Tom Mix westerns were in many ways anticipating the later Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy and Lone Ranger movies. These were not films out there to make any statements or give us characters full of complexities. These are instead pure escapism. The characters Mix played were always pure good guys. They stood for what's right and always followed the straight and narrow path. Everybody knew in the end Mix would win, and the bad guys would be defeated. Tom was simply what every red blooded American boy wanted to be. He was a hero and a role model for them to look up to. A man who knew what was right and would always end up victorious. While film history has often overlooked Tom Mix's films in favor of the more experimental and groundbreaking films of the era, it is worth noting these movies were extremely popular in their time. In fact in 1927 The Exhibitors Herald named Tom Mix the biggest box office draw in America. Looking at his best films today the reason for this is plain to see. Audiences then as now often preferred pure fun escapism over anything artistically important. These films provided that escapism fantastically and a film like The Great K & A Train Robbery is still tons of fun today.
In this film, Tom Gordon (Tom Mix) is hired by business man Eugene Cullen (William Walling) to capture whoever is behind various train robberies of his gold. Tom believes Cullen's secretary (Carl Miller) is behind the robberies. Therefore he disguises himself as a bandit and tells no one that he is the man hired to help. This creates a complication when he falls in love with Cullen's daughter (Dorothy Dawn). Also helping Tom on this mission is his faithful horse, Tony (played by himself) and old army buddy Harry (Harry Gripp).
This is certainly a film which never takes itself to seriously. Humor is a plenty in this movie. It even shows up in the intertitles ("Burton Holt - Cullen's secretary. If he's a college man - it must have been Vassar"). There is especially plenty of great slapstick with Harry Gripp (for instance him getting dragged across the building by Tony). Also as any Tom Mix western should have, there is plenty of action here. There is little doubt that the action packed climax is tons of fun and excitement here and just helps make this movie a joy to watch. The stunts performed in this movie are especially incredible and breathtaking (Mix is said to have performed all his own stunts). Also worth praising is that the whole film is beautifully shot at Glenwood Springs, Co. This film perfectly captures the visual beauty of that area.
After Tom Mix, the second biggest star in this movie was his horse Tony. Like how Roy Rodgers would have Trigger and Gene Autry would have Champion, Mix had his own horse. This horse was Tony. Tony was an incredible horse, and is remembered today for providing some amazing stunts, that would never be allowed today. Tony was extremely publicized and would become just as much of a household name as Mix. Tony's name would be part of the title of three movies, Just Tony (1922), Oh You, Tony! (1924) and Tony Runs Wild (1926). He would work with Mix through The Fourth Horseman (1932), where he would suffer an injury and retire from movies (though he would live until 1942 (after Mix had passed)). In Mix's movies after The Fourth Horseman Mix would work with a horse appropriately called Tony Jr. As well as films Tony had also been featured as the star of quite a few children's books and comic books, which only helped increase the horse's popularity.
One exhibitor wrote about this film for the Exhibitors Herald stating, "Best Tom Mix picture I ever played, wonderful scenery. Five reels. - Thos. G. Norton. Town Hall Theater. Aleganny, N.Y. - Small Town Patronage." Another exhibitor wrote, "Another good one from Fox, with Mix doing the things fans like to see him do. Six Reels. Caress Brother, Palace Theatre, Elnora, Ind. - Small Town Patronage."
A movie theater in North Carolina advertised this movie in a very unique way. The theater's manager (James Cartledge) worked with a toy store. The store had an electric toy train on display in its window. The manager decorated this toy with movie stills, window cards and more with the theater name and dates when the movie was playing written on them. The train gathered many people by the toy store's window and when the movie played the theatre was packed.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources UsedTom Mix in Flaming Guns by Richard W. Bann.
http://mediahistoryproject.org/
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