Shootin' Mad

Inasmuch as Shootin' Mad is one of the few surviving films of pioneering Western star Broncho Billy Anderson, it is fortunate indeed that it is also one of the best of the lot. Told in flashback from the point-of-view of an "old timer," the film was superbly directed and edited, with a particularly intelligent selection of suspense-building camera angles. Star Anderson was his usual big, beefy self, cast as a surefooted cavalier who turns into a bumbling clod when he meets a purty gal (Joy Lewis). For the heroine's sake, he single-handedly reforms a wide-open Western town, transforming the local low-lifes into solid citizens and pious churchgoers. The final scene was obviously inspired by the closing gag in Easy Street, a film starring Anderson's former employee Charlie Chaplin. For many years, Shootin' Mad was praised far beyond its value due to an archival error which identified the film as a 1912 release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi