The Drifter (1929) - A cheap mule and some mountain riding

If you like watching old-school cowboys do their thing without all the CGI noise, The Drifter is a decent way to spend an hour. But if you can't stand silent movies or plots that take their sweet time, you’ll probably want to skip this one.

Tom Mix plays a deputy marshal named Tom McCall. He’s hunting for narcotics smugglers, which is a pretty heavy plot for 1929, if you think about it.

The movie starts getting interesting when Tom heads into the California Sierras. He buys this old white mule for exactly ten dollars.

I spent a good few minutes wondering if ten bucks was a ripoff or a steal back then. The mule looks pretty tired, but it’s honestly got more character than some of the villains.

He ends up at the Lazy M ranch working for Ruth Martin. Dorothy Dwan plays Ruth, and she does that classic silent movie thing where she looks very concerned about everything. 😟

There is so much dust in this movie. You can almost feel the grit in your eyes whenever the horses start galloping around the ranch.

It’s a bit like John Petticoats in that way where the hero is just trying to fit into a new place while hiding who he really is. The secret identity stuff is always fun, even if it's predictable.

One scene stood out to me where Tom is just staring at the mountains. It goes on for a while, and it feels like the director just wanted to show off the scenery because they paid for the location.

The bad guys aren't super memorable. They mostly just stand around looking mean in their dusty hats.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Drifter (1929) through its definitive frames.

I noticed a guy in the background of one shot who looked like he was waiting for someone to tell him where to walk. It's these little human mistakes that make me love these old films.

The pacing is a bit weird. It feels like nothing happens for twenty minutes, and then suddenly everyone is shooting at each other.

It’s definitely not as weird or artistic as something like A Woman of the Sea. This is just a straight-up Western for people who like horses and mountain views.

Tom Mix has this way of moving that makes him look like he was born in a saddle. He doesn't look like an actor; he just looks like a guy who knows his way around a ranch.

I wish there was more of the mule. The mule was the real star for me, even if it didn't have any lines (obviously).

The narcotics plot feels a bit tacked on. Like they needed a reason for him to be a marshal instead of just a drifter, so they picked the scariest crime they could think of.

Reminded me slightly of the vibe in Phantom Justice, but way less dark. It stays pretty lighthearted for the most part.

The ending is exactly what you think it will be. He saves the day, gets the girl, and the smugglers get what's coming to them.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a nice bit of history. If you've got a soft spot for silent Westerns, it’s worth a look just to see Tom Mix in his prime. 🤠