary's repeated appearances in Fatima, Portugal only ten years earlier in 1917 was widely known. Fusing the elements of ZORRO with a religious theme, Fairbanks created a wonderful adventure that had more substance than his previous light-hearted adventures.

THE GAUCHO works best when Fairbanks is in his familar action element. For once, he choses a vivacious leading lady with Lupe Valez and they make an energetic team. More surprising is Doug's decision to play a Latin lover type, chain-smoking his way through the film, a decided departure from his earlier roles. Perhaps due to the death the previous year of Rudolph Valentino, the supreme Latin lover of films, Valentino successors began appearing in 1927 - even Ronald Colman was pressed into service in two or three elaborate swashbucklers opposite Valentino's former leading lady, Vilma Banky. THE GAUCHO seems to be Fairbanks' entry into the Valentino sweepstakes.

The opening prologue seems inspired by the Fatima appearance of Mary to a young girl who is unaffectingly played. But moving ahead ten years in the story, the girl, now an adult, seems more Hollywood than Fatima with her pencilled eyebrows and obvious wig. So too is Fairbanks' treatment of the miraculous when he contracts leprosy - but only on his left hand - and is cured surprisingly quickly by short visit to the shrine. Now seeing "the Light," Fairbanks posts the Ten Commandments on the front of the church proclaiming that they are the only law to live by. But his boastful manner suggests that he has not learned the lesson of humility and the film ends ambiguously over whether he has retained his outlaw ways. The treatment implies that Fairbanks' grasp of Christian theology was rather weak with Our Lady appearing a little too conveniently on cue. But, after all, this is a Fairbanks film. If we want true theology, we should watch a DeMille film (just kidding). December 12, 2001

A Fun Fairbanks Film

The Gaucho is a fine Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, which shows his athleticism and charm to good effect. Fairbanks never claimed to be the greatest of actors. The variety of his expressions are somewhat limited. All he really does is laugh at danger. However he had a presence which is irresistible, a quality which draws the viewer to him. As the Gaucho, he plays a South American cowboy/outlaw, who turns into a sort of Zorro like liberator without the mask. He performs any number of great stunts, climbing walls, swinging through the trees like Tarzan and finding all sorts of ways of getting on and off a horse. Fairbanks also has a huge number of party tricks up his sleeve which are wonderfully enjoyable. He never seems to light a cigarette the same way, but performs this simple task with bravado and great skill. The leading lady in The Gaucho is "Mexican Spitfire" Lupe Velez. She grabs Fairbanks at the first opportunity and clings to him with great tenacity, fighting off any other female who comes within reach. She is very fiery, passionate and great fun to watch. One of her best scenes is a tango where she is literally joined to Fairbanks at the hip. The main villain of the piece is Gustav von Seyffertitz. He is always worth watching as he has a very unusual look and a sinister, creepy manner. Unfortunately he doesn't have as much screen time in The Gaucho as he might. It is also worth noting that Mary Pickford appears briefly as a vision of the Virgin Mary. Her cameo only lasts a few seconds, but what she does, she does well.

The black and white print of the Gaucho, on the Kino DVD, is very good. It is clear, sharp and bright and enables all the details of the fine sets to be seen easily. The musical score composed by Sydney Jill Lehman, is highly effective. It consists of South American style tunes which really fit the action. As a bonus the DVD includes an incredible Fairbanks short film from 1916. In The Mystery of the Leaping Fish he plays a detective who is constantly injecting himself with various drugs. He even apprehends the villains by drugging them with narcotics. This is a truly bizarre little film with some jaw dropping scenes which probably would be considered impossible, or at the very least tasteless to film today. This is a really good DVD showcasing one of the biggest of silent film stars. Fans of Fairbanks, or silent films in general, should not hesitate to get it. November 2, 2001

BLACK DOOM IN THE ANDES

Douglas Fairbanks pretty much created and monopolized the dashing, confident, self-effacing movie action hero when movies were still young. In "THE GAUCHO," set high in the Andes, he plays an audacious, romantic, guerilla. He carries a sword, a gun and the Argentine bolos which he hurls with amazing skill. Shot in 1928 and based on an idea that Fairbanks claims he received when he visited the healing shrine at Lourdes, France, the story centers on the robbery of a mountain shrine that houses a young girl who has the power to heal. Fairbanks comes to the rescue and hunts down the bandits. In this lavish and beautiful action-packed comedy adventure, Fairbanks plays a roguish and unlikely hero that's a significant departure from the virtuous screen image he nurtured throughout his career. Here, he's a heavy drinker, carries on a decidedly carnal affair with the tempestuous Lupe Valez and falls victim to the fatal plague known as the Black Doom. A bonus feature on the DVD is the notorious Fairbanks starring 1916 coked-to-the gills cult film "The Mystery of the Leaping Fish." September 8, 2001

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