Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Big Diamond Robbery (1929)

Tom Mix stars in his final silent film, directed by Eugene Forde, with a supporting cast that includes Kathryn McGuire, Frank Beal, Martha Mattox, Ernest Hilliard, Barney Furey and Tony the horse.

George Brooks (Beal) is a business leader who has just purchased the famous Regent diamond for his privileged society daughter Ellen Brooks (McGuire), much to the disapproval of his sister Effie (Mattox). Home with her friend Rodney Stevens (Hilliard), Ellen insists on seeing what is in the enticing gift box and blithely approves of the expensive bauble. You know Stevens is crooked, with his smarmy slick hair and little Menjou moustache, from the moment he inspects the diamond necklace and casts a furtive glance at the Brooks pair.

Arriving on the latest train is Tom Markham (Mix) who is “on his annual visit to the city.” Intending to go to the Brooks home, Tom engages a taxi driven by the inept Barney McGill (Furey) and sees what he thinks is a woman in peril. Speeding in the taxi, Tom pulls Ellen off her horse at full gallop not knowing that she and Rodney are only having a bit of racing fun. Afterwards, Ellen and Stevens are driving in her car and she is caught speeding again, which means a prison sentence after having a judge warn her last time. Speeding away from motorcycle cops, Ellen is stopped by Tom’s taxi car that is now out of gas and she is escorted to court by police. Through her father’s influence Ellen’s jail sentence is waived and she is paroled provided her father’s promise is kept to send her out of town for a contemplative respite.

It is now revealed that Tom is in town to discuss with George Brooks some improvements to his Arizona dude ranch, of which Tom is the manager. Ellen is informed that she and her prim Aunt Effie (Mattox) will be sent to the ranch for her parole term. Conspiring to teach Ellen a lesson, her father directs Tom to show her a tremendous, wild experience intended to curb her impulses.

That evening, burglars enter Ellen’s bedroom to steal the diamond necklace. Tom gives chase to the crooks’ hideout and retrieves the stone but is subdued by the toughs. With the diamond hidden, Tom is grilled for its location. Making a daring escape, Tom is just in time to catch the train to the ranch.

Tom and the ranchhands give Ellen and her Aunt Effie the big show as renegade Indians and with Tom disguised as the desperado Black Bart. (Which begs the question: How is Tom not recognized wearing his white Mickey Mouse gloves?) Stevens arrives on scene and ‘rescues’ Ellen and her party. As is to be expected, Stevens and his flunkies are there to pursue the diamond. Successes and failures ensue. Then, everyone that deserves to be is happy in the end.

Barney Furey provides comic relief as a befuddled taxi driver. Martha Mattox, who made a living of portraying creepy and stern characters, excels here in what she does best — making the other characters fearsome and self-conscious. Tony the horse is present in what amounts to a cameo appearance. Hilliard is an effective villain, McGuire lovely as the heroine, and Tom is . . . well . . .
Tom Mix.

— Carl Bennett