Frontier Scout

Greetings & Salutations! Mantan Moreland (1902-1973) certainly was the equal to cowboy sidekicks Fuzzy Knight and Gabby Hayes and probably featured in more movies than either man, some 134 all total in 40 years of entertaining America, especially in their darkest hours in World War Two when there was little to smile about. He thrilled us in 1940 in "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk," "Chasing Trouble,' Millionaire Playboy," also known as "Glamour Boy," and in "The Girl in Room 313." He certainly should have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as he ranks right up there with all the great stars of Hollywood!

George Houston is a name very, very few people will remember. He made about a dozen movies for one of the crappiest studios of the day, PRC, and even for PRC he was not particularly talented. Here in "Frontier Scout" he has as much charisma as a potato--and the writing and direction certainly didn't help to make him look any more interesting.

When the film begins, it's the Civil War and Wild Bill Hickok and his two friends are saving the Union. Historically speaking, this is all poppycock--and, oddly, it really has nothing to do with the rest of the film!!

What follows is a typical situation in which baddies are preventing beef from being shipped because they're either killing off the ranchers and re-branding their herds or charging them ridiculous rates to take the cattle to market. So, it's up to the historically inaccurate and dull as dirt Wild Bill to come to the rescue along with his friends.

Don't say I didn't warn you about this one--there isn't a lot to recommend it. A super-dull script, super-dull acting and super-dull EVERYTHING make this a chore to finish.

Although it does have its moments, this B-Western just doesn't work very well, despite some real potential. The story had possibilities, with its combination of historical characters and some fictional settings that promised some action, but the pace is uneven, and it never really seems to fit together very well.

The plot starts by following Wild Bill Hickok in some rather interesting Civil War adventures, and then after the war it takes him west to show his efforts in dealing with a large gang of cattle rustlers. Though it all gets off to a decent start, it ends up managing to be both predictable and implausible at the same time.

George Houston has a little energy in the lead role, and is not all that bad, but you just expect a lot more from a character who is supposed to be Wild Bill Hickok. As his war buddy and sidekick, Fuzzy St. John is all right, but he only gets a couple of chances to do anything interesting.

There are some action scenes that are reasonably entertaining, but they don't really stand out, either. There's nothing exceptionally poor or bothersome about "Frontier Scout", but as you watch it, you keep thinking that there ought to be something more worthwhile to it, yet it just never really gets off the ground.