DICK TURPIN (1925) – Western star Tom Mix took a break from his Wild West movies by starring in this highly romanticized film about the real-life English thief and highway robber Dick Turpin. John G. Blystone directed the movie for Fox Film Corporation. Tom swapped his six-guns and rifles for a sword and pistols in this flick.
The story in this 70-minute movie starts out in the mid-1730s. In this version of events Dick Turpin is already well-known for committing masked highway robbery against the carriage trade of well-to-do passengers. Among his men is burly Tom King, played by Alan Hale after his 1922 turn as Little John to Douglas Fairbanks’ Robin Hood.
The main villain of the film is Lord Churlton (Philo McCullough), who not only resents having been robbed by Turpin, but abuses his power and influence by menacingly trying to force Lady Alice Brookfield (Kathleen Myers) to marry him.
Out and about without his mask on one day, Dick spots a rival gang of highway robbers attacking the carriage of said Alice. Smitten with our heroine’s beauty, Turpin comes to the rescue, single-handedly driving off the bandits and flirting with the young lady. Continue reading
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