classicsoncall
I would never have figured Randolph Scott and Ann Sheridan in a picture together, much less a Western. At least it's nominally a Western, with it's fair share of mystery elements as hero Larry Sutton (Scott) arrives on the scene as a mining engineer with a penchant for detective work.I saw this picture under the title "The Fighting Westerner", packaged as part of a two hundred fifty film Western collection by Mill Creek Entertainment. The surprise of the movie in retrospect was the actor Chic Sale portraying Deputy Sheriff Tex Murdock, who I would have sworn was in his Seventies, but a quick check of his bio revealed he was only fifty at the time he made this picture. He died the year after this film's release of pneumonia and something tells me he would have been a cool character to know personally.If you think about it, the way the villain dispatched his victims here was pretty gruesome. But I have to tell you, that hydraulic press made such a hideous noise I had to lower the volume every time it's power was engaged. At one point, our hero is knocked out and placed strategically under the press to become it's next victim, but if you're attentive, you'll see the 'unconscious' Randolph Scott move his left arm across his chest. Fortunately, he wakes up just in the nick of time to solve the murder mystery and hook up with Ann Sheridan by the end of the story. I did a double take when I saw them under those palm trees, but heck, that made as much sense as anything else in the story.
weezeralfalfa
This story much reminds me of the later John Wayne-starring western murder mystery "Tall in the Saddle" Like Wayne, Randy shows up unexpectedly from far away, with an oblique interest in the case, but becomes the main driving force in pursuing the identity of the killer. Like Wayne, Randy has two beautiful young women indirectly involved in the case, and we assume that he will wind up with one of them. See the movie to discover the meaning of my title.Interesting that a rare radium mine, rather than the usual gold or silver mine, was chosen as the story location and property of interest for the heirs to fight over. Less than a pound of radium/year was mined in the US at this time. As indicated in the film, it did fetch top dollar, being a transient radioactive breakdown product of uranium, and thus being extra hazardous to mine, as well as present in only minute amounts in the ore.Unless you are paying close attention, the identity of all the relations of the two old owner partners of the mine can be confusing. Thus, here is a rundown: Adolf Borg and Jim Ballard are the two partners, with Ballard the senior member, and Borg sometimes referred to as his caretaker. Adolf is the murdered man, while Jim is bed-ridden, claiming he is dying of some terminal condition. Thus, the kin of both have been called to Ballard's house, next to the mine, waiting to hear what portion of the mine they will inherit when he dies. Ballard has no children, only a divorced wife who hasn't seen him in decades. Thus, his only relatives are two nieces:Rita and Flora, and a nephew:Fritz. None of these had ever met Ballard before, as he is a very reclusive person. Also present are Mrs. Borg and her son John, as well as the Chinaman servant of Ballard:Ling Yat. Randy is present as the newly hired mining engineer for the mine, replacing his brother in law, Jack Parsons. The latter is the officially suspected murderer, but Randy discounts him as a suspect. Also present is Tex Murdock, the newly appointed deputy sheriff of this region: an eccentric old coot, who joins Randy in trying to solve the case. Mrs. Ballard doesn't show up until rather late in the story, and only at Randy's request. Yes, it all sounds highly contrived. Now, several strange things happen. The body, kept under a sheet in a back room of Borg's cottage, vanishes.(No one present, except presumably those who lived on the property prior to the murder, has seen the body). Flora and Fritz are found murdered in separate incidents, with Fritz's head crushed by the ore stamping machine, similar to the death of Adolf. Randy just barely escapes a similar fate. That's enough clues. You figure out what's going on, or see the film to find out the answer. Would have been poetic justice if the guilty had been also crushed by that ore stamper but he/she meets another fate.Kathleen Burke, who played the murdered Flora Ballard, was a striking exotic beauty, especially her eyes. Her main claim to fame in Hollywood was as the cat woman in the dark science fiction film of 1933 :"Island of Lost Souls". She was chosen from a nationwide search of thousands of young women. Her Hollywood career would last only a few more years. 'Chic' Sale, who played the old coot Tex Murdock, was a noted ex-vaudevillian comedian and current film character actor, specializing in tottering old men 20-40 years older than his 45-50 years. It's not hard to imagine him making an excellent Ben Gunn, as he did in the '30s version of "Treasure Island". Unfortunately, he would die of pneumonia only a year or two after this film was made. Otherwise, I'm sure we would have seen him in many more films of the late '30s and '40s.Willie Fung, who played the Chinaman, had a 20 year Hollywood career. Handsome Howard Wilson, who played the murdered Fritz, had a very short Hollywood career. Mrs. Lesie Carter was mainly a stage actress, with only a few film roles. She would be the subject of a film a few years later: "The Lady with the Red Hair", based on her biography. Of course, Ann Sheridan, would go on to have a substantial film career.This film is currently available on DVD as part of a very cheap package of some of Scott's lesser known westerns.
tedg
Much of the effort that went into screen writing in the thirties had to do with exploring the role of the detective. Most of that was playing with the detective story. Watching many films from this era is fun just from the experimental nature of the narrative.This is nominally a western. That is, there are horses, cowboy revolvers and hats. Our hero struts like all the other cowboys busy in other films establishing that genre. He has an honest heart, appears on the scene with no baggage and gets the girl. Otherwise, this is a standard detective story. Because it wants to make the case clear, it features a radium mine, something about as alien from the old west as possible. Judged as an experiment, it is pretty clever mix of genres. Judged as a detective story, it is slightly more complex than the ordinary. There is misdirection of a kind that seems predicable today but was likely a surprise then. (The murdered man had his face crushed in a mining press, so you know the body is not who it is claimed to be.) There is a surprise conspiracy.The version I saw had the title "The Fighting Westerner," and I suppose they tried to market this both as a western and a mystery.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
