THE LASH

US, 1930, 77 minutes, Black and white.
Richard Barthelmess, Mary Astor, Fred Kohler, Marian Nixon, James Rennie, Robert Edeson.
Directed by Frank Lloyd.

The Lash is an early sound film, with many captions and some awkward staging of scenes indicating the origins in silent film.

Audiences watching old California after the separation from Mexico and the role of Spain will be reminded, of course, of Zorro. And there is a touch of Robin Hood.

The introduction reminds us of the situation between the old Mexicans and the inhabitants of the new State of California. There is significant prejudice against the Hispanics and profiteers trying to take over the lands. This film focuses on a family, a rich don and his niece, and his young nephew, Richard Barthelmess, returning home after four years of study in Mexico City. The young man, Pancho, is upset by the attitudes of some of the Californians. To keep the peace, his uncle gets him, along with his associate, Juan (Arthur Stone), to take several thousand head of cattle north.

Harkness, a politician and an exploiter of the Mexicans, fights with Pancho. A sympathetic Sheriff, Howard (James Rennie) breaks up the fight.

Pancho decides that he will confront the Californians and forms a group, calling himself El Puma. They cause chaos, robbing and upsetting the locals. In Los Angeles, a small pueblo, the American agents hire the good-natured sheriff to hunt down El Puma. In the meantime, the sheriff has visited the hacienda and fallen in love with the niece.

There are some complications, Juan, in trouble with the law because of his attack on his wife, Pancho falling in love with a Señorita, Mary Astor, who is willing to follow him everywhere.
There is some spectacle in the cattle driving as well as the raids by El Puma and his gang.

The film looks rather antiquated now, but it is a reminder of the popularity of this kind of story and filmmaking at the beginning of the 1930s.