The Law West of Tombstone

Notorious liar, Bill Barker - who is banished westwards by the law - sets out to bring the law into force, west of Tombstone after talking the town people of Martinez into making him a mayor and judge. His first mission is to arrest the trigger-happy Tonto Kid, but soon they join forces against the notorious McQuinn gang.

The Law west of Tombstone is an unusual western with quirky humour, lots of engaging dialogue and a strong story. It has more characterisation and there's an air of looniness around the plot and characters. The acting honours go to Harry Carey who plays a notorious liar who becomes a mayor. He tells tall tales of his epic experiences - Tim Holt plays the Tonto Kid and Rocky Allan Lane is in a brief role before biting the dust. It can be a bit talky but don't expect a typical rootin' tootin' horse opera - the only major gunplay occurs at the end and quite a smoking one too.

Oftentimes conventional western that regularly heads off in unconventional directions. Harry Carey (senior, not junior) is delightful as very odd character Bill Barker. Head of dancehall girls/prostitutes is named Mrs Mustache! Just read that Harry Carey, Jr is 82 and made more than 40 westerns in his career. Catch his old man in this one for a treat and movie history.

In the late 1930s, every major studio had a B-movie unit. Most of them produced B-westerns. Warner Brothers churned out quick oaters starring singing cowboy Dick Foran; Republic produced titles starring Gene Autry and Roy Goers; Universal had Johnny Mack Brown headline a series of B-westerns; and RKO signed George O'Brien.

One B-western script at RKO was given to Harry Carey instead of George O'Brien. This is probably because the lead character, an old mayor slash judge, fit Mr. Carey's persona better than it did the handsome O'Brien, who played more romantic heroes. THE LAW WEST OF TOMBSTONE has Carey dispensing wisdom and trying to help a hellion played by young Tim Holt, who ironically would unseat O'Brien as RKO's main B-western star in the 1940s.

In the story Holt is an outlaw that Carey wants to help go straight. The background for Carey's character is that he had previously experienced his own scrapes with the law and is now a reformed man the townsfolk of Tombstone look up to...obviously, a personage based on Judge Roy Bean. As for Holt's character, he shares more than a few similarities with Billy the Kid.

Added into the mix is a lovely gal played by Jean Rouverol, whom we might say resembles Calamity Jane. Despite different names being used for the trio, I am sure audiences would've been able to infer which famous figures had inspired these performances and enjoyed watching the tale unfold on screen.

Jean Rouverol was new to the western format, having previously worked in comedies, and she does a nice job here. She portrayed W. C. Fields' daughter in IT'S A GIFT (1934) a few years earlier at Paramount, and had a supporting role in RKO's ensemble drama about theater hopefuls, STAGE DOOR (1938). I should add that Miss Rouverol was the daughter of Aurania Rouverol, who created the Andy Hardy series for MGM.

Jean Rouverol would marry screenwriter Hugo Butler, who became blacklisted. She later wrote a book about their time abroad during the McCarthy era called 'Refugees from Hollywood.' She was one of the most influential professors I studied under at the University of Southern California. She taught me about the long-term effects of the blacklist, and a considerable deal about writing since her acting career ended up taking a backseat to her career as a writer for film and television.

As for Harry Carey, he had a long and varied career, going back to silent features in Hollywood. By this stage of the game, he typically was assigned supporting parts. So it's rather nice to see him have a lead role in a picture such as this one. He gives a somewhat grounded performance in a story populated by quirky and memorable western types. Most notable is his interaction with Evelyn Brent, as a gal who catches his eye.

This is a nice old school western. Made back in the day like I used to watch as a child. Thanks for showing it TCM. No super heroes, no special effects, no in your face sex, just a darn good western. Thanks again!

There are some horses on dusty trails, cattle and shots fired. But this has little use for rustic scenery, stunts, boulders, stagecoach robberies, ranchers, gold mines and grifting frontier bankers of a B Western. This is urban, for adults, with a train robbery, politics, sex, comedy, iambic pentameter, relationships, surreal twists and the Western storytelling of Carey, Sr. Youthful Holt stirs the drink as he would in Ambersons and Sierra Madre and in his career. Like a B movie this pays less attention to acting, lighting, production values as might a Curtiz, but it has respectable photography and sound with a clear print. Ward Bond, always a star in any role, delivers a memorable cameo. Native Americans here are at least presented with authentic costuming and intelligence, if comedically, not as inarticulate enemies.