Credited with being the first outdoor western photographed with sound, In Old Arizona was originally shot as a silent film, and later re-filmed after The Jazz Singer, the movies first talkie, captivated audiences and left them wanting more. Modern audiences may be disappointed in the lack of action sequences, but those with an interest in early talkies should be intrigued by this early attempt to the western genre with sound.

Raoul Walsh is listed as co-director with Irving Cummings, but its unlikely Walsh had much to do with the activities behind the camera. He lost an eye when a jackrabbit went through the windshield of his car, as a piece of shattered glass went into his eye. As a result of the injury, he wore a patch over his right eye for the rest of his life. An actor at the time, Walsh had to bow out of the starring role in favor of Warner Baxter.

Old ArizonaAdapted from O. Henry’s The Caballero’s Way, In Old Arizona follows the adventures of Conrado Sebastian Rodrigo Don Juan Chicuello (Baxter), alias The Cisco Kid, a bandit who never robs individuals, but happily steals the Wells Fargo box off the noon stagecoach at gunpoint. Cavalry Sgt. Mickey Dunn (Edmund Lowe) is given the job of capturing him, but he’s not the brightest bulb in the drawer. When they meet by chance at a barbershop, Dunn doesn’t recognize the bandit.

The Kid is a romantic at heart, who loves his impoverished, feisty Mexican girlfriend Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess). He constantly gives her gifts, and makes promises of a better life. What The Kid doesn’t know, is that Tonia has a roving eye, and runs around with other men whenever he’s away. Naturally, it’s not long before Mickey finds himself entangled with Tonia, and an a menage à trio develops. The scheming Tonia makes a deal with Mickey to collect the $5,000 reward money if she gives up the Kid. Having become aware of her plan, The Kid has a trick up his sleeve he hopes will leave Tonia’s plan in tatters.

Because sound equipment was rather primitive, there are many scenes of people talking while gathered in groups—they all had to be close enough to the microphones, strategically placed behind trees, rocks, and the like. Warner Baxter, a silent screen actor of no great distinction, found great success in the sound era, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.  In her first film, stage actress Dorothy Burgess doesn’t have the poise her costars display on camera, but oddly enough, it works because some of the lies she tells would likely make anyone uncomfortable.

Framed at 1.20:1, and presented in 1080p, this film is more than eighty-five years old, and looks rough in spots. There are scratches and specks clearly visible throughout the first third of the film, though things do get a bit better as things progress. Sharpness is surprisingly good for a film released in 1928, but the black levels are grayer than black, meaning the darker areas and scenes don’t look as good as they good. Whites are handled well, and don’t exhibit blooming.  Contrast is solid.

The disc offers a remastered DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 track and an unremastered Dolby Digital 1.0 sound mix. The compressed track has a fairly consistent hiss and crackle. However, the volume appears to be slightly fuller, and thus a bit louder than on the lossless track. While the DTS-HD Master Audio track has a hiss, it’s much less noticeable, and no other audio issues arise. However, dialogue is sometimes a bit muffled especially in outdoor scenes. Despite the audio issues, this is on par with what one would expect from a film made in this era.

English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are available.

No special features are included.