Sombras da Morte

Decent enough Ken Maynard programmer in which he and ageing sidekick Lafe McKee go to war with a ruthless cattle baron who is threatening to drive local small ranchers out of business. Lots of speeded up fist-fights which, as bad as they are, are probably more realistic than the more polished fights seen in bigger-budgeted movies, and a horse that understands English.

Ken Maynard and Lafe McKee are both considered The Two Gun Man and both have walked in on a nice range war. Cattle baron Tom London has hired himself a whole army of gunslingers and he's aiming to bring in enough beef cattle to crowd the other small ranchers off the US government grazing land.

Of course Maynard and McKee take the side of the small ranchers, cowboy heroes always fight for the underdogs. There are two women interested in Maynard in this film, rancher's daughter Lucille Powers and saloon chanteuse Nita Martan. Guess who Maynard winds up with?

The Two Gun Man moves at a nice pace and the appropriate amount of action is there for any kid devotee of the Saturday matinée. One thing that was interesting was the senior citizen sidekick that Lafe McKee played. He's not around for laughs for the hero, he's pretty good in a pinch.

Not too bad a B western for a poverty row product.

I found this film to be only a fair entry in the Maynard list. It has its charm as an early 30's effort, but the acting is a bit stilted for a film that tried to present a fairly complex story. By the next year Maynard will have a more easy going and realistic acting approach. There is a lot of horse action and a plenty of chases and gunplay in this movie. Two attractions of note: first, we see a slender Charles King, and second, we have a role for Lafe McKee where he actually has a meaningful and continuing presence. The film was enjoyed, but probably not worthy of a second spin.