Last night we watched Colonel Tim McCoy, as the fans call him, in "The Lions Den"(1936), a Western that begins in the city. "Ann Mervin" (Joan Woodbury) and her rancher Dad (Arthur Millett) are out for a night on the town. They take a Yellow Cab to a nightclub, with a stop at the bank on the way. They're going to see trick shooter Tim Barton (McCoy). During his act, a bad guy tries to rob Dad, who is carrying 20 gees in an envelope. Barton sees the attempt and shoots the gun out of the robber's hand. Dad wants to offer him a job at his Cross-Bar X Ranch, but Tim is gone out the door before he can say anything. That's because he knows there's a reward for an escaped killer named "Single Shot Smith". "Single Shot" duped a stooge to escape from a Marshal on a train.
Dad wants to hire some fast guns to keep robbers away from his ranch, and doesn't care if they're wanted criminals. He tells daughter Ann : "You've gotta fight fire with fire". Barton then shows up saying he's "Single Shot Smith". Dad says, "hey, you're the guy that stopped the robber at the club!" Tim says "yes, that was me. Tim Barton is my alias. I don't want to draw attention from the law." I was somewhat confused at this point, though I knew McCoy wouldn't legitimately be playing a bad guy.
Then the real "Single Shot Smith" - the escaped killer - shows up wanting the ranch job too. He's fronting for a cattle rustler named "Nate Welsh" (J. Frank Glendon), who's running a reward scam out in Latigo Canyon near Malibu. What he's doing is hiring wanted criminals, turning them in, collecting the reward money and busting them out again. Tim Barton is able to infiltrate Welsh's gang by claiming he's the real Single Shot Smith, then proving it by demonstrating the skills he used in his stage act. The real Single Shot kidnaps Ann Mervin and tries forcing her to marry him, and again, this isn't one of the better written McCoy scripts, as far as coherency is concerned, but the whole doggone thing is filmed at Chatsworth Park, it's directed by the great Sam Newfield, and Joan Woodbury is a knockout, so Two Big Thumbs are warranted. One caveat - the print is barely watchable, but that still means watchable, and since you're trying to see every available Tim McCoy movie (I am, too), don't miss it! ///
The night before, we watched the great Tom Tyler in "Cheyenne Rides Again"(1937). Tyler plays "Cheyenne", an outlaw who's just stolen 10k in cash from a cattle rustling kingpin. The rustler's honchos are chasing him down, but he escapes by changing horses. The horse he was riding has a very distinctive paint job, and that's just what it is! The escape horse, who is trained, runs back to Cheyenne's hideout, where his sidekick "Dopey"(Jimmie Fox) is waiting at the stable. Dopey washes the calico camouflage paint from the horse, so when the kingpin's henchmen arrive, they don't notice the deception.
Then, as they're leaving, Cheyenne rides up, wearing a fresh set of duds. They know him as "Tom Wade", a law-and-order man. He offers to help them track down the thief, and since they never got a good look at him, they don't know it was Wade/Cheyenne.
The main henchman is "Girard" (Lon Cheney Jr.). He becomes suspicious of Wade after Wade signs up as a fellow henchman for "Mr. Gleason" (Ed Cassidy, who played drums for Spirit). Wade starts flashing money around, insinuating that he knows where to get more. Chaney begins to think he was the original thief, and holds Wade's gal "Sally Lane" (Lucile Browne) hostage until Wade agrees to show them where he buried the stolen dough. Gleason plans to have him shot once the cash is recovered, but he escapes by whistling for his trick horse (shades of Ken Maynard) and rides back to try and save Sally. Punchouts and stunts ensue, and you absolutely can't go wrong when you've got a very young Lon Chaney Jr. squaring off against Tom Tyler with a sped-up camera. Tyler knows how to make the fight scenes goofy and larger than life, and he usually demolishes half the set in doing it. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Cheyenne Rides Again", also filmed in Chatsworth, but unlike "The Lion's Den" the picture is very good.
That's all I know for the moment. Shorter reviews this time because that's all the plots warranted. I'll try to find something a little more complex for the next blog. I'm listening to "Alien Beans" by Ty Tabor and "Profit" by The Jelly Jam, and I send you Tons of Love as always.
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