Arizona Days (1928)

★★★★ · Rousing Silent Western with Musical Track · bobsluckycat · 2005-07-27

This is an excellant print! I don't know wether it faded Brown from Black and White as old film is wont to do or wether it was actually developed on peach colored stock film and/or tinted, but it is a super sharp, unbroken print and very watchable. First, I'm a Bob Custer fan, and he's first rate here but not a lot to do but be the hero. Second, Jack Ponder playes the most effete side-kick before Sterling Holloway came along with Gene Autry post WW II. The Villians, J.P. McGowan as "Hicks", also the director, gets the most time on screen. He really quite good. Sort of a Richard Alexander/Bald…

★★★★ · historical technical note · drui3 · 2006-04-19

This film was made with the infamous "sepia tone" film process and is a splendid example. Sepia is a brownish-ochre dye derived from fish. Sepia movie prints, not unlike the still photographic paper prints of the 19th century, were considerably less expensive to produce than the standard "black and white" process using strictly silver nitrate (silver oxide treated with nitric acid) to produce the image. These days, the process is considerably more expensive than B&W but is still available. I thought that the movie was wonderful escapist entertainment! It was formula for its day, but is a cut…