Born to Battle

When Tom Tyler comes to town his reputation as a hell raiser precedes him. Soon enough he proves that to be true and gets hired as a range detective by the ranch manager to see who's been rustling cattle. Suspicion and accusations have been raised against Earl Dwire and his daughter Jean Carmen.

There's no way an old man and his daughter have been doing all the cattle rustling they're accused of. But they are unwelcome homesteaders and a lot can be justified against them. But not when Tom Tyler's around to see they get a square deal.

This western is yet from another poverty row outfit called Reliable Pictures. The more I watch these B westerns from the 30s and 40s I'm convinced you could not see them all in a lifetime.

It's OK for the Saturday matinée crowd, but nothing special.

A threesome movie in which white-stetsoned Tom Tyler and his two scungy pals (Rivero and McDowell) are hired to clean out a nest of nesters but find themselves battling cattle rustlers instead. Writer Oliver Drake used elements from this story time and time again, but it's given a surprisingly energetic workout here with Tyler doing most of his own stunting, including two rough-and-tumble brawls with heavy, Dick Alexander.

By the usual parsimonious and somewhat choppy level of other Bernard B. Ray endeavors, this one is remarkably fluid and well-produced. With only a little time out for comedy relief (and scarcely none at all for our lovely heroine, Jean Carmen), it's mostly action all the way—and most of it expertly lensed on location.

Tyler manages to acquit himself most agreeably, despite his somewhat unsympathetic, bully-of-a-hero. I'm not a fan of Julian Rivero, but he's bearable here, thanks to his partnership with dour Nelson McDowell. Earl Dwire's part is both small and unimportant, allowing him no chances to ham it up. Charles King fans, however, are in for a surprise. He wears a neat business suit throughout!

When Tom Saunders is charged with disturbing the peace, Mr. Larmer, representative of the Illinois Live Stock Corporation, comes to his aid. Larmer hires Tom to investigate the disappearance of cattle from the Lazy Y Ranch near Rawhide. Larmer then sends a letter to the corporation's superintendent, John Brownell, stating that Tom is to take over handling the cattle. As Tom heads to the ranch, he runs into Don Pablo Juan Jose Joaquin Aliso de la Cruz Gonzales, and his partner, Lem Holt, whom Pablo calls "Señor Blinky." The two men travel with Tom. Meanwhile, Brownell, who has not yet received Larmer's letter, has unwittingly hired a rustler, Nate, to care for the ranch's cattle. Once in town, Tom speaks to Brownell, who does not know that Tom was sent by Larmer, and he confides to Tom that nesters are settling on part of the ranch property. Brownell hires Tom to gain control of a house that the nesters are using. Tom takes Pablo and Lem with him, but the nesters turn out to be only a man, Mr. Powell, and his daughter Betty. Tom lets them continue to stay and confronts Nate on the reason that they must evict the Powells. Brownell claims to be unaware that the Powells were the nesters, and Tom decides that Nate is untrustworthy. Tom returns to Pablo and Lem to find that Lem has been killed by ambushers, and that the Powells have lost faith in Tom and have told Brownell to fire him. The sheriff arrests Tom for killing Lem. While Tom is in jail, Nate's man Clem takes Betty and her father hostage. The next day, Tom escapes from the jail and talks Brownell into helping him. The two men and Pablo capture Clem and Nate, and then free the Powells. Brownell agrees to hire Tom as ranch foreman, and the ranch even has a house, in which a married foreman and his wife can live, a feature which appeals to Tom, now that he and Betty have fallen in love.

Tom Tyler is today probably best remembered for playing the villainous Luke Plummer in John Ford's STAGECOACH. He starred in a series of B westerns in the mid-thirties, in which he was usually called 'Cyclone Tom'. Good talent behind the camera, including director Webb, screenwriter Oliver Drake and editor Fred Bain, make this a pleasant outing. The cast contains the usual expert western players and a couple of fine silent comedians -- including Max Davidson -- and the story, if it mostly consists of Tom trying to sort out misunderstandings as due to lack of communications, is expertly handled, with good humor and some good stuntwork. While this particular effort will probably not make new fans for the genre, if you have a taste for these westerns, you should be pleased. If not, it is still a decent time waster.

Tom Tyler hired to go after the nesters but goes after the cattle rustlers instead. An unusual role for Charles King in a suit and tie and not getting into any fisticuffs but some good battles between Tyler and Richard Alexander. Tyler from the beginning lives up to his reputation as a trouble maker. Jean Carmen and Earl Dwire have a runaway carriage and a Chinese laundry is wrecked as a result of his antics. A great scene with Justice Hiram McClump (Ralph Lewis) after Tyler is arrested and fight scene staged by Brownell (William Desmond). Pablo (Julian Rivero) and Blinky (Nelson McDowell) do a great job as dual sidekicks with a flair for comic relief.