Doomed at Sundown

One would think that "Doomed at Sundown" would deliver a nifty B-western, what with the catchy title that actually does relate to the film (but sadly is not played up enough to make it of any value); a novel idea in the use of a weapon that should, but doesn't, inject intrigue into the program; and a support cast that includes the always fascinating visage of Warner Richmond.

Unfortunately, however, nothing really propels the film to its presumed promise. And although Steele starts off with some sarcastic and acerbic rejoinders to the antagonists early on, even he --the normally deeply-involved craftsman actor-- seems to be cooking with less steam than usual.

The film is good enough to be enjoyed for western fans, yes, and especially for viewers who like to see plenty of horses and riders galloping at a full tilt blur, but there is little beyond standard in this one to recommend it to the general public.

Bob Steele stars in this B western about a footloose young man who suddenly gets a mission in life when his sheriff father is gunned down. The killer uses a knife with his left hand and most likely to be found in a scurvy outlaw nest that even the law gives a wide berth to.

The outlaw leaders are Warner Richmond and Earl Dwire, a pair of B western veterans who don't much like each other, but have to work somewhat in cooperation. I have to say this was most clever the way Steele exploited their dislike and mistrust of each other to accomplish his mission.

Doomed At Sundown gets an extra point or two for an interesting plot to the story. B western fans will applaud.

When Bob Steele's father, the sheriff, is killed with a knife, his deputies know the gang who did it, but their hangout is too dangerous to go to. Bob goes in and discovers Lorraine Randall working there. Her brother and she were passing through with $12,000 in traveler's checks. He's disappeared -- which makes me think it's not particularly safe to leave home with them either -- supposedly working with the gang, while she's waiting for word from him. It's up to Bob to figure out who did the murder, rescue Miss Randall and her brother and get everyone out alive.

It's a Republic western, which means it's pretty good, with a script by George H. Plympton, camerawork by Bert Longenecker, and some of the fight choreography that they were developing at that scrappy movie factory. As a Bob Steele western, however, it's just so-so, however. There's some fine riding, and a few fine high shots of what I think is undercranked racing around Lone Pine, as well as a good trucking shot, but Steele was an athletic cowboy star, always ready to race across a long ridge and dive into a deep canyon,, at least in the early 1930s when he was starring in oaters for his father, Robert Bradbury. In this one, although he's fine in the riding and in a fight scene or two, there's none of that easy athleticism. Perhaps Republic wasn't willing to take such chances with a bankable star; perhaps it was his age. He turned 30 that year. In any case, it's a solid B western with a goodly assortment of hissable western bad guys acting nasty for a suspicious movie-goer to choose for a murderer.