Two-Fisted Law (1932)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

D. Ross Lederman

Writers:

Kurt Kempler (adaptation)
William Colt MacDonald (story)

Release Date:

8 June 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western | Romance

Tagline:

His Latest and Greatest Outdoor Romance

Plot:

After Rob Russell steals Tim Clark's ranch, Clark starts prospecting for silver.

Plot Keywords:

Silver | Ranch | Land Swindle | Gold | Number In Title

Cast

Tim McCoy	...	Tim Clark
Alice Day	...	Betty Owen
Wheeler Oakman	...	Bob Russell
Tully Marshall	...	Sheriff Malcolm
Wallace MacDonald	...	Artie
John Wayne	...	Duke
Walter Brennan	...	Deputy Sheriff Bendix
Richard Alexander	...	Henchman Zeke Yokum
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hank Bell	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Rube Dalroy	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Evans	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Ray Henderson	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Merrill McCormick	...	Green, the Agent (uncredited)
Bud Osborne	...	Henchman Jiggs Tyler (uncredited)
Arthur Thalasso	...	Bartender Jake (uncredited)

Directed by
D. Ross Lederman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kurt Kempler		adaptation and dialogue
William Colt MacDonald		story

Produced by
Irving Briskin	....	producer

Original Music by
Mischa Bakaleinikoff		(uncredited)
Sam Perry		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Benjamin H. Kline		(as Benjamin Kline)

Film Editing by
Otto Meyer

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• United Artists Corporation (1932) (UK) (theatrical)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Andy Jauregui Ranch - Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The War at Home (1979)

Saving Little Nell

Though in the film John Wayne is second billed to star Tim McCoy he actually has very little to do. Wayne is in the unaccustomed role of sidekick.

Wayne and Wallace MacDonald are the last two ranch hands working for Tim McCoy. He's lost is ranch to crooked banker Wheeler Oakman, but being the good boss and friend he is to Wayne and MacDonald he finds them jobs with neighbor and sweetheart Alice Day.

That might be short term employment for Oakman has designs on the ranch and on Day. Those designs on Day ain't covered by the cowboy code.

McCoy goes off prospecting for a couple of years and no sooner is he back than he's framed for an express company holdup and killing resulting from same. The rest of the movie is McCoy's fight to prove his innocence and save Day from a fate worse than death.

Wheeler Oakman seems to be enjoying his role as villain, he's hamming it up in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. And Day makes a perfect Little Nell.

Tim McCoy, a silent western star, seems to have made the transition to sound easily enough. He's a stern and upright hero who's bound and determined prove his innocence.

Note good performances by Tully Marshall as the father figure sheriff of the area who believes in McCoy and a young Walter Brennan as his less than scrupulous deputy.

My VHS of this film is 58 minutes and I note that the running time is 64 minutes. That might explain some gaps in the story and maybe it was John Wayne who got cut out.

This was the last Columbia movie that John Wayne ever appeared in. It seems as though Harry Cohn thought Wayne was putting the moves on a young starlet who rejected Cohn's advances even though Wayne wasn't involved. But after the Duke became a star and a legend, there wasn't enough money in the world that would get him to appear in a Columbia Studios film.

But realizing this is a B western, it's not the worst one I've ever seen although somehow I doubt we'll ever see a director's cut.