Sorry, this movie sucks

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

An Exercise In Nonsense

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Copyright 23 August 1932 by Vitagraph, Inc. U.S. release through Warner Bros: 27 August 1932. No New York opening. U.K. release by Warner Bros: January 1933. 6 reels. 56 minutes. SYNOPSIS: John Drury (Wayne) is a wandering cowboy who saves a spirited wild horse ("Duke") from being put down after a killer, whose identity the horse knows, tries to cover up his crime by laying the blame for the rancher's death on the animal. But what the townsfolk didn't know was that their fellow citizen is actually a mysterious but ruthless bandit known as "The Hawk". NOTES: A re-make of The Unknown Cavalier (1926), starring Ken Maynard as Drury, Kathleen Collins as Ruth Gaunt, David Torrence as Gaunt, and James Mason as the marauder. Albert Rogell directed for producer Charles R. Rogers. Wayne did not make the list of top ten money-makers until 1949, when he suddenly jumped into 4th place. However, he did rank 7th in the first annual survey of western stars in 1936. The first of six "B" westerns Wayne was to make for Warner Bros, all of them co-starring "Duke" (variously billed as "The Devil Horse" and "The Miracle Horse"). COMMENT: A fascinating little western with great production values (augmented by a few stock shots from the 1926 Ken Maynard version), a suspenseful story, a few offbeat characters and some great acting, particularly from "Duke" the horse, "Duke" the star, Otis Harlan the judge (repeating his role from the 1926 film), and Frank Hagney the villain. Director Fred Allen shows occasional flashes of genius. A less imaginative director could well have made this movie into just another routine little oater. But aided by Ted McCord's superlative camerawork and the availability of some inspiring locations, Allen has created a minor gem. In short, a very pleasing effort from all concerned. Wayne is already an engaging personality.

Ride Him, Cowboy (1932) *** (out of 4)Duke, a horse, is on trial for killing a man and the judge is about to put him to death when cowboy John Drury (John Wayne) makes a deal. If Drury can tame the horse then it can live. Of course the cowboy comes through and soon the two of them are trying to track down the real murderer.RIDE HIM, COWBOY was Wayne's shot at stardom as this was the first of the six picture deal that he signed with Warner. The film is certainly a step up from movies like TWO FISTED LAW, which featured Wayne in supporting parts. On a technical level this might still be a "B" movie but it's still better than what we had seen the now legend in up to this point.The best thing about the picture is actually Wayne and his supporting cast of actors. I thought that laid back approach of Wayne's worked pretty well here including the scenes where he trying to smooth talk the leading lady played by Ruth Hall. Wayne and Hall share some nice chemistry together. Frank Hagney does a good job in his role of the villain and Henry B. Walthall turns in another fine supporting performance.As you'd expect, there's a lot of gun play as well as other Western trappings but they're all handled quite nicely by director Fred Allen who keeps the film moving at a nice pace throughout its 55 minutes.

John Wayne (as John Drury) saves a Devil-horse ("Duke") from execution, after the horse's murder trial. Honest. Then, Mr. Wayne ventures out to find the real killer. Wayne and "Duke" have a good screen presence. Ruth Hall (as Ruth) is suitably fetching; she was the niece of novelist Ibáñez, who had several stories adapted for Garbo and Valentino. Henry B. Walthall (as Gaunt) tries to provide some much-needed acting gravitas. The already inferior "Ride Him, Cowboy" swipes its most exciting material from Ken Maynard's silent "The Unknown Cavalier" (1926). The nicely done segments, especially the climatic ending, look like they are from the other film. *** Ride Him, Cowboy (1932) Fred Allen ~ John Wayne, Ruth Hall, Henry B. Walthall

I figured this would be a very dated, corny and dumb B-cowboy movie, but was wrong. It was a very interesting short film that was done very well.It had action, comedy, romance and suspense all packed into a movie less that lasted only 55 minutes. It had a convincing nasty villain, a pretty girl, a talented horse named "Duke," and a crooked-but-funny judge. The horse was able to untie rope and acted almost human.The only thing that looked a bit dated - but applied to all classic westerns - is when they broke chairs over the good guy's head and it never seemed to faze him. Only in the movie can a guy get punched flush in the jaw and have a wooden chair broken over his skull, and the victim is no worse for the wear!