Mystery Ranch (1934)
6/10
Very Funny
19 May 2019
Tom Tyler writes western novels that read like Pete Smith narrating GOOFY MOVIES. His father chides him. Tom grew up in the West and he knows it isn't like that. Tom replies that his last book sold 50,000 copies, and he's got this letter from a couple of ladies inviting him to stay at their ranch, where the events in his books look peaceful. He figures on going and seeing if he can get any ideas for his next book.

It turns out that Roberta Gale and her mother, Louise Cabo, run a struggling dude ranch. They figure if they make things interesting enough, Tyler will talk up the place. So they plan a few gags, like a lynching and a runaway team. Tyler catches on fast, and decides to have his own fun with the horse with the burr under its saddle and the fake roadside holdup and.... wait a minute. The holdup is real.

It's a real Poverty Row B western, so the production is done very cheaply, and director Bernard Ray was no one's idea of a great auteur. Still, the stuntwork is topnotch, the camerawork is good, and the script is very funny. That makes it a very engaging comedy western.
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