Hokey but fun Western whipped up by Zane Grey when he toured Australia and knocked into shape by Charles and Elsa Chauvel and directed by Hollywood import Clarence Badger. It has to be judged by the standards of films of the time, and by those it's reasonably entertaining.
Victory Jory doesn't really have any interest playing a romantic male lead - he's too weird looking - but he's got a deep voice and does look like a cowboy. And he seems to genuinely like Margaret Dare, the female lead.
Dare's character starts out quite interested and spirited but soon just hangs around. They should have killed off her father and had her own it outright.
The structure of this felt wonky. Too much screen time is given to Robert Coote, doing a silly ass in Australia - you really could take him out of the whole film. It's too obvious the neighbour is a baddy and the neighbours' reveal is delayed too late - the Chauvel's weren't very good writers.
It looks good, there is movement and a climatic whip duel which is weird - oh plus an aboriginal gum leaf orchestra. There were plans to make a sequel and it's a shame they never happened.
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