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Disturbing yet enthralling

A Masterpiece!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Another tremendous boxoffice draw of the 1920s was a canine star named Rin-Tin-Tin. Back in my day, every Kodascope Library carried at least five or six Rinty features - all of them so popular that by the mid-30s, the original tinted prints had all worn out and Kodak had replaced the lot with washed-out black-and-white dupes, complete with hosts of railroad lines. One such dupe now available on DVD is Hills of Kentucky (1927), one of Rinty's most popular pictures - and you can see why! It's absolutely crammed full of action, and that dog is really amazing! Director Howard Bretherton does equally well with his human characters, particularly Tom Santschi who plays the villain to perfection and Billy Kent Schaefer who avoids any hint of mawkishness as the crippled little boy - one of the most convincing displays of real acting I've ever seen from a juvenile. This movie is available on a quite watchable 6/10 DVD from Grapevine. Not great, but watchable!