Ride Him, Cowboy

John Wayne shows up just as the judge is about to rule whether a horse should be killed for being an ornery critter. Wayne offers to ride him, and does so, saving the horse and winning the admiration of Ruth Hall and her father, Henry Walthall. Walthall and his vigilante committee consult Wayne on what do do about a mysterious outlaw called the Hawk. Wayne offers to tackle him by his lonesome.

It's one of the movies that Wayne made at the nadir of his career, co-starring with this horse, called Duke. It's a remake of a silent western starring Ken Maynard, with a lot of the original footage cut in, because producer Leon Schlesinger believed in doing things on the cheap... which gives an idea of how far Walthall had fallen in the Hollywood scheme of things. Director Fred Allen was an editor when he wasn't making one of his eight directorial efforts, so the shooting is efficient and the shots well lit by cinematographer Ted McCord. There isn't much to this movie, but it kept everyone working for a few weeks and still plays all right.

This film was the first of a series of B westerns that John Wayne did for Warner Brothers and it was decided to give him a horse companion named Duke. Duke the horse was fine, the film left a lot to be desired.

A horse is the only witness to a robbery where another witness was beaten unconscious and lies in a coma. He went after the villain and the villain who is masked bandit known as the Hawk says the horse is a mankiller who attacked him for no good reason. Since by day the villain is a respectable town citizen everyone believes him, almost.

One of the almost is young cowpoke John Wayne who says he can tame the stallion and proceeds to do so. He even offers to track down the Hawk.

It starts to get a little ridiculous here especially in the way that the villain gets the drop on Wayne. Of course in the tradition of Trigger, Champion, Topper, and Robert Taylor's horse Varick in Knights of the Round Table, Duke rescues his friend John Wayne. Doesn't that sound a little odd.

Otis Harlan has a very funny bit as the country judge before whom Wayne is tried when he's accused of being the Hawk. And the villain does get a poetic ending.

Still it's hardly one of John Wayne's best.

An American Action, Western; A story about a Texan cowboy who rides into an Arizona town, rescues a horse, and winds up being blamed for a recent spate of barn-burnings, a crime he did not commit. This 'B' movie is a remake of the 1926 silent film The Unknown Cavalier (1926) and based on a 1923 novel by Kenneth Perkins. This light-humoured film has its stock characters and a well-worn story about a man falsely accused. There is a satirical aspect too, about frontier justice, the rush to judgement in trial when logic suggests otherwise, and a prominent citizen who turns out to be a wrong 'un. Duke the clever horse steals the show in some instances. John Wayne fits his part nicely as the young stranger who can goof with the rest of them but has the fortitude to bring miscreants to justice.

"Ride Him Cowboy" was the first of six westerns that John Wayne made for Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season. Most were remakes of Ken Maynard silent westerns pf the 1920s thus giving the studio the opportunity to use stock footage from those films (which they did). This one is a remake of Maynard's 1926 film "The Unknown Cavalier". To match any stock footage used, the studio costumed Wayne in Maynard's costume and used a horse ("Duke") that looked the same as Maynard's "Tarzan".

This first film gets the series off to a good start. Directed by Fred Allen (No, not THAT Fred Allen), the story moves along and holds the viewer's interest. Since the series was made at WB, the production values were far superior to those in Wayne's later "Lone Star" westerns.

The story centers on how Wayne came to acquire his horse "Duke". The Hawk, aka Henry Sims (Frank Hagney) and his gang are robbing and pillaging the local ranchers. One particular night they hit the Gaunt ranch. The foreman, Bob Webb (Edmund Cobb) is attacked. The attack, for some reason, is made to look like Webb was trampled by Gaunt's prize palomino "Duke".

The horse is about to be destroyed after a "trial" in town when a stranger, John Drury (Wayne) rides into town. He pleads with the Deputy Sheriff (Henry Cribbon), the owner John Gaunt (Henry B. Wathall) and his daughter Ruth (Ruth Hall) for a chance to ride the horse and tame him. He does this and the horse takes a shine to him. Gaunt allows Drury to take the horse as he also becomes attracted to Ruth.

Drury offers his services to the town to track down the mysterious bandit. He and Sims who offers to be his guide set out in search of "The Hawk". In the desert, Sims reveals himself to be "The Hawk" and ties up Drury and leaves him for dead. "Duke", however, is able to free his master.

While attacking another ranch, Sims plants Drury's harmonica and later cites him as "The Hawk". A mock trial before Judge Clarence "Necktie" Jones is held, Drury is found guilty and..................................

A good series opener with little obvious use of stock footage.

Let's see, this picture was made in 1932 and my parents were just about ten years old. As this was the depression and my dad was one of six kids, I doubt if he had a nickel to spend. As I watch this, as an old, old man; I see it as a pretty good oater. Lots of action, last minute rescues, and a smattering of adult humor. At least, I hope the humor was adult aimed for I know I wouldn't have gotten it. John Wayne got top billing although he shared it with Duke, his horse.

The action moves quickly enough for kids to follow it to see if Wayne caught the bad guy or at least exposed him to the law. I thought the film held up over the years. Solid supporting cast with both Harry Gribbon and Otis Harlan providing the humor; a little gallows at times but no doubt that was for any adult who wandered in.

You have to feel sorry for Wayne's character, John Drury, who goes from horse saving hero to wanted outlaw in the blink of an eye. I think after all was done with, I would have just moved on and left these people to themselves.

But, all in all, a decent oater for its time.