In Old Arizona (1929) - Almost unbearable to watch

Review No. : 0021

Title : In Old Arizona

Year : 1929

Director : Irving Cumming

Country : United States

World’s Verdict : Rotten Tomatoes – 56% out of 100%; IMDB – 5.8 out of 10.0; Academy Award – Best Actor.

My Verdict : 2.0 out of 5.0.

This review is going to be short.  I watched the film because it is part of my Oscar Challenge because it is a best picture nominee during the second Academy Award.

The film is about Cisco Kid (Warner Baxter), a hold-upper in Arizona who targets to rob local stages commuting in the dessert.  Sgt. Mickey Dunn (Edmund Lowe) is tasked to capture the Cisco Kid but finds him very elusive.  Sgt. Dunn falls in love with a flirtatious Mexican girl named Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess), who also happens to be Cisco Kid’s lover.  Sgt. Dunn and Tonia Maria then creates a plot to capture Cisco Kid.

The Bad

I felt like I wasted my time after watching this film.  Below is my punch list why I think this movie is bad:

• It’s not funny at all.  It’s a combination of cheese and corn, cheezy-corny.
• The acting performances are actually not bad, the actors sometimes surprises me.  Among the three major actors, Baxter has the worst performance.  Baxter getting an Oscar for that performance is actually unbelievable.  I don’t know who were his contenders for Best Actor during that time, but I just can’t believe he won an Oscar for a performance that makes me cringe.
• The story is a nice fairy tale but should not been made to a movie.  It’s dragging and it’s boring.

I highly recommend for you NOT TO WATCH this film.