This time, we're back with the Top Two of the early movie cowboys, beginning last night with Tom Tyler in "When a Man Rides Alone"(1933). A bandit is robbing the stage, every time it leaves the Wells Fargo depot with a delivery of gold from the Cottonwood mine. He's a Western version of Robin Hood: instead of keeping the gold for himself, he delivers it unseen to men he feels it is owed, who once had a stake in the mine but were ripped off by "Mr. Slade" (Al Bridge), the mine's owner. The bandit is returning to them what he feels is rightfully theirs, and, back in his shack, he keeps an accounting of it. He doesn't wear a mask, so we know he's Tom Tyler, but the stage driver never sees him because he approaches from behind. He remains unidentified to the Sheriff, who calls him the Llano Kid.
Mr. Slade is losing a lot of gold and wants to find out who the Llano Kid is, so he offers a reward, but in the meantime, old "Dad Davis" (Frank Ball) has had his side of the mine broken through by Slade, and he's furious, willing to go to town and shoot it out with the crook. His landlady begs him not to: "Your daughter is on her way. Don't get yourself killed before she gets here." Daughter "Ruth" (Adele Lacy) is a schoolteacher from the east coast. Dad ignores the kind-hearted landlady and has it out with Slade, but Slade shoots him and he's badly wounded. Meanwhile, the Llano Kid is waiting to rob the next Cottonwood gold delivery on the stage, and who should to be a passenger but Ruth Davis the teacher. She's excited and says, "I've heard about bandits, always wanted to meet one"! Tyler is handsome so she's thrilled. He finds her celebrity-worship offputting to say the least. He's a robber with a gun - why isn't she terrified of him? She threatens to turn him in (rather insouciantly), and he holds her hostage, in a "sorry ma'am, but you asked for it" kind of way. Of course, this is the usual romantic friction. When they get back to the Davis house, he hears about Dad's claim with Mr. Slade, and promises to get his gold back. For now, though, he has to leave because he can't be seen in town. Reward posters are all over the place with his picture on them. He has no idea how he got identified and photographed, and I can't tell you because it's a plot twist.
In the end, we discover Tyler's motivation for the gold robberies. By this time, he's been in a shootout with Slade. I can't reveal the outcome of that, either, but this is epic Tom Tyler, with all of his riding stunts and athletic moves turned up to 10. It's more about the action, ala Harry Carey, so you don't get the standard comic relief, and not as much romance as you might like, considering that Adele Lacy is an appealing love interest, but the direction is crisp, the photography excellent, and the location - while not noted on IMDB - appears to be in Placerita Canyon. There are also punchouts galore, and I have a question: why do they always speed up the footage in these old-timey Western fights? It gives them a slight Keystone Kops effect. I'm not complaining because it makes the punchouts more comical and removes the emotion, making them less violent. That's what's so great about the old Westerns (and what was ruined by the so-called "realism" of post-Peckinpah Westerns) - the violence (what there was) in the old ones was lightweight. It was all Good Guys and Bad Guys, and the Bad Guys were Evil Personified, and sometimes guys got killed but there was never any bloodshed, and in the punchouts, fists flew (and legs, and tables and chairs), but again it had a comical effect, not funny, but with a lack of angry emotion caused by the speeding-up of the film. Once Sam Peckinpah made a Bloodbath Ballet out of it, it ruined what was great about Westerns, in my opinion. I can't stand "The Wild Bunch", and to be honest, I don't like the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns, either, and looking back on it, "The Unforgiven" is a depressing, terrible movie, just dark and ultra-violent with no redeeming Western qualities. Well anyhow, just my two cents worth. Give me the old-time Westerns any day. I just wondered why they always speed up the fight scenes. :) Two Big Thumbs Up for "When a Man Rides Alone". You can't beat Tom Tyler; he's always highly recommended.
The only guy who supersedes Tyler, and just by a smidge, is of course the great Johnny Mack Brown, who starred in our previous night's movie "Valley of the Lawless"(1936). JMB stars as "Bruce Reynolds", who as the movie opens is tracking down "Grandpaw Jenkins" (Gabby Hayes), an old geezer who stole the Reynolds' family gold years back during an Indian massacre. Bruce was just a child then, but he never forgot Jenkins's greed and ruthlessness, and after cornering him in a saloon, he demands the treasure map he knows Jenkins has, that shows where the gold is buried. The problem for Bruce is that a big bruiser named "Garlow" (Frank Hagney) overhears them. "Gold? buried treasure?" Garlow wants the map, too, and sends his henchmen out after Grandpaw Jenkins when he leaves the bar. They shoot him, but don't find any treasure map. Grandpaw staggers back to the house of his son and granddaughter, pulls open his shirt and reveals the map, which is drawn on his chest. Then he dies.
Meanwhile, Garlow - who's a gang leader but is able to fool the Sheriff - has framed Bruce Reynolds for the murder of Grandpaw Jenkins. The Sheriff takes Bruce away, but he swears he didn't do it. Finally, after much persuasion, the Sheriff lets him go. Then, Grandpaw's son and granddaughter go searching for the buried gold, and Garlow's henchmen shoot Dad dead. They blame this on Bruce Reynolds also. "After all, Sheriff, hasn't he been trying to claim the gold?" Dad's young son, who idolizes Bruce, now hates him. "You killed my pa!", he shouts. Bruce didn't, but Garlow has done everything in his power to make it look like he did.
Meanwhile, the sheriff's son Cliff knows who really killed Mr. Jenkins. He's a handsome-but-stiff chap who's in love with Granddaughter Jenkins, and would be happy to see Bruce Reynolds get framed for the murder, because the granddaughter likes Bruce, and it's mutual. Cliff allows the frame up to continue, and Bruce has to hide out in the Calabasas hills until he can catch the Garlow gang unaware and prove they're the real killers. Then he can help the granddaughter and her little brother find the buried gold, Cliff will stand down, and all will end well.
It's not as well directed as some of the other Johnny Mack movies, and while it has a layered plot, too much time is spent on the frame up. I think the director really liked Garlow as a bad guy. He's big, mean and ugly, but he isn't likable as a heavy. Still, as with Tom Tyler, there's no such thing as a bad JMB movie. It's an automatic Two Big Thumbs Up. The picture is good and its highly recommended! ///
That's all I know, but I'd like to add that I was as disgusted as everyone else at what happened at the Oscars, and something has got to be done to bring the class and decorum back that the ceremony was known for until recently, and which went out the window when Will Smith hit Chris Rock in an arrogant display of celebrity-culture chutzpah. I mean, what a complete jerk, and while I'm sure he has a modicum of acting talent (Best Actor winner or not, he's no Denzel Washington), Will Smith represents the kind of big salary hubris that has taken over in our bling-bling culture. "I bring in a lot of money, therefore I can do what I like". A hard punch in the face, for a joke Don Rickles would've rejected for being too mild? Can you imagine Sidney Poitier doing such a thing? How about Harry Belafonte? Yes, those are black male examples, but how about even an occasionally out-of-control white guy like Russell Crowe or Christian Bale? Can you imagine any of the names I just mentioned doing what Smith did? Yes, Chris Rock made (very light) fun of his wife's medical condition. But it's alopecia, not cancer, and you're supposed to be able to roll with the comedic punches at these affairs, not throw real punches in response. So, I hope there's some kind of adjustment to the Oscar telecast, because that was the last thing the world needed to see with a war going on, and with our own political leaders upping the ante with regime change comments that only inflame things (whether we agree with those comments or not, and I shant go on a Biden tirade, but I must say I'm not thrilled with his Presidency.)
I'll stop, and it's probably also true that Will Smith has emotional issues, stemming no doubt from all the press coverage about his open marriage. That's probably what the issue was really about, for him. And, he's apologized, but maybe he shouldn't be invited back for a year or two or five. Please AMPAS, bring back the class that the Oscars has always been known for, and while you're at it, let's shut down all the politics, too. Thanks. /////
That's all I know. Hey, I've got an idea! Will Smith's next movie should be a 60 minute Western...... ;)
I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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