Dusty Ride: My Take on the Silent Western `.45 Calibre War`

Is `.45 Calibre War` a Lost Gem or Just… Old?

Alright, let's be real from the jump: if you're not already a fan of silent Westerns, `.45 Calibre War` probably isn't going to be your gateway drug. It's a specific taste. For those who appreciate the era, or just curious about how these stories were told back then, it’s a pretty decent, if straightforward, example. Everyone else? You might find the lack of sound and the older storytelling style a bit of a slog.

Our story kicks off with Reed Lathrop, a good-hearted cowboy, returning home with his friend, a fellow named "Toad" Hunter. Seriously, "Toad." You just gotta love these old Western names. 🐸

They quickly stumble upon a classic land-grab scheme. Ranchers are being strong-armed into selling their properties for practically nothing. The whole setup feels familiar, comforting even, if you've seen a few of these.

Reed doesn't waste much time feeling sorry for folks. He's a man of action, and pretty quickly, he's organizing a "vigilance committee." It's almost *too* fast how everyone just falls in line. One minute they're down in the dumps, the next, they're ready to ride.

The film doesn't hide who the bad guys are for long. Darnell, the saloon owner, and Blodgett, the property dealer, are pretty obviously shady from their first appearances. No real twists there, which is fine; sometimes you just want the good guys versus the clearly bad guys.

Murdock MacQuarrie, as Reed Lathrop, is your archetypal silent Western hero. He's stoic, determined, and you know he's going to win. His performance is solid, even if it doesn't break any new ground for cowboy heroes.

What really got me was the *energy* during the final confrontation. There’s a good sense of movement, lots of horses galloping around. It’s not a huge, sprawling battle, but it feels impactful for a film of its time. You get a real sense of dust and frantic activity.

There's this one shot, not even a long one, where a cowboy on horseback just *barely* avoids a tumble. It looks like it was maybe a little accidental, not quite choreographed, and that small bit of imperfection makes it feel more real, somehow. Like, *whoa*, that was close.

The director, Ford Beebe, keeps things moving. The pacing is surprisingly brisk, for the most part. There are moments where the intertitles feel a bit heavy-handed, explaining things you can kinda already infer. But then again, it was a different era for storytelling.

The sets, especially the saloon, look decent. A lot of shadow play in those indoor scenes, which adds a bit of moodiness. Nothing fancy, but it does the job.

You can tell this movie was made to entertain, not to be some grand artistic statement. And it largely succeeds at that. It delivers on its promise: a cowboy hero, some bad guys, and a good old-fashioned shootout to wrap things up.

If you've seen other films from this period, like perhaps Miracle of the Wolves or even Beau Geste, you know what you’re getting into regarding the style of filmmaking. `.45 Calibre War` sits comfortably among them, a straightforward piece of its time. It’s not trying to be anything more than it is. And for some viewers, that’s exactly enough.