Just Pals was released in 1920. It is directed by John Ford and written by Paul Schofield and John McDermott. In it Bim (Buck Jones), the town layabout of Norwalk, Nebraska, befriends a young orphan named Bill (Georgie Stone). Bim struggles to support Bill and while yearning for the love of Mary Bruce (Helen Fergusan), the town schoolteacher.
The plot of
Just Pals is basically a series of misadventures. Bim tries to make Bill attend school in order to please Mary but he becomes discouraged when he witnesses some bullies making fun of Bill because of his association with Bim. Later a scheming doctor convinces Bim to leave Bill with him, mistakenly believing that Bill is the missing son of a rich man who has offered a substantial reward for his return. At one point Bim is blamed for stealing the school memorial fund when in actuality Mary Bruce lent it to her no good boyfriend Harvey Cahill to pay his debts. He takes the blame to protect her and is run out of town. He then tries to prevent a bank robbery which Cahill is involved with but is implicated for the robbery along with the outlaws. The townfolk prepare to lynch Bim when Cahill is caught trying to force Mary Bruce to leave town with him and Bill goes for the sheriff who stops the lynching and arrests Cahill. Bim is then reunited with Bill and it turns out that the missing boy was kidnapped by his father's former chauffeur and Bim happens to run into him, claiming the reward for himself.
A lot of this is rather contrived but there is a thread of social prejudice running throughout the film that anticipates Ford's later work. Bim and bill are looked down upon by the citizens of Norwalk who are easily lead to believe that Bim committed the crimes which the "respectable" Harvey Cahill is actually guilty for. There are some pretty dark scenes including the aforementioned lynching attempt and also a scene where it is implied that Mary Bruce tried to drown herself over her guilt concerning the school fund. Despite this the film has a cheery tone overall and is clearly not intended to leave the viewer with any sense of moral or social injustice. Buck Jones is good in the lead role and brings a lot of charisma to the film. He and Georgie Stone have pretty good chemistry together. The film-making is pretty perfunctory and the action, outside of the bank robbery, is a little hard to follow. There are some clever edits and the bank robbery, as I alluded, is pretty exciting.
Overall Just Pals is a simplistic but still fairly entertaining western dramedy. If your not looking for anything too profound and you don't mind watching silent films, I'd recommend it.
Score: 7/10
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