Wild and Woolly is a Douglas Fairbanks western comedy released on June 24th, 1917 and directed by John Emerson. In it Fairbanks plays Jeff Hillington, the son of a wealthy eastern railroad magnate, who dreams of going out west.
Wild and Woolly has a brilliant set-up. The film opens with juxtaposing shots of the west of old with its wild untamed prairies and the modern west with its railways and city streets. It queries: "Has this march of progress killed all the romance, all the thrills?" Then we're introduced to Jeff. We first see him wearing a stetson and chaps, sitting in front of a tepee and reading a western dime novel. The camera then pulls back to reveal that he's inside his room in the city, which has been decorated with western paraphernalia. Jeff, we learn, is obsessed with the west. He spends his spare time reading dime novels, riding around New York city on a horse dressed in western regalia, and, of course, going to the nickelodeon to watch the latest western pictures. Alas, most of the time he is stuck in the office, doing paperwork for his father.
Jeff gets his big chance when a delegation from Bitter Creek, Arizona comes to New York City to ask Jeff's father Collis (Walter Bytell) for financial backing for the construction of a spur line to connect some rich mining claims. Collis, hoping to cure his son of his western mania, decides to send Jeff to investigate. When the delegates meet Jeff and discover his enthusiasm for the west of legend, they decide to dress up Bitter Creek to fit his idea of a western town and plan to stage a barroom dance, a hold-up and an Indian uprising. Steve Shelby (Sam De Grasse), the corrupt local Indian agent who has been selling the Indian's government supplies, decides to use the situation to his advantage, turning the train robbery into a real one and absconding with the money while using the Indian uprising he instigates as cover.
To further complicate matters, Shelby has long had his eye on Nell Larabee (Eileen Percy) who Jeff falls for after arriving in town. Shelby has his fence man kidnap Nell, tipping off the people of Bitter Creek to his plans and tipping off Jeff to their deception, and its up to him to save the day, especially since he's the only one in town with real bullets. The film does sag a little in the second act as we watch the people of Bitter Creek go through the motions of their plan and wait for Shelby to enact his schemes but it really picks up during this climax.
Fairbanks is great in the lead, his manic energy and naivete charm making him perfect for the role of Jeff Hillington. Though the film doesn't make as impressive use of his athleticism as his later swashbucklers, there are still some thrilling scenes, particularly the one where he swings on the joist to break through the floorboard into his hotel room and the climatic chase with Shelby.
This film is one of several early Fairbanks pictures written by Anita
Loos and directed her future husband John Emerson. These films helped
Fairbanks to attain stardom. Loos is often credited with inventing the idea of a more witty inter-titles, and her script for Wild and Woolly is full of subtle humor. Just one example will suffice: at the end of the film, when Jeff goes back east after foiling Shelby's schemes and winning Nell's heart, there is a fade to black. "But wait a minute," intervenes Loo's subtitles, "this will never do! We can't end a western romance without a wedding." And so we get a brief scene where a newly wedded Jeff and Nell ride off into the sunset.
Wild and Woolly is a solid western comedy bolstered by a witty script from Anita
Loos and an (as always) energetic performance from Douglas Fairbanks. It's no wonder this is one of the actor's personal favorites.
Score: 8/10
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