Tombstone Terror

This is a fun little western, with perhaps the most effective of B-western leading men Bob Steele believably taking on two roles. It seems to me that Steele even kisses more tenderly and earnestly than many of his more romantic contemporaries across town in A-list pictures! Mr. Hayes has his "Gabby" down well by this time and there are a few subtle comedic moments in the show along the way. The early-on haystack scene is great and the ensuing interaction between Steele and Hayes is warmly affectionate and quirky. The picture has a fun little story and overall it is darn enjoyable to watch.

There's plenty of story, action and acting in the randomly named B western. Bob Steele returns to his father's ranch, whence he had left under a cloud -- he had taken the blame for his identical twin's sins (also played by Steele) - and comes back to find his father sick and his brother letting the place go to pot while he gambles, drinks and gets involved in running stolen cattle with Earl Dwire. While the brother is in town, the prodigal son promises to buckle down and gets engaged to Kay McCoy. The rest of the movie is sorting things out, with a couple of good fistfights (slightly marred by soundman Herb Eicke's belief that a blow to someone's head sounds like a slapstick), and a high-speed cattle dive during the final fight.

Steele does a good job playing two characters, mostly by moving differently, drawing on silent movie techniques, and doubtless relying on George Hayes, who seems to have acted as dialogue director while with Robert Bradbury's unit. It was Hayes' last movie with the unit, and he's in full Gabby mode (although his character is called 'Soupy'). His next western would be with Tim McCoy and after that, it would be Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers, as the most famous of the western sidekicks.

Gabby is the best sidekick ever. Bob Steele usually did his own fight scenes and he does them well, he's very athletic and switches to southpaw with no problem. He needed those skills in going toe to toe with the Swede (Frank McCarroll).I wish Kay McCoy was in more of these early westerns. Great to see two very versatile actors in Earl Dwire and John Elliott with McCarroll a rodeo rider and champion steer wrestler.

When the story begins, Jimmy (Bob Steele) is being chased...but you aren't sure by whom. Later, he arrives at his father's ranch and it's to get money owed to him by his identical (and evil) twin, Duke. However, instead of paying it, Duke runs away...and Jimmy decides to pose as his brother. Much of it is because his father is quite ill and loves Duke, as Dad doesn't realize what a weasel his son is. It seems that long ago, Jimmy took the blame for Duke's actions...and he and his father are now estranged. So, posing as Duke, Jimmy has a chance to reunite with his father. But there are some problems...including Duke's fiancee. After all, how can Jimmy marry her?

The film is from a tiny third-rate studio, Supreme Pictures. Because of that, the budget is small, sets are simple, and there is no incidental music. It doesn't mean it makes it a bad film, but it also does make it look pretty cheap. Fortunately, they COULD afford George 'Gabby' Hayes...and he always helped westerns be just a bit better. Overall, a watchable B-western but far from Steele's best. The story uses a silly cliche (too many B-movies feature identical twins) and the story lacks an interesting villain and is rather uninspired.

By the way, listen carefully during the barroom fight. It was sped up to make it look faster and more exciting...but this also sped up what the folks said...making them sound a bit like Munchkins!