Das Gesetz in der eigenen Hand

An American romance; A story about a rancher who sets out to expose a gang of crooked cattle dealers who swindled him out of his property rights. This is a B-film relying on fast pace and a plot that provides an excuse for many horse-riding sequences as distraction. Otherwise, it stutters along, suffering its trite dialogue. There is occasional stilted acting too. Tim McCoy in an oversized hat plays his part diplomatically and sympathetically, endearing the viewer. John Wayne provides a brief squeeze of zest as a youthful sidekick but otherwise hardly figures. Wheeler Oakman plays the rotter splendidly.

Though there seem to be some script holes, generally this is well written with some very good dialog.

Tim McCoy was one of the best cowboys and was also a pretty good actor.

As noted elsewhere, John Wayne was second billed, but had only a small part. Wallace MacDonald, as his buddy, does more, but his constant use of "y'all" to one person is one of the script's major flaws.

As sheriff, Tully Marshall has one of his best roles. It is well written and very well played.

Alice Day -- billed as "Alice Fay" on the DVD I own, from Canadian Disc Plaza, on a "Classic Westerns" collection of supposedly John Wayne movies -- is the least capable of the cast, but even she brightens up as the story progresses.

Bad guys Wheeler Oakman and Richard Alexander also shone and Walter Brennan, as usual, stood out in one of his early appearances.

Director D. Ross Lederman showed a lot of skill in his framing and camera angles. He was held in high-enough esteem to have stayed busy nearly his entire life with dozens of movies and dozens more TV shows.

I highly recommend "Two-Fisted Law," despite the pointless generic title.

Born and raised on a ranch that he eventually inherits from his dad, "Tim Clark" (Tim McCoy) is despondent over the fact that he has to turn it over to a man named "Bob Russell" (Wheeler Oakman), who reneged on a promise concerning the payment of a loan given to him. So, with only a horse and a little bit of money left, he leaves the ranch and sets out for an old silver mine in the hope of possibly striking it rich there. Two years pass, and being a corrupt and greedy person, Bob Russell has now set his sights on a ranch owned by Tim's sweetheart, "Betty Owen" (Alice Day). So, using the same dirty tactics as before, he makes it as difficult as possible for Betty to make ends meet, and when she is struggling financially, he offers her a loan and then demands payment. However, it's at this time that Tim shows up with some money and an incriminating story, which Bob Russell simply cannot allow to be told. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a solid, old-fashioned Western that manages to stand the test of time for the most part. To that extent, although John Wayne (as Tim's ranch hand "Duke") is featured, his role is definitely secondary to that of both Tim McCoy and Wheeler Oakman. Be that as it may, as stated earlier, this was a decent film all things considered, and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This is actually quite a fast-paced little story - thing is, though, the plot has been more crochéd together rather than knitted; and the holes can be a bit annoying at times. The plot is pretty old hat; grasping landowner sets up the hero (Tim McCoy) who has to clear his name to get the ranch and the gal. It has been made on a shoestring, with lots of film run at double speed to accelerate the effects of the frequent horse chases. There are a few, limited, appearances from John Wayne as his amiable sidekick but Alice Day is just plain annoying as the feisty dame and McCoy has all the charisma of a beermat. I love all these 1930s Westerns, and this is no better/worse than many. Kills an hour.

Though in the film John Wayne is second billed to star Tim McCoy he actually has very little to do. Wayne is in the unaccustomed role of sidekick.

Wayne and Wallace MacDonald are the last two ranch hands working for Tim McCoy. He's lost is ranch to crooked banker Wheeler Oakman, but being the good boss and friend he is to Wayne and MacDonald he finds them jobs with neighbor and sweetheart Alice Day.

That might be short term employment for Oakman has designs on the ranch and on Day. Those designs on Day ain't covered by the cowboy code.

McCoy goes off prospecting for a couple of years and no sooner is he back than he's framed for an express company holdup and killing resulting from same. The rest of the movie is McCoy's fight to prove his innocence and save Day from a fate worse than death.

Wheeler Oakman seems to be enjoying his role as villain, he's hamming it up in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. And Day makes a perfect Little Nell.

Tim McCoy, a silent western star, seems to have made the transition to sound easily enough. He's a stern and upright hero who's bound and determined prove his innocence.

Note good performances by Tully Marshall as the father figure sheriff of the area who believes in McCoy and a young Walter Brennan as his less than scrupulous deputy.

My VHS of this film is 58 minutes and I note that the running time is 64 minutes. That might explain some gaps in the story and maybe it was John Wayne who got cut out.

This was the last Columbia movie that John Wayne ever appeared in. It seems as though Harry Cohn thought Wayne was putting the moves on a young starlet who rejected Cohn's advances even though Wayne wasn't involved. But after the Duke became a star and a legend, there wasn't enough money in the world that would get him to appear in a Columbia Studios film.

But realizing this is a B western, it's not the worst one I've ever seen although somehow I doubt we'll ever see a director's cut.