The Man from Hell's Edges

There is no mistaking that "The Man From Hell's Edges" is a B-western from the early 1930's, but as can happen with some of these films, the enjoyment quotient is high. Even though the film is in black and white, for example, the majestic scenery, especially the pine-studded mountains and meadows, are captured and used beautifully by director Ray Bradbury. Framing is well-conceived and camera angles are sometimes unusual, including looking down in town from a building's second story for no particular reason. Action scenes with sometimes impressive stunt work are plentiful and handled almost thrillingly, including the prison escape and an in-town chase and fight. Even the simple but quirky lunch outside of the cabin is sweet and gentle and serves as kind of a minor treat.

The acting is sharp, including good ol' Bob Steele, who can seem more involved in his dramatic scenes than most of his contemporary western heroes. Happily, too, Steele gets to show off his marvelous fighting techniques, including his patented "villain runs headlong into power punch," which always sends the bad guy reeling into a heap. And lastly, Steele shows a tad more of his romantic side here than he usually does, and he does it effectively, too!

Bradbury is given credit for the story and he came up with an all-together entertaining one for this program. Some western fans think the early 30's was a creaky and stiff time for the genre, but "The Man From Hell's Edges" should thoroughly satisfy most fans.

This film stands out for three reasons: 1) The opening escape from prison is shot at night and by torch light. 2) Good physical action and stunts by Bob Steele, himself a stuntman. It may be Yakima Canutt who did the horse and rider jumping off a cliff into a lake far below. Either way, great! 3) And of course, the 'gay scene' with George (not yet 'Gabby') Hayes and 'Pewee' holding hands and skipping across the street, with another cowboy on the side walk making fey gestures at them with his hands, body and eyes. No 'Brokeback Mountain' this-- Shamrock and Pewee start shooting at him!

The shoot out at the end "Make it fast...this is your last draw," with Flash shooting Lobo in both wrists (shown bloodied), is used again in "Riders of Destiny" (1933) with John Wayne, one of his "Lone Star" westerns.

"Man From Hell's Edges" was a routine Bob Steele western for producer Trem Carr except for a couple of things. First there is a scene where Steele's two sidekicks, Shamrock (George "Gabby" Hayes) and Half Pint (Gilbert (Pee Wee) Holmes) skip-pity hop arm in arm down the middle of the street. As they are doing this a townsman makes eyes at the pair and waves feminine like to them. A scene like this with its homosexual overtones would never had made it past the censors one the industry Production Code was adopted in 1934.

The other thing that sets this one apart is the apparent stunt work of Yakima Canutt. Although I couldn't verify that it was Canutt's work, several of the stunts bear his mark. First there are several horsetails then a high dive off a cliff followed by a horse and rider doing likewise. It could have been stock footage but I'm sure that Canutt was involved.

The story has Flash Manning (Steele) escaping from prison trying to find the boss of his cell mates, whose identity he does not know. It seems that the gang had been responsible for a $100,000 robbery and the location of the money is known only to one of Steele's cell mates. To learn the identity of the leader, Manning (as Bob Williams) takes the job of sheriff and takes an interest in heroine Betty (Nancy Drexel). He also suspects local gunman Lobo as being the leader of the gang. Well, the rest of the gang is released from prison and they all meet up and.............

The production team on this series was also responsible for the John Wayne "Lone Star" series of 1933-35.

"The Man from Hell's Edges" is one of Bob Steele's best westerns and it's also a nice chance to see George Hayes before he took on his familiar 'Gabby' persona.

The story begins with Bob (Steele) breaking out of prison. Soon, he's met by two friends (one of which is Hayes) and they assist him throughout the movie. Who these people are isn't clear until the end and you can't help but assume that Bob isn't who he pretends to be. So why the ruse and what is REALLY going on? See the film and find out for yourself.

The story really hums here and Steele is as pugnacious as ever...and does some dandy stunts along the way.

By the way, the 'Hell's Edges' part from the title refers to prison...a nickname they apparently called it back in the day. Also, you'll likely notice the gay joke in the film...something you NEVER would have seen just a couple years later once the new and much tougher Production Code went into effect. In addition to getting rid of nudity, cursing and fornication in films, any mention of gays was removed by the new Code.

Bob Steele may not be tops in the dialogue department, but he offers a fine physical performance in a good story. He escapes from prison in a fine, shot-by-torchlight night shoot, ahead of his buddies' release, and makes his way to his side kicks: Gilbert Holmes and Gabby Hayes -- the latter sporting an Irish accent. While the sidekicks hang back, Steele heads into town, where someone is about to kill the sheriff, until Bob wings him and the assassin high-tails it. The sheriff offers him a deputy's badge, and Steele accepts after he meets the sheriff's pretty daughter, Nancy Drexel. It's clear there's something going on, but that's something for the plot to work on.

There's a great extended action sequence about twenty minutes into this western, involving a fight on a roof, a dive into the water and a lot of rough riding. Julian Rivero, who usually played tiny roles, has a sizable part as the main villain, and he is wonderfully oily. If you enjoy B westerns, you'll like this one a lot!