oscaralbert Review of The Bandit's Wager

The Bandit's Wager (1916)

This condensed version of THE SEARCHERS . . .

[6/10 · 10 February 2016]

. . . came out 40 years prior to that John Wayne teaser. Back in the early days of 1956, how many movie-goers do you think actually figured for an instant that Mr. Wayne was going to gun down his niece Natalie Wood, as all the theatrical teasers implied? Here's a clue: you could count all the Americans who were THAT gullible on one hand. Hollywood legend has it that Wayne and his favorite director, John Ford, invented the "pulled punch," which the former displayed in more than 800 cinematic "fight" scenes. However, BANDIT'S WAGER proves that Ford, the kid brother of the director for this silent short, was already studying the pulled punch before Wayne (that is, Marion Mitchell Morrison) reached puberty. WAGER begins with a chick inexplicably climbing a tree. Viewers think, "Wow, we're going to see a gal fall from a treetop!" No such luck. Then she's in a car with John Ford, driving along a cliff. Cue expectations, "Wow, we're going to see a car go over a cliff!" No such luck. To make a long story shorter, it seems we're on the verge of seeing a chick getting shot, a guy getting shot, a girl getting lucky, a guy getting shot, a gal getting shot, and a guy getting lucky. Then a guy IS shot. With blanks. No such luck.