This movie is a good example of a typical early 'B' western. Obviously 1934 was long ago and it should be mentioned that 'talkie' movies had only been out for 5 or so years at the time this was made. Watching the movie,a few things are apparent.
The bad: *There is an inordinate amount of time-wasting and film-wasting in this movie. For example, the thing about the 'deaf/mute' having to write everything down wastes a fair bit of time.
*There are long spells of the camera panning across the landscape,focusing in on people and so forth in a manner that seems to simply waste film..You are naturally thinking that these shots are leading up to something but you are often wrong..
*In many of the 'horse-chase' sequences it is clear that the film is being sped-up,like on the 3 stooges skits !
To be clear,this is an editing problem and no fault of the cinematographer/ camera crew.
*Some of the dialog is stilted,some of the acting is pretty wooden,and so forth.
The good: *The stunt work is great,some of it is actually amazing.
*The actual camera work itself is pretty good throughout, with a lot of interesting shots,unusual camera positions,odd angles and so forth.
* Much of it is indeed funny. Some of it is intentionally funny,and some of it may be funny to you because of the little flaws.
Bottom Line?
What really strikes me after watching this movie and reading all the previous reviews is this...This movie could have been a much-better movie if it had simply been carefully edited ! If this film were ever-so- carefully trimmed it would still not be a masterpiece,but it could be a heck of a lot better !
It's worth considering at least.
All in all,this is a great study of some earlier 'talkie' film-making,and a fascinating early look at some actors that would become 'Western Icons' in the decades to come !
This isn't quite fantastic or spectacular,but I found it interesting and I liked it. 7/10.
The bad: *There is an inordinate amount of time-wasting and film-wasting in this movie. For example, the thing about the 'deaf/mute' having to write everything down wastes a fair bit of time.
*There are long spells of the camera panning across the landscape,focusing in on people and so forth in a manner that seems to simply waste film..You are naturally thinking that these shots are leading up to something but you are often wrong..
*In many of the 'horse-chase' sequences it is clear that the film is being sped-up,like on the 3 stooges skits !
To be clear,this is an editing problem and no fault of the cinematographer/ camera crew.
*Some of the dialog is stilted,some of the acting is pretty wooden,and so forth.
The good: *The stunt work is great,some of it is actually amazing.
*The actual camera work itself is pretty good throughout, with a lot of interesting shots,unusual camera positions,odd angles and so forth.
* Much of it is indeed funny. Some of it is intentionally funny,and some of it may be funny to you because of the little flaws.
Bottom Line?
What really strikes me after watching this movie and reading all the previous reviews is this...This movie could have been a much-better movie if it had simply been carefully edited ! If this film were ever-so- carefully trimmed it would still not be a masterpiece,but it could be a heck of a lot better !
It's worth considering at least.
All in all,this is a great study of some earlier 'talkie' film-making,and a fascinating early look at some actors that would become 'Western Icons' in the decades to come !
This isn't quite fantastic or spectacular,but I found it interesting and I liked it. 7/10.