Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Hell's Heroes (1929)


Universal Pictures
Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Good early talkie western with atmosphere due to location filming both in the desert and Bodie, California, a real ghost town. Based on Three Godfathers, three men wander into New Jerusalem, rob the bank and flee into the desert where the find themselves the ward of a newborn. There is an undercurrent of religious symbolism, the three men wandering the desert Christ-like and their ultimate sacrifice and redemption by saving the child. The film ends in a church on Christmas with a choir singing Silent Night, Holy Night.

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