“Someday
you’ll be sorry you broke my heart.”
This “western” takes place at the boarder of the United
States and Mexico known as The Great Divide. Steven Ghent (Ian Keith) is
returning home after being away for a long time. He has just sold his mine that
he has had for fifteen years. He has been working alone and hard since his
partner Frank Ruth died years before. In that time Steven has been taking care
of Frank’s daughter. Waiting for him at his house is a young Mexican girl named
Manuella (Myrna Loy). She is in love with Steven but he only sees her as a
child not as someone he could love.
Ruth (Dorothy MacKaill), Frank’s daughter, is on her way
out west to see Steven about the mine along with her lawyer and a bunch of
mooching friends. Ruth is not happy about having to spend time in a small mid
western town. She is a lively girl who constantly wants to have a good time and
be entertained. Once in town Ruth and her friends walk around and join in the
fiesta. Steven and two of his friends ride wildly into town. He almost runs
Ruth over with his horse. She is furious with him. She gives him a piece of her
mind and calls him a Mexican bandit. Steven plays along with the Mexican bandit
line and pretends he is one.
Steven rides his horse right into a bar. Manuella was in
the bar and runs up to Steven. He pushes her away which causes her to become
infuriated with him. Ruth saw Steven ride his horse into the bar and is now
intrigued by him. He sings a song with his friends and when he is done Ruth
wants him to come over. A few moments later they are dancing with each other
and Manuella, still in the bar, sees them together and fumes in jealousy. She
has the musicians in the bar play flamenco so she can dance to it and gain
Steven’s attention. Manuella’s plan works for a bit until Ruth notices him
staring at the dancing girl and gets his attention right back.
Manuella’s jealousy soon gets the better of her and she
openly threatens to kill Ruth if she does not leave Steven alone. In his defense
of Ruth Steven drops his Mexican bandit act to yell at Manuella to leave them
both alone. Ruth is upset with Steven and his deception she calls him cheap and
immediate goes crawling into the arms of her friend Edgar.
When Steven finds out that Ruth is Frank’s daughter he
gets mad at what she has become and whisks her away into the desert that night.
He does this to show here that there is more to life than partying and needing
constant attention. Her lawyer still does not know who Steven really is. Still
thinking Steven is a real Mexican bandit he announces that there will be a ten
thousand dollar reward for whoever finds Ruth and captures the bandit who took
her.
Steven and Ruth return to his house a few days later. They
are now both in love with each other which should not be a shock to anyone
reading this. Manuella shows up out of the blue and looking for a throw down
with Ruth.
Of course everything works out in the end and Steven and
Ruth are happily together.
The Great Divide has all the hallmarks
of an early sound film. The acting is not that great as the actors were still
getting used to acting out the lines they were speaking. The camera was
stationary and the cuts were very few. I would not have come near The Great Divide if Myrna Loy had not
been in it. The story was not too bad but it is one that has continued to be
made over and over since the dawn of the movies. I think the only reason it is
available at all through Warner Archive is because Loy is in it. At the time
she made this film Loy was twenty-four and still playing exotic characters even
though she was a redheaded Irish, Welsh, and Scottish girl from Montana. It
pained me to hear Loy try to fake a Spanish accent. Her early speaking roles
just pain me in general but as a massive obsessive Myrna Loy fan I have to see
whatever films of hers I can find. Unless you are a Myrna Loy fan like me than
there is no reason to watch The Great
Divide. If you are interested in watching it the film is available to view
in full on YouTube.
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