The Prescott Kid

Tim McCoy is one of my favorite B-western stars, though I must admit that today he's pretty much forgotten. It's a shame, as his films were generally better than his contemporary's and he was not some pretty singing cowboy but a guy who really was an expert marksman and cowboy.

When the film begins, Tim is heading into a town when someone tries to 'drygulch' him (in other words, lying in wait and shooting a man as he passes). Fortunately, he manages to avoid the ambush...but WHO sent this goon to kill him and why?! Well, for a while folks in town incorrectly assume he's the new Marshal who's come to clean up the town...which, he isn't. But the real new Marshal (Joe Sawyer) is on the scene and he and Tim work to clean up the place!

In addition to Sawyer (who was excellent), the film also has Walter Brennan in a smaller role...but both provide some welcome support....better than McCoy often had when he worked for different studios, such as Monogram. This and an enjoyable script make this one worth seeing.

By the way, McCoy always fired his pistol oddly...sort of flipping the gun as he shot. While this may LOOK like he's an idiot who doesn't know how to shoot, in real life McCoy traveled for a while with a circus/wild west show as a trick shooter! Go figure!

The previous review pretty much tells it well, but I just want to add a couple of observations. The director is David Selman and his page indicates a rather modest career, mostly in the B-movie world. But he tried nicely in this film to make this picture just a tad tighter in direction than one expects in B pictures and he extracted a goodly amount of footage of faces looking at one another in well thought-out camera angles, some up close and others from a distance. Additionally, Selman made good use of McCoy's sharp and evaluative eyes. The brief and subdued musical interlude that lasted about a minute during a poignant scene in the barn between McCoy and Sheila Manners (Bromley) was notable and welcome for its inclusion. That scene was well-played by all concerned; even the lighting was effective.

Turning to the more trivial, I wish they could have included a scene about how and where Tim replaced his hat! I couldn't help but also think of how the saloon piano player sounded like he had been influenced by the stride playing of Fats Waller, who in 1934 was a strong presence in America's developing and changing musical tastes. Lastly, look out for appearances by the venerable players Tom London and Charles King. This is a good and almost sophisticated cowboy film, as many were when they included Tim McCoy.