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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
If you are looking for something to put on a Sunday afternoon while you're half-distracted, Sioux Blood is actually a pretty decent pick. It’s for anyone who misses when westerns were just guys in big hats looking at the horizon with a lot of intensity. 🐎
If you hate silent movies or get annoyed by plots that rely on people just happening to run into each other in the middle of a giant desert, you will probably want to skip this. It’s definitely a product of 1927.
Tim McCoy plays this guy named Flood. He is a scout, and he is incredibly stiff. I mean that in a good way, I think?
His back is so straight throughout the whole movie that I started to feel bad for his spine. He has this way of standing that makes it look like he’s posing for a statue even when he’s just supposed to be talking to someone.
The whole plot is about him finding his brother who was taken during a raid a long time ago. It’s a classic trope, but they handle it with a lot of earnestness that you don't see much anymore.
There is this one scene where McCoy is riding his horse through a valley and the camera just stays on him for a long time. You can see the dust kicking up and it feels very real, mostly because it probably was just a cameraman standing in the dirt with a hand-cranked camera. 🎥
I noticed that the horses in this movie are actually doing a lot of the heavy lifting emotionally. They look tired. They look like they’ve actually been out in the sun all day.
Chief John Big Tree shows up in this one too. He has such a commanding presence without even saying a word (obviously, since it’s a silent film).
Every time he is on screen, the movie feels a bit more grounded. He doesn't do the over-the-top hand gestures that some of the other actors do to show they are angry or sad.
Speaking of over-acting, there is a scene where a guy gets shot and he does this weird little dance before he falls over. It’s almost funny, even though it’s supposed to be a tragic moment. I had to rewind it just to make sure I saw it right. 😂
The romance with Ena Gregory feels a bit tacked on, if I’m being honest. She’s there to look pretty and worry about McCoy, but they don't really give her much of a personality. It’s like the writers forgot she was there and then suddenly remembered they needed a girl for the poster.
I enjoyed the scenery quite a bit. It’s much more rugged than the polished stuff you see in later westerns. You can tell they weren't on a backlot at a studio for most of this.
Some of the title cards stay on the screen for way too long. I found myself reading the sentence, then looking at my phone, then looking back and the sentence was still there. It really slows down the momentum when you just want to get to the next chase.
Compared to something like The Iron Mule, which is more of a comedy, this one takes itself very seriously. Sometimes maybe a bit too seriously.
There is a bit near the middle where they are in the Sioux camp and the lighting is actually quite nice for a 1927 film. The shadows on the tents look deliberate, which is cool to see in a movie that’s nearly a hundred years old.
I did find the ending a little bit rushed. One minute they are having this big confrontation, and the next minute everything is solved and they are riding off. It felt like they ran out of film or the sun was going down and they just had to finish it up.
If you’ve seen Rip Roaring Rivals, you might find this one a bit slower, but it has more of a "story" feel to it. It’s not just about the action.
I also kept thinking about Get Your Man while watching this, mostly because they came out the same year, but they couldn't be more different in terms of vibes. One is a light romance and this is all about blood and desert grit.
The makeup on some of the actors is a bit heavy-handed. In some of the close-ups, you can see the thick layers of greasepaint on their faces. It makes them look a bit like dolls, which is kind of creepy if you stare at it too long.
There is a dog in one of the camp scenes that just looks happy to be there. He’s wagging his tail in the background while everyone else is looking grim and it made me smile. I wonder what that dog’s name was. 🐕
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a good example of what a "standard" western looked like back then. It doesn't try to be anything other than a story about a guy and his brother.
I think the film gets better once you stop trying to follow the logic of how they find each other and just enjoy the visuals of the old west. The landscape is the real star here.
McCoy is a specific taste. If you like his brand of stoicism, you’ll be fine. If you want someone with more than one facial expression, you might get bored pretty fast.
It’s definitely better than Love's Sweet Piffle, which is just as silly as the name sounds. At least this has some weight to it.
I wouldn't go out of my way to find a high-definition restoration of this, but if you see it playing on a weird cable channel or a streaming site for old movies, it’s worth an hour of your time. Just for the horse stunts alone.
The way they ride those horses down steep hills is terrifying. No stunt doubles back then, I bet. Just actors hoping they don't break a leg for a movie that people would forget in three weeks.
Anyway, it’s a solid 1920s flick. Nothing more, nothing less. 🌵
IMDb 6.9
1926
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