Viewers of this little Western get some interesting surprises near its beginning when Tom Keene visits the studio commissary. Brief bits from a very young Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy, Bruce Cabot, Rochelle Hudson, and other stars of the 1930s add an extra dimension to the picture. Note also Yakima Canutt's famous jump to the horses, this time pulling a wagon instead of a stagecoach. Location shooting was done at Vasquez Rocks, so film fans watching this film will see the same terrain that you can find in "The Flintstones" and episodes of "Star Trek." This is a Western that wasn't afraid to kid the genre, so if you take the opening scene very seriously, you're in for a big surprise.
11 Reviews
Tom Keene and Lon Chaney
kevinolzak12 May 2014
1933's "Scarlet River" was a Tom Keene Western depicting how a Hollywood studio (in this case RKO) goes about making such films, the same thing Lugosi's "The Death Kiss" did for murder mysteries. Judy Blake's Scarlet River Ranch is the perfect location for Keene's latest, but the unscrupulous foreman, Jeff Todd (Creighton Chaney), is in cahoots with villainous 'Clink' McPherson (Hooper Atchley), seeking to put her out of business and foreclose. Judy (Dorothy Wilson) has a younger brother who falls under Todd's bad influence, smoking, chewing tobacco, even lying to his big sis, until Tom manages to get things straightened out by the 54 minute mark. One scene shows a galloping horse making a pickup with the camera speeding alongside by car, in case you were wondering how it was done in those early days. Despite its lack of background music, it's 54 minute running time keeps things moving. The most famous sequence takes place early on in the studio commissary, as Keene is greeted by Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy, Julie Haydon, Bruce Cabot, and Rochelle Hudson, all playing themselves (in that order). In only his fourth film, 'Creighton Chaney' was to change his name two years later, building on these RKO efforts as 'Lon Chaney Jr.' Impressively third billed, 26 year old Creighton acquits himself well, yet after one more opposite Tom Keene ("Son of the Border") left RKO to freelance.
Meta B-Western
Cineanalyst26 July 2018
I've seen some, although not many and am not a fan of, old B-Westerns, but this one, "Scarlet River," is clever. Besides being a B-Western, it's a film about film, a type of movie I tend to enjoy.
After their filming is repeatedly interrupted by civilization, a film crew rents a ranch for filming their Western. Real-life B-Western star Tom Keene plays B-Western star Tom Baxter, the film-within-the-film's star who is as much of a cowboy on screen as off. In the fictional reality, he kisses the ranch owner and protects her interests against the baddies trying to steal her property and helps her raise her younger brother (including by spanking him for smoking) in between his acting. The ranch owner watches him filming scenes, including him kissing his on-screen romantic interest, and wants to be with him, while her younger brother watches his stunt work and wants to be like him. To save the day, the actor playing an actor acts once more over by donning makeup to pretend to be one of the baddies.
Really, Yakima Canutt, who also has a bit part in the film, did the stunts for "Scarlet River," but, for the film-within-the-film, Tom Baxter does his own stunts, except for one. For that one, one of the baddies (played by Lon Chaney Jr., before he turned to monster movies) tries to do a stunt for the absent Baxter, but fails. Really, Canutt did that one, too--a famous stunt he repeated in "Stagecoach" (1939).
Another interesting character is Ulysses, who has the part of the stuttering comic relief, a common, if bigoted, trope of these types of films. Ulysses is a ranch hand and wannabe screenwriter who writes a script that mirrors the "real" drama of the baddies trying to steal the woman's ranch. Rather than employ him for his writing, the filmmakers use him as comic relief, too. The director also tells Ulysses that if he figures out a trick, he'll hire him. The surrogate author of "Scarlet River" within the film, Ulysses, in the end, solves the trick.
After their filming is repeatedly interrupted by civilization, a film crew rents a ranch for filming their Western. Real-life B-Western star Tom Keene plays B-Western star Tom Baxter, the film-within-the-film's star who is as much of a cowboy on screen as off. In the fictional reality, he kisses the ranch owner and protects her interests against the baddies trying to steal her property and helps her raise her younger brother (including by spanking him for smoking) in between his acting. The ranch owner watches him filming scenes, including him kissing his on-screen romantic interest, and wants to be with him, while her younger brother watches his stunt work and wants to be like him. To save the day, the actor playing an actor acts once more over by donning makeup to pretend to be one of the baddies.
Really, Yakima Canutt, who also has a bit part in the film, did the stunts for "Scarlet River," but, for the film-within-the-film, Tom Baxter does his own stunts, except for one. For that one, one of the baddies (played by Lon Chaney Jr., before he turned to monster movies) tries to do a stunt for the absent Baxter, but fails. Really, Canutt did that one, too--a famous stunt he repeated in "Stagecoach" (1939).
Another interesting character is Ulysses, who has the part of the stuttering comic relief, a common, if bigoted, trope of these types of films. Ulysses is a ranch hand and wannabe screenwriter who writes a script that mirrors the "real" drama of the baddies trying to steal the woman's ranch. Rather than employ him for his writing, the filmmakers use him as comic relief, too. The director also tells Ulysses that if he figures out a trick, he'll hire him. The surrogate author of "Scarlet River" within the film, Ulysses, in the end, solves the trick.
Pass the Bacon and the Beans
howdymax1 October 2004
Until this movie popped up on TCM, the only time I ever saw Tom Keane was in a commie propaganda movie from 1934 called "Our Daily Bread". I would never have remembered him in that except his overacting was so bad, it was hard to forget. I'm not much for Saturday am oaters, but when I saw his name, I thought it would be good for a laugh. I was really surprised.
This was a movie in a movie. A notch up from the standard western programmers of the day. Tom plays a cowboy hero with a poverty row production company trying to find an isolated ranch to film their two reelers on. He's ably supported by Edgar Kennedy as the director, Betty Furness as his heroine, and Yakima Canutt as a stuntman. (Of course, everybody who knows anything about the genre, realizes that he was the ultimate western stuntman in real life.) They eventually find an isolated ranch outside LA only to get tangled up in a complicated land grab plot. The pretty owner is played by Dorothy Wilson who seems to have vanished from film history. The crooked foreman is played by Lon Chaney Jr in a very early role, and the comic relief is played by Roscoe Ates. I won't bother to outline the plot except to say that the hero saves the day.
The surprise is that this was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Tom Keane was likable and hardly overacted at all, the heroine and love interest were both lovely, and the contrast between make believe movie magic and what passed for real life was entertaining.
One added bonus: I'm in the business myself, and the opportunity to see the primitive cameras, lights, and sound equipment was really amazing. They really had to work at it in those days. The boom mikes looked like telephone poles. The cameras were the size of dog houses. Humping that stuff around must have been murder. Watching the crew strut around in jodphurs, leather jackets and silk scarfs was a delight.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Anybody interested in the nuts and bolts of film making should enjoy it as well.
This was a movie in a movie. A notch up from the standard western programmers of the day. Tom plays a cowboy hero with a poverty row production company trying to find an isolated ranch to film their two reelers on. He's ably supported by Edgar Kennedy as the director, Betty Furness as his heroine, and Yakima Canutt as a stuntman. (Of course, everybody who knows anything about the genre, realizes that he was the ultimate western stuntman in real life.) They eventually find an isolated ranch outside LA only to get tangled up in a complicated land grab plot. The pretty owner is played by Dorothy Wilson who seems to have vanished from film history. The crooked foreman is played by Lon Chaney Jr in a very early role, and the comic relief is played by Roscoe Ates. I won't bother to outline the plot except to say that the hero saves the day.
The surprise is that this was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Tom Keane was likable and hardly overacted at all, the heroine and love interest were both lovely, and the contrast between make believe movie magic and what passed for real life was entertaining.
One added bonus: I'm in the business myself, and the opportunity to see the primitive cameras, lights, and sound equipment was really amazing. They really had to work at it in those days. The boom mikes looked like telephone poles. The cameras were the size of dog houses. Humping that stuff around must have been murder. Watching the crew strut around in jodphurs, leather jackets and silk scarfs was a delight.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Anybody interested in the nuts and bolts of film making should enjoy it as well.
Good early B western
funkyfry31 October 2002
Tom Keene vehicle has our hero as a movie star who can't find any open land in Hollywood -- a very funny scene opens the film in which his film crew encounter real estate agents and customers and other obstacles while trying to film in Hollywood itself. This is a good joke for those who know of the situation in Hollywood in the early 30s -- after all, Hollywood's first productions (including the famous "Squaw Man") were mostly westerns and a major reason for its selection as "film capital" had to do with its convenience for filming western movies, always (until the 60s) the staple of the film industry.
Keene and crew find a ranch outside of town, and end up getting mixed up in a land dispute engineered by the lovely ranch owner's main hired hand (Chaney Jr. in an early role, credited under his proper name of "Creighton"). Ates and cast add a lot of good laughs (and Wilson her spunk and appeal) to this fairly standard Hollywood oater.
Keene and crew find a ranch outside of town, and end up getting mixed up in a land dispute engineered by the lovely ranch owner's main hired hand (Chaney Jr. in an early role, credited under his proper name of "Creighton"). Ates and cast add a lot of good laughs (and Wilson her spunk and appeal) to this fairly standard Hollywood oater.
Kind of Fun.
rmax3048237 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
An inexpensive Western starring Tom Keene in a ten-gallon corker and directed by nobody you ever heard of, but it's enjoyable in its own quiet way, a playful descent into the vulgate.
The story has Edgar Buchanan trying to direct an old-fashioned Western in the Hollywood area and being unable to find a suitably remote location. He accepts an invitation to shoot the movie on a real cattle ranch. El Patrón is more than happy to have the cast and crew because the ranch is in trouble.
Okay so far. Now you must hold on because the time line gets a little tortured. This is a modern ranch we're talking about. Yet there are cattle rustlers, the ranchers wear real cowboy outfits, including real old-fashioned pistol belts with real pistols and real bullets, and the villains wear black hats while the actor/hero, Tom Keene, wears a large white hat. And although Keene is a popular movie star, he too carries a real chrome-plated Peacemaker. Things get all mixed up. A galloping horse pursues another galloping horse, or a 1933 bus pursues a galloping horse, or -- well, it doesn't matter. There's a lot of action.
These old Westerns look rudimentary but sometimes they have to be admired, if only for having overcome the difficulties of shooting an action picture on location. The equipment was bulky and stolid. An earlier reviewer claimed that the cameras were encased in containers as big as dog house. This is nonsense. They were bigger than that. They were bigger than blimps. They were bigger than the Hindenburg.
Yakima Canutt is the stunt man who "does all of Tom's tricks himself." It's fascinating to have your attention deliberately drawn to the effort and skill of what was called a simple "pickup." That is, a girl is injured on a path, a cowboy gallops up and swings her to the saddle behind him. We've seen it dozens of times without really thinking about what would happen to our own spines if we were to try such a simple trick. Stunt men are a clubby lot, and Canutt has always been considered one of the most accomplished. He worked in Hollywood Westerns for years. With Canutt in the saddle, man and horse seemed to be the same animal, just as the Aztecs are said to have believed of Cortez's horsemen.
Other notables in the cast include Betty Furness who went on to a successful career as a spokesman for Westinghouse and a consumer advocate in Washington. Also present is Lon Chaney, Jr., who went on to a career as the Wolf Man and ultimately an alcoholic.
The story has Edgar Buchanan trying to direct an old-fashioned Western in the Hollywood area and being unable to find a suitably remote location. He accepts an invitation to shoot the movie on a real cattle ranch. El Patrón is more than happy to have the cast and crew because the ranch is in trouble.
Okay so far. Now you must hold on because the time line gets a little tortured. This is a modern ranch we're talking about. Yet there are cattle rustlers, the ranchers wear real cowboy outfits, including real old-fashioned pistol belts with real pistols and real bullets, and the villains wear black hats while the actor/hero, Tom Keene, wears a large white hat. And although Keene is a popular movie star, he too carries a real chrome-plated Peacemaker. Things get all mixed up. A galloping horse pursues another galloping horse, or a 1933 bus pursues a galloping horse, or -- well, it doesn't matter. There's a lot of action.
These old Westerns look rudimentary but sometimes they have to be admired, if only for having overcome the difficulties of shooting an action picture on location. The equipment was bulky and stolid. An earlier reviewer claimed that the cameras were encased in containers as big as dog house. This is nonsense. They were bigger than that. They were bigger than blimps. They were bigger than the Hindenburg.
Yakima Canutt is the stunt man who "does all of Tom's tricks himself." It's fascinating to have your attention deliberately drawn to the effort and skill of what was called a simple "pickup." That is, a girl is injured on a path, a cowboy gallops up and swings her to the saddle behind him. We've seen it dozens of times without really thinking about what would happen to our own spines if we were to try such a simple trick. Stunt men are a clubby lot, and Canutt has always been considered one of the most accomplished. He worked in Hollywood Westerns for years. With Canutt in the saddle, man and horse seemed to be the same animal, just as the Aztecs are said to have believed of Cortez's horsemen.
Other notables in the cast include Betty Furness who went on to a successful career as a spokesman for Westinghouse and a consumer advocate in Washington. Also present is Lon Chaney, Jr., who went on to a career as the Wolf Man and ultimately an alcoholic.
Judy isn't the brightest lady!
planktonrules21 August 2023
Tox Baxter (Tom Keene) is an actor who wants to film a movie at Judy Blake's ranch. Tom discovers that men on the ranch are killing the cattle and blaming it on a variety of things...and dopey Judy doesn't believe Tom when he tells her. Later, because she is so trusting, Judy is kidnapped and Tom uses his expert acting skills to try to rescue her.
This is a well made film for an old B-western. This, combined with a rather unusual plot make it well worth seeing. It also shows that while Keene is no longer a household name, his westerns could be most enjoyable and worth your time. Good harmless fun.
This is a well made film for an old B-western. This, combined with a rather unusual plot make it well worth seeing. It also shows that while Keene is no longer a household name, his westerns could be most enjoyable and worth your time. Good harmless fun.
Make Baxter Believable
view_and_review22 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
"Rustler's Rhapsody" taught me that the good cowboy always wears white, is honest, strong, and gets the girl. They could've used "Scarlet River" as a basis for their research.
A young woman named Judy Blake (Dorothy Wilson) owned a ranch in southern California. Her ranch was going under because of a scoundrel named Jeff Todd (Creighton Chaney). Jeff was in cahoots with a swindler named Clink McPherson (Hooper Atchley) to sabotage Judy's cattle so that Clink could acquire her property through the courts.
Judy was totally unaware of the treacherous plot, but she did know that her cattle ranch was suffering and that she needed money fast to save it.
In stepped a movie production team that wanted to use her ranch to film. They were going to pay her handsomely for the usage which was going to solve Judy's money problems.
Part of the movie production team was the lead actor, Tom Baxter (Tom Keene). Tom Baxter was the complete package. He acted, did his own stunts, could fight, and was a good investigator. Somehow, though no one else could, Baxter found out that Jeff was out to defraud Judy. He found this out with minimal effort and in little time. Baxter, being the perpetual hero on and off screen, couldn't allow a pretty lady like Judy to get cheated. He would expose Jeff and Clink and foil their plot or his name wasn't Tom Baxter.
Ugh.
Baxter was too perfect and that doesn't work for me. Even when he kissed Judy without her permission and she slapped him, he apologized, then SHE apologized for slapping him. As if his ruggedly handsome face should never be slapped. Like she should have considered herself lucky that Baxter forcibly placed his lips on hers. It was a horrible message that would be repeated in Hollywood for decades: "you've gotta take what you want."
I'm all for the good looking guy getting the girl because that's what happens in real life. I'm even more for the girl rebuffing the good looking guy who's a little too cocksure, and stonewalling him permanently because of his behavior. Because that may happen a little more than we know.
Make Baxter believable. Baxter was an actor on Judy's land to shoot a movie. More than likely, if he had an interest in her it was so that he could add to his conquests. What did lil ol' Judy compare to his co-star, Babe Jewel (Betty Furness), who was older and arguably more beautiful? What reason did he have to question what was happening on Judy's ranch? How is it he connected all these dots after a few hours there when NO ONE else did? The writers would've been better off making him clairvoyant because that would've been a better explanation for his abilities than him being the good guy.
It goes without saying that Baxter saved the day. When Clink kidnapped Judy to try to chase off the movie production crew, it was Baxter that rescued her. As if there was ever a doubt.
Free on YouTube.
A young woman named Judy Blake (Dorothy Wilson) owned a ranch in southern California. Her ranch was going under because of a scoundrel named Jeff Todd (Creighton Chaney). Jeff was in cahoots with a swindler named Clink McPherson (Hooper Atchley) to sabotage Judy's cattle so that Clink could acquire her property through the courts.
Judy was totally unaware of the treacherous plot, but she did know that her cattle ranch was suffering and that she needed money fast to save it.
In stepped a movie production team that wanted to use her ranch to film. They were going to pay her handsomely for the usage which was going to solve Judy's money problems.
Part of the movie production team was the lead actor, Tom Baxter (Tom Keene). Tom Baxter was the complete package. He acted, did his own stunts, could fight, and was a good investigator. Somehow, though no one else could, Baxter found out that Jeff was out to defraud Judy. He found this out with minimal effort and in little time. Baxter, being the perpetual hero on and off screen, couldn't allow a pretty lady like Judy to get cheated. He would expose Jeff and Clink and foil their plot or his name wasn't Tom Baxter.
Ugh.
Baxter was too perfect and that doesn't work for me. Even when he kissed Judy without her permission and she slapped him, he apologized, then SHE apologized for slapping him. As if his ruggedly handsome face should never be slapped. Like she should have considered herself lucky that Baxter forcibly placed his lips on hers. It was a horrible message that would be repeated in Hollywood for decades: "you've gotta take what you want."
I'm all for the good looking guy getting the girl because that's what happens in real life. I'm even more for the girl rebuffing the good looking guy who's a little too cocksure, and stonewalling him permanently because of his behavior. Because that may happen a little more than we know.
Make Baxter believable. Baxter was an actor on Judy's land to shoot a movie. More than likely, if he had an interest in her it was so that he could add to his conquests. What did lil ol' Judy compare to his co-star, Babe Jewel (Betty Furness), who was older and arguably more beautiful? What reason did he have to question what was happening on Judy's ranch? How is it he connected all these dots after a few hours there when NO ONE else did? The writers would've been better off making him clairvoyant because that would've been a better explanation for his abilities than him being the good guy.
It goes without saying that Baxter saved the day. When Clink kidnapped Judy to try to chase off the movie production crew, it was Baxter that rescued her. As if there was ever a doubt.
Free on YouTube.
"He's asleep! I'll just throw something over him."
PaulCurt10 October 2002
That's my favorite line from this adorable comedy-western. I liked the premise (cowboy movie people helping real ranchers with their problems) but wasn't expecting anything special...this was a surprise. The story is lively, the script is sharp, and Tom Keene is a hoot as the dumb-looking pretty-boy hero. I've seen few westerns (except post-"Support Your Local Sheriff" parodies) that acknowledge the too-good-looking ultra-wholesome hero but this one does it well.
From now on I'm going to keep an eye out for screenwriter Harold Shumate, whose script delivers exactly what western-watchers of the time wanted, but adds plenty of funny lines and charming situations. I'm also going to take a little more care seeking out movies with Tom Keene, whose performance succeeds as a strong hero performance, but also self-parody as well. I hadn't recognized him as another goofball hero, Col. Tom Edwards in the classic badfilm "Plan 9 from Outer Space." I'm eager to find out if he played such quotably strange characters in other pics.
From now on I'm going to keep an eye out for screenwriter Harold Shumate, whose script delivers exactly what western-watchers of the time wanted, but adds plenty of funny lines and charming situations. I'm also going to take a little more care seeking out movies with Tom Keene, whose performance succeeds as a strong hero performance, but also self-parody as well. I hadn't recognized him as another goofball hero, Col. Tom Edwards in the classic badfilm "Plan 9 from Outer Space." I'm eager to find out if he played such quotably strange characters in other pics.
Real Cowboy Verses "Reel" Cowboy!!!
kidboots6 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Dorothy Wilson was a charmingly natural actress who started her career as a "secretary to the stars". Her boss, director Gregory La Cava organised a screen test and she was on her way. Even the Westerns she appeared in were among the more memorable and quirky.
Around the mid thirties, an entertaining Western spin off series came about - the making of Western movies ("The Cowboy Star", "Hollywood Cowboy") often combining real cowboys with "reel" cowboys. Tom Keene was RKO's Western star (they were the only major studio with a regular "B" Western schedule) so he fitted in right at home in "Scarlet River" as a Hollywood cowboy who was more than a match for the real McCoy!!! The film is a real delight as an intrepid group of movie makers try to film a western but civilization keeps getting in the way - the wagon train breaks down, the settlers are done for - suddenly an estate agent's bus pulls up, they try to film in front of a lonely mountain hut but it is being converted into a Southern Fried Chicken Restaurant and in the middle of a love scene they are invaded by a cross country marathon ("say "52" looks kinda cute"). Where can the company go to get away from modern life.
They find the perfect place - "Scarlet River Ranch" - but the ranch is falling on hard times. The bank is foreclosing on the mortgage - ranch hand Ulysses (Roscoe Ates) is too busy sending in movie scripts to attend to ranch business. His latest plot is about a crooked foreman who is robbing the girl he is working for!!! He doesn't realise how close to home he is - but the foreman does!! Jeff (Creighton Chaney, before he became Lon Chaney Jnr.) is in cahoots with an agent and is trying to force Judy, the owner, off the ranch. Dorothy Wilson is such a peach as Judy, it was very unfortunate that she didn't have a bigger career. The motion picture company is a welcome relief - Judy will now have the money for the next payment. After the first day, Tom is taken for a tour of the ranch and starts putting two and two together as far as Jeff, the foreman is concerned - there have been too many odd accidents - hay ricks catching fire in the middle of the night, drinking water being mysteriously poisoned so the cattle have to be shot. In addition he is disgusted at Jeff's influence over Judy's little brother, Buck (Billy Butts), who has been taught to smoke and lie!!! Buck soon comes to his senses and, together with Tom, sets out to rescue Judy, who has been kidnapped.
There is more action in this film than in a whole swag of Westerns as Tom Keene (with a lot of help from Yakima Canutt) does some fancy riding and stunts and shows "reel" cowboys are every bit as tough as the real thing. In addition to all this fun, you get a sneak peak at "stars at play" - okay, they are only in RKO's cafeteria but still you can see Myrna Loy (she flew in to RKO for a couple of pictures) sitting with Frances Dee (just a glimpse). Julie Haydon (a Ann Harding / Virginia Bruce lookalike), Bruce Cabot and Rochelle Hudson engage in small talk and Joel McCrea gets to tell a joke at the newstand.
Highly Recommended.
Around the mid thirties, an entertaining Western spin off series came about - the making of Western movies ("The Cowboy Star", "Hollywood Cowboy") often combining real cowboys with "reel" cowboys. Tom Keene was RKO's Western star (they were the only major studio with a regular "B" Western schedule) so he fitted in right at home in "Scarlet River" as a Hollywood cowboy who was more than a match for the real McCoy!!! The film is a real delight as an intrepid group of movie makers try to film a western but civilization keeps getting in the way - the wagon train breaks down, the settlers are done for - suddenly an estate agent's bus pulls up, they try to film in front of a lonely mountain hut but it is being converted into a Southern Fried Chicken Restaurant and in the middle of a love scene they are invaded by a cross country marathon ("say "52" looks kinda cute"). Where can the company go to get away from modern life.
They find the perfect place - "Scarlet River Ranch" - but the ranch is falling on hard times. The bank is foreclosing on the mortgage - ranch hand Ulysses (Roscoe Ates) is too busy sending in movie scripts to attend to ranch business. His latest plot is about a crooked foreman who is robbing the girl he is working for!!! He doesn't realise how close to home he is - but the foreman does!! Jeff (Creighton Chaney, before he became Lon Chaney Jnr.) is in cahoots with an agent and is trying to force Judy, the owner, off the ranch. Dorothy Wilson is such a peach as Judy, it was very unfortunate that she didn't have a bigger career. The motion picture company is a welcome relief - Judy will now have the money for the next payment. After the first day, Tom is taken for a tour of the ranch and starts putting two and two together as far as Jeff, the foreman is concerned - there have been too many odd accidents - hay ricks catching fire in the middle of the night, drinking water being mysteriously poisoned so the cattle have to be shot. In addition he is disgusted at Jeff's influence over Judy's little brother, Buck (Billy Butts), who has been taught to smoke and lie!!! Buck soon comes to his senses and, together with Tom, sets out to rescue Judy, who has been kidnapped.
There is more action in this film than in a whole swag of Westerns as Tom Keene (with a lot of help from Yakima Canutt) does some fancy riding and stunts and shows "reel" cowboys are every bit as tough as the real thing. In addition to all this fun, you get a sneak peak at "stars at play" - okay, they are only in RKO's cafeteria but still you can see Myrna Loy (she flew in to RKO for a couple of pictures) sitting with Frances Dee (just a glimpse). Julie Haydon (a Ann Harding / Virginia Bruce lookalike), Bruce Cabot and Rochelle Hudson engage in small talk and Joel McCrea gets to tell a joke at the newstand.
Highly Recommended.
A Shoot Within a Shoot
dougdoepke8 May 2014
A film crew gets mixed up with a ranch's dishonest foreman and his conniving mastermind.
This oater has one of the darndest scenes of any horse opera I've seen. A movie crew is out in the middle of nowhere shooting a cowboy scene. Except it's not out in the middle of nowhere when a sudden parade of cross-country runners run through the setup. They come out of nowhere, and abruptly the illusion is shattered. More tellingly, it shows how much of an illusion those old matinees were for front row kids like myself.
Minimize the boilerplate plot. Instead, it's really fun watching the film crew go through the movie-making motions. As others point out, it's a movie within a movie. And catch Miss Westinghouse herself, Betty Furness, as the actress. I almost thought I was watching one of those old 50's game shows. Also, there's Lon Chaney Jr. while he was still young and strapping. Anyway, it's a fun movie, at least in my little book. And if I'm not mistaken, those rock slabs are Vasquez Rocks just a few miles north of LA. So the crew didn't have to go far, after all.
A "7" on the matinée scale.
This oater has one of the darndest scenes of any horse opera I've seen. A movie crew is out in the middle of nowhere shooting a cowboy scene. Except it's not out in the middle of nowhere when a sudden parade of cross-country runners run through the setup. They come out of nowhere, and abruptly the illusion is shattered. More tellingly, it shows how much of an illusion those old matinees were for front row kids like myself.
Minimize the boilerplate plot. Instead, it's really fun watching the film crew go through the movie-making motions. As others point out, it's a movie within a movie. And catch Miss Westinghouse herself, Betty Furness, as the actress. I almost thought I was watching one of those old 50's game shows. Also, there's Lon Chaney Jr. while he was still young and strapping. Anyway, it's a fun movie, at least in my little book. And if I'm not mistaken, those rock slabs are Vasquez Rocks just a few miles north of LA. So the crew didn't have to go far, after all.
A "7" on the matinée scale.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
