Coyote Trails

"Coyote Trails" is a remake of "Phantom of the Desert". It also has a lot in common with a silent western, "King of the Wild Horses". So, the film might seem a bit familiar.

As far as the story goes, though familiar, it's rather enjoyable. A group of horse thieves are blaming the loss of horses on a wild stallion that is supposedly leading the other horses away. However, the horse is innocent and is slated to be shot unless Tyler can manage to catch the thing. In the process, he and his partner, Windy, learn more about the real reason for all the horse disappearances.

The film stars Tom Tyler--a champion weightlifter turned actor in the late 1920s. While he isn't exactly a household name, Tyler starred in quite a few B-westerns as well as played the title character in the serial "The Adventures of Captain Marvel". I noticed another reviewer felt Tyler had real star quality. I thought he was very handsome and capable with the horses--but also a bit wooden. In addition, he and the rest of the actors could have used some lessons on how to stage fights, as they looked more like they were wrestling than fighting! This is especially true at the 36 minute mark! Even more lame is the scene where Tyler and another guy are trying to break down a door. You can really tell that this was NOT a western from one of the better production companies! All in all, not terrible but not exactly inspired either. A time passer at best.

There is a lot to like in any Tom Tyler movie, but in this one, there is some to dislike, too.

I saw "Coyote Trails" in a choppy print at YouTube, choppy enough to be irritating and distracting, but the movie itself is a pretty good one anyway.

There is some clever dialogue, including where the female lead, played by the unknown-to-me Alice Dahl, says, after Tom, played by Tom Tyler, explains his idea on how to catch the wild horse, "The weak female always lures the brave male." Then Tom replies, "I guess that's what makes the world go 'round." And when in fact the wild horse gets together with the woman's mare, he gets to say again, "I guess that's what makes the world go 'round."

Cute and clever dialogue in a script that also has some holes. For example, Tom decides early on, with no apparent reason, the horse is not really the thief.

The editing and directing could both be tighter, and, worst of all, the fight scenes lacked the choreography of Yakima Canutt, and looked ... lame, un-realistic ... at least un-movie-realistic.

Oh, one other complaint: The female costumes. All the women were dressed for about 1935, even though the men looked about 1880. I've seen that in many another western, but it is still jarring, very anachronistic.

All the players were acceptable, except possibly Miss Dahl, and she was cute. But Slim Whitaker gave one of his usual great performances and the venerable Lafe McKee shone also, as usual.

The chief bad guy is another unknown-to-me actor, Richard Alexander, billed here as Dick Alexander. He was very believable, kinda clumsy and gauche, and pretty much what I would expect of someone his size trying to outwit his neighbor. Intriguing performance.

I very much recommend "Coyote Trails," despite the pointless generic title, and despite the bad print. Hey, Tom Tyler is in it.

Tom Tyler moseys over to Lafe McKee's ranch, whence horses have been disappearing. Everyone thinks it's a wild horse, but Tyler doesn't. He offers to take care of the situation in a couple of days and deliver the horse, saddle trained, to McKee's daughter, Alice Dahll.

It's got some good situations, and some good fight choreography. I wasn't expecting much, given that Bernard Ray was the director, but despite a rather leisurely pace of conversation, it moves at a decent clip; I attribute this to his using a lot of editing cuts in the dialogue sections. Tyler is pretty good here.

I kinda enjoyed this old B western. I watched it because I think that Tom Tyler had real star quality---he had a small roles in Stagecoach and I Shot Jesse James & he was Great! In this film he and his sidekick, veteran Ben Corbett, prove to a rancher that his horses are not being hustled away by a white stallion----but some rustlers of the two-legged kind. Of course, there's a romantic angle too--but it's not played up too much. Shucks! When Tom Tyler began his movie career in the '20's, he started out as a stuntman. In his youth he had been a champion boxer & weightlifter. His good looks/charm quickly led him to stardom.