Big Boy Rides Again (1935)

Tom's father is served dinner by the cook, Sing Fat, who has poisoned the meal, especially the pudding. The father is reluctant to eat the food, although he does not know Sing Fat poisoned it. After much encouragement by Sing Fat to eat the pudding, after Sing Fat leaves the room, the father gives the pudding to the dog, which eats it as the father decides to eat some of the other food. Suddenly, the dog dies, the father grabs his heart as though he is dying from the poisoned food too, and a masked person dressed in black enters and shoot the old man as he appears to be dying already from the poisoned food. Eventually, the shooter is unmasked after he is killed and is labeled as the murderer, but no one seems to be interested in the role that the cook played in the death of the father. A question of law: Would the father have died of poison but for the shot fired the masked killer?

Not copyrighted 1935 by Beacon Productions, inc. No New York opening. U.S. release through First Division. Release dates and original running time unknown. About 55 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A crippled rancher sends for his ne'er-do-well son when he finds himself hemmed in by "enemies", including a sinister Chinese cook who poisons his dog, "Rusty". COMMENT: A substantial improvement over "Cowboy Holiday", this entry has a superior script. In fact, it's not actually a western at all, despite obligatory buck-jumping (via obvious stock shots) and a saloon fight (interspersed with myriads of odd close-ups) sequences.This movie is actually a suspenseful mystery thriller, using (by M. & A. Alexander standards) some extraordinarily large indoor sets, plus some fast chase action and stunt-work in real but most effective locations. The identity of the killer came as a real surprise to me. Acting level is high. Williams is reasonably personable, the heroine is most attractive, whilst Lafe McKee and Bud Osborne turn in their usual ultra-reliable portrayals of neighboring rancher and hero's sidekick, respectively. The director makes the most of Harry Forbes' moody photography with lots of menacing shots of the cloaked killer in the rain.

It never struck me before how much 'Big Boy' Guinn Williams resembles former President George Bush, but it was very noticeable in this picture. I always enjoy seeing him show up in a film, but you have to admit, his starring role in this picture didn't help save it from being a mess of a story. His character is Tom Duncan, returning to his father's ranch to help him avoid being swindled by a would be partner named Tap Smiley (Lafe McKee). Smiley's daughter Nancy (Constance Bergen) is sweet on Tom to further complicate the situation. What's curious about the whole picture is that at some point, a character looking very much like The Shadow shows up skulking around the Duncan home causing general mayhem and stealing the Duncan fortune.There are a number of imponderables here, like the elder Duncan's Oriental servant Sing Fat acting mysterious, and then shown attempting to poison his employer. But if he was acting on behalf of The Shadow character, why did the masked figure kidnap Sing Fat to the trap door cavern underneath the Duncan ranch? It just didn't make sense.I did get a kick out of that scene when henchman Al (Frank Ellis) guards the Big Boy all tied up with his hands behind his back. Duncan's horse shows up, and Duncan clearly sees him through an open window. However when Duncan backs up to the window to have the horse chew through the rope around his wrists, the window is completely covered by a pair of curtains. It just didn't make sense.There's other goofy stuff going on too, not the least of which was an early scene in which Big Boy tries his hand at throwing darts and sticks one in the bartender's head! No reaction from the bartender - What?!?! It just didn't make sense.So when all is said and done, the best you can come away with is a confusing and somewhat dubiously entertaining hour or so trying to follow the action. When it's over, Big Boy tries to come to terms with Miss Nancy stating "...I've got a ranch and I've got some cash - have I got the girl"? Of course she said yes; maybe that made a little sense.

This movie is a classic "MST3K" movie. Nonsensical cuts and segues make following this movie nearly impossible. This movie contains, bar none, the worst bar fight in the history of movies (ironically, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams was in the classic western "Dodge City", which contains one of the best barroom brawls in movie history), with disappearing people, props, and cuts in action that follow no form of chronological continuum. That said, I can only say that I wish I had this classic clunker on tape.