*indicates that this title is also available to view, rent, or purchase on various streaming platforms.
“Tom Mix: Sky High/The Big Diamond Robbery” (1922/1929, Undercrank Productions*) Two adventures featuring Tom Mix, a Western star of the silent era whose vast filmography exists today as only a handful of titles. “Sky High” benefits greatly from action sequences filmed on location at the Grand Canyon (including one hair-raising aerial stunt) and a relatively prescient take on immigration issues (Mix’s Border Patrol agent battles traffickers smuggling Chinese workers into the States via Mexico). “Diamond Robbery” – Mix’s final silent feature – moves him to the big city to track down the thieves who took a diamond belonging to speed-loving Kathryn McGuire (who co-starred in several Buster Keaton comedies). The stunt work, much of which is done by the then-49-year-old Mix, is again the key selling point; the Blu-ray features crisp 2K restorations by Undercrank Productions from archival 35mm prints preserved by the Library of Congress and Lobster Films and new organ scores by label chief/historian/preservationist Ben Model.
