(1923)
3.5
Janiss Garza
Big Dan may have been one of Buck Jones' non-Western films, but he still has "cowboy hero" written all over his rough features. And as boxing manager Dan O'Hara, he behaves honorably, exactly as a cowboy star should -- he blows up at his fighter, Cyclone Morgan (Ben Hendricks Jr.), because of his loose, partying behavior, turns his country home into a haven for orphan boys, gives the cold shoulder to a flighty flapper, and manfully agrees to take care of his ailing, unfaithful wife (Jacqueline Gadsden), even though he has fallen in love with the innocent Dora (Marian Nixon, in one of her first film roles). Big Dan's character, as a matter of fact, is just a little too fine and upstanding to be believable in anything but a Western, but his earnest demeanor is offset by some flashes of humor, courtesy of Monty Collins, playing a plug-ugly ex-fighter. Not only is this film one of William Wellman's first directing efforts, it's one of only five Wellman silents known to still exist.
Big Dan on AllMovie
Big Dan (1923)
