I love this movie so much

Thanks for the memories!

As Good As It Gets

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Don't be fooled by armchair critics. This movie was cast with Ken Maynard who could ride with the very best! It might be a little stilted, but look at the date the film was made. Ken Maynard several times used Phantom elements in his films and this one is actually quite good. I got mine on a hundred films from the 1930s collection and this is one of the best. John Wayne's Angel and the Badman was in that collection too. The film is not restored, and a ton of money spent on archival correction. Yet it is good to see what was done then. Ken Maynard and Bob Steele could ride and their acting is pretty good coming out of the Silent film era. Go look a the original Panco Villa films for comparison.That if course was the real deal.

Some elements of melodrama and even Gothic horror are part of this poverty row western starring Ken Maynard entitled Tombstone Canyon.Ken's been sent for by a rancher who knows something of his parentage which Ken is unaware of. Growing up in an orphanage Ken has no clue of his background.There's a fellow who for years has a hideout in Tombstone Canyon where he does a whole Zorro act terrorizing one outfit run by Frank Brownlee and his son George Gerwing. But he's got a hideous look to him, more the Phantom of the Opera unmasked than Zorro. And he's as touched as the Phantom was living down in those catacombs of the Paris sewers.A whole lot of killings, a manhunt for Maynard who is blamed for all of them including a sympathetic sheriff before Ken puts it all together about himself and the Phantom. A bit of an unusual western for the Saturday matinée kid crowd, but entertaining.

Within the context of a B western, Tombstone Canyon is close to perfect. Yes, it looks a lot like every other cheap western of its time, but the early 1930's were a great time for westerns. Ken Maynard never falters for the entire run time of this movie.As the movie starts we are introduced to the place known as Tombstone Canyon. Ken rides in to find himself unwelcome and the desired target of many ill-intended shots. Between the gang of bad guys and the mysterious phantom Ken has his hands full, but fortunately Jenny Lee happens to be riding through and fires a few helpful shots of her own. It is then that Ken learns more about Tombstone Canyon and the mysterious screaming phantom who kills as many of the Lazy S cowboys as possible. The phantom is not Ken's worry, however. He has traveled to meet a friend who has a secret to reveal, but by the time Ken arrives he finds out that his friend is murdered. Alf Sykes, owner of the Lazy S does not want Ken to learn anything, so he does everything he can to destroy Ken. The phantom also confronts Ken and threatens him. It is only at the end that Ken learns the secret someone wanted him to know, and the phantom's identity is revealed.Even if the plot was done hundreds of times over the years, it was done right in this 1932 movie. Most of the credit must go to Ken Maynard for making Tombstone Canyon so much fun to watch. His on screen personality was at its most captivating. Few western heroes looked as good and had the ability to act as well as Ken Maynard.

Ken Maynard was a champion horse rider and in his early days worked in rodeos. Not for him the effete air-conditioned acting studio but he learned his acting trade the hard practical way by living the life of a real cowboy. He enjoyed the rough and tumble and hard knocks of cowboy life. He would feel the the pain of dare devil horse riding, eating his meals by camp fire and sleeping under the stars in the cold and hot seasons. Therefore we accept the often improbable story plot elements because we believe the people playing the roles are similar to the those who lived in the real Old West. This is a second tier Ken Maynard movie but we treasure the limited hours of being with Ken as he portrays a real cowboy and a real man . Thank you Ken.