Cornered

This Tim McCoy film has an excellent supporting cast, with the colorful Noah Beery playing the baddie as well as B-western veteran Raymond Hatton and familiar supporting actor Walter Brennan! That's mighty impressive. Sadly, however, I wasn't thrilled with the script as it was an incredibly talky film...especially in the second half.

When the story begins, Sheriff Tim Laramie (McCoy) has his life saved by Moody. And, soon Moody is accused of murder...and the town is in a hanging mood. Laramie has to be careful the locals don't just string the guy up, but even going to trail is unfair as the jury is filled with bloodthirsty locals. So, he does something sheriffs are NOT supposed to do...he arranges for Moody's escape. Then, after he resigns following this, Laramie plans on spending the rest of the film looking for the real bad guy responsible for the killing. All this sounds really good....but it really got bogged down when Laramie meets the big bad....then, instead of fighting or shooting or arresting...they....talk?! Yep....and a lot. It eventually moves past the talking stage...but it takes a while...too long. As a result, the film began to bore...something you don't expect in a Tim McCoy western. As a result, it's watchable but lacks the spark of most of the actor's films.

I appreciate this Columbia Tim McCoy western film quite a lot, perhaps most of all because of the good-sized cast that includes several notable players who showed up unannounced, among them Walter Brennan, Charles King, Lloyd Ingraham, and Tom London.

Yes, Tim McCoy leads the cast and he always provides an authentic aura to a film. The story is intriguing (even though its progress requires several key coinciding happenstances) and has ample and thoughtful dialogue... therefore this is not just a shoot-em-up action pot-boiler.

Raymond Hatton plays a role a little out of norm for what he would become known-for a few years down the road, and the sweetly-appointed Shirley Grey effectively emotes in one of her earlier screen roles.

The menacing presence of Walter Long (having been around in pictures since 1910) was much enjoyed, but it is Noah Beery's diabolical portrayal of an off-kilter psycho-bad guy that steals the show. What a juicy part for the old pro! I imagine the crew on set very much had fun witnessing his acting antics!

For me "Cornered" was just an all-around enjoyment and hopefully will be satisfying to other lovers of the B-western genre as well.