ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

samhill5215 Here's another little gem noteworthy for its headliners and how truly bad it is. Other reviewers have already mentioned that it is confused and not really sure of its direction or purpose and that is certainly the case. There's comedy, crime, romance and much more but it all seems just thrown in there, a hodgepodge of vignettes with barely a hint of continuity other than the central theme of a ranch in danger of foreclosure. So as I sat watching it I kept asking myself the same question: What were the producers and writers thinking? What were the headliners thinking? Both Beery and Barrymore were seasoned actors with many hits to their credits. Why would either agree to do this film? It's hard to know for sure but judging from their gusto I'd say they did it just for the fun of it. And they are fun to watch. Scene-stealers the both of them, and damn good at it. Whenever either Beery or Barrymore appeared the energy level went up and so did the fun quotient. As for the rest of the cast they had their moments but overall they were just trying to keep up. So even though my score is rather low I suggest you don't miss this funny atrocity. And just wait for the last scene. It's a doozy!

Michael Morrison Trombonehead got one thing wrong: Wallace Beery's "Mexican" accent is not the worst of all time. It's only third worst.Lafe McKee probably should have been shot for his in some small Western, the name of which I can't remember, and Marlon Brando's, in "Viva Zapata" was the second worst.Other, though, than his poor accent, Berry's characterization is pretty funny, although it doesn't seem to translate well from the stage to the screen.Lionel Barrymore was rather -- and I apologize for the cliché -- over the top, but he had some great lines and characterization.Ronald Reagan, in an unusual loan-out from Warners, looked great, and did a very good job as the hero. Laraine Day looked great, too, and was mostly quite believable.Tom Conway is another under-rated actor, and his role was rather thankless, but he looked and sounded very good.Chris-Pin Martin, on the other hand, was outstanding ... although he nearly always was. Whenever he was on screen, he drew the viewer's attention. He was a great talent.In his mini-bio, Gary Brumburgh calls Nydia Westman "adorable." That says it perfectly. She stood out in every scene she was in.Perhaps the reason so many commenters here rate this film low is that it seems to start out as a serious Western, and that it is really a comedy doesn't become apparent till later.I'll admit it took me a while to realize it, but when I found myself laughing at, especially, Barrymore's "shoot him" and other extreme comments, I finally caught on.I seriously recommend the people who didn't like this to give it another chance; and anyone who hasn't seen it, I urge you to do so.

C.K. Dexter Haven I don't know if I'll ever see another Wallace Beery picture as bad as this one. I hope not, but I'm sure he made some other dogs. Usually Beery can be counted on to bring the laughs, and do something memorable with his character.Beery's is not the worst performance in this piece (that distinction belongs to Lionel Barrymore, obviously loathe to be in this production and cantankerously chewing the scenery with noisy and irritating aplomb like nowhere else on his filmography) but he offers little more than updating his Pancho Villa schtick from Viva Villa. Not much originality or send-up in his performance and he doesn't even appear until around the 30 minute mark. He does look cartoonishly amusing galloping away with the Mexican Federales in hot pursuit though.This really isn't a funny comedy or a watchable western. At 70 minutes it feels overlong. Everyone stands in one spot and talks endlessly, Ronald Reagan does the hero bit with his usual one dimensional panache, Barrymore won't shut up, and the oppressive sepia tone this was shot in kind of makes you queasy by the end. Chill Wills at least is his usual lovable self as Reagan's sidekick.Definitely not a Beery classic

jaykay-10 A curious, inconsistent hodgepodge from the start, this picture appears for a time to be an altogether conventional, cliche-ridden Western, despite its "A" cast. What drama exists in the story is compounded by the late arrival of the film's nominal star (top billing), Wallace Beery, reprising his Pancho Villa characterization under a different name. At first a danger and a menace to the good folks, the character gradually - but none too subtly - becomes a caricature, a mercurial buffoon difficult to take seriously. After the plot is resolved by a familiar turn or two, the picture ends with a ludicrous scene of Lionel Barrymore in a wheelchair being towed at considerable speed across the prairie by Beery on horseback. As a Western, the picture is totally undistinguished. Its comic elements, such as they are, generate exceedingly feeble humor. Among the few positives: Ronald Reagan gives a winning low-key performance as a gentle cowhand, Lionel Barrymore chews every bit of scenery in sight, and Nydia Westman is impressive in a quirky minor role. But when all is said and done, it is not easy to figure out exactly what kind of picture this was supposed to be - or, for that matter, why it was made.