Fuzzy Settles Down

Al St. John got his start in pictures by appearing in numerous comedy shorts along with his uncle, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. By the 1930s, St. John had reinvented himself and was no longer a comic foil but a cowboy sidekick--and was re-christened Al 'Fuzzy' St. John--and he made a ton of westerns as Fuzzy. The title of this film refers to this character, though it certainly could also be referring to the print available from archive.org--a site linked to IMDb for hundreds of public domain films. So, if you can find a better copy elsewhere, more power to you--this one is badly in need of restoration.

The film begins with a bank robbery. Fuzzy solves this crime and collects a reward. On a whim, he buys a local newspaper--one dedicated to standing up to the evil rustlers. With the help of his friend, Billy (Buster Crabbe), he fights the forces of not-niceness. Naturally, they aren't about to just give up and frame Fuzzy for embezzling the funds for the new telegraph lines. Can these swell heroes prevail? While this film is made by the crappy low-budget PRC Studio, the acting and script are pretty good. Plus, unlike many other series westerns, there's no singing! Enjoyable fluff--with a very strange ending.

While it's a very predictable story, this B-Western is still not bad overall. Buster Crabbe and Fuzzy St. John are a likable pair of heroes, and it has a couple of lighter moments and some decent action. The story starts with Fuzzy deciding that he wants to 'settle down' instead of wandering about with Crabbe. He decides to become a 'respectable' citizen working on a newspaper, but very soon he gets caught in the middle of a dangerous confrontation with a gang of rustlers. Quite a bit happens after that, and while most of it is pretty predictable, the action is not bad. St. John also gets more screen time than he does in a lot of his supporting roles. Overall, it's nothing great, but worth a look if you like older Westerns.

Of all of the B Western sidekicks, Smiley Burnette was the only one to get top billing in a B Western. Fuzzy Settles Down should have had Al St. John with top billing in the credits. As Fuzzy Q. Jones, St. John is the title character and he has the most screen time. Buster Crabbe, as Billy Carson, is a strong hero, but he really is like a "reverse sidekick" for most of the movie. It is strange, but in the way that sidekicks usually said things to build up the image of the hero, Billy Carson's words and actions work to strengthen Fuzzy's character.

Fuzzy earns reward money (with Billy's help) for catching two bank robbers. He is determined to use that money to settle down somewhere. When Fuzzy and Billy happen to ride into a town where the local newspaper is up for auction, Fuzzy decides to buy it. They use the newspaper to help rid the town of local bandits. Billy Carson moves the plot along at all the right times, but it is only at the climax of the movie that he does anything significant.

Al St. John was usually a better actor than the lead actors he supported, and the people at PRC must have been aware of it. He absolutely knew how to entertain and draw attention to himself while on screen. This movie is his showcase. If you are a fan of Fuzzy Q. Jones, this movie spotlights his character more than usual.

"Fuzzy Settles Down" would at first expectation be a comedy, based on the lightweight and overly simplistic title and because Al "Fuzzy" St. John is so prominently featured. But this is actually a more serious entry in the Buster Crabbe/St. John series, not one played for laughs but, of course, with considerable smile-inducing comic relief dotting the landscape. Viewers follow the increasing intrigue as our two newly-arrived heroes become involved in a little town's struggle against Charles King's perfectly underplayed performance as the bad man intent on taking over the town's future. King becomes exasperated as his staff of cutthroats, who are dispatched to carry out his machinations, are consistently thwarted in carrying out their work by the omnipresent Crabbe, who's sole purpose in life seems to be protecting his good but naive buddy Fuzzy. Interestingly, Crabbe plays his role as Billy Carson kind of like Superman, in that to the outside world he is seen as being aloof to the dastardly goings-on around him, which lead the heroine and others to believe he is a good-for-little hanger-on. Of course, with the passage of time they all find out better. The cast is big and the acting is sharp, and even Buster Crabbe seems confident and comfortable in this one. The premise is strong, the story and dialog are well thought out, none of the fighting nor the use of guns seem gratuitous or drawn out, and the whole program is a pleasure to observe and really get wrapped-up in.

On a whim, Fuzzy Jones uses his reward money from the capture of a fugitive in order to buy a small town newspaper, of which the previous owner was gunned down for going up against a group of cattle rustlers. Picking up where the slain man left off, he uses the pen and Billy Carson uses his gun to clean up the town.

One of many times Fuzzy tried to settle down, this light-hearted, fast-paced, and action-packed entry in Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy Carson series is well-written and one of the best.

There's a heavy emphasis this time on Al "Fuzzy" St. John. However, Buster Crabbe delivers one of his best performances ever, with the usually more stoic hero caught in a particularly silly frame-of-mind and getting almost as many laughs as Fuzzy this time around!