Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely Fantastic

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Two-Fisted Law (1932) ** (out of 4)Standard "B" Western of its era has Tim McCoy playing a man named Tim who has his family ranch stolen from him by the crooked Bob Russell (Wheeler Oakman).TWO-FISTED LAW is pretty much like every other "B" Western that was made around this era. It's pretty amazing how many films would deal with a person shot in the back and the wrong person being arrested or some crooked deal that causes someone to lose a ranch. This film here, like most of them, is mildly entertaining but there's no doubt that if you're wanting a classic this here isn't that.If you're a fan of McCoy then you'll find him charming here as he plays it pretty straight like normal. I would be lying if I said he was one of my favorite cowboy stars from this era but he's at least mildly entertaining. Once again John Wayne and Walter Brennan are here together, although neither one makes that much of an impact. TWO-FISTED LAW has the typical shoot-outs and chases but there's nothing here that separates it from all the rest.

Old time Western movie fans get an unexpected treat in this Tim McCoy oater - future A-listers John Wayne and Walter Brennan are both on hand to lend support. Wayne's character goes by the unusual name of 'Duke' - who would have guessed that? Meanwhile Brennan finds himself cast as a villainous sheriff's deputy, coming on screen about the time Wayne disappears from the story.The opening credits list the name of Kurt Kempler relative to 'Continuity', so I made it a point to see if he did his job or not in regards to the story. As with many of these B Westerns from the Thirties, continuity is one of the last things on anyone's mind during filming and true to form, this one was no exception. For example, right after Tim Clark (McCoy) loses his ranch, he's left with no earthly possessions other than his horse, so he decides to go silver prospecting. A subsequent scene shows him guiding his mount and another pack horse through rough country, followed immediately by another scene in which he's shown riding along with no more pack animal. What happened there? Here's another one - recall when Tim Clark shows up following the express office robbery, town villain Russell (Wheeler Oakman) remarks on his 'new' bullet wound. Tim was shot in the shoulder a few days earlier and he was wearing a shirt, so how could Russell know he had been shot with no outward appearance of it's effect?Another instance I got a kick out of occurred when Tim is back at the express office with the sheriff and Russell henchman Zeke Yokum (Richard Alexander). Attempting to sort out clues about the robbery, Tim casually looks down, and there on the floor happens to be a piece of paper with a boot print on it that matches the metal heel mark on Yokum's boot. With the robbery having occurred a couple days earlier, why wouldn't the sheriff or anyone else have noticed it before? At least in Sheriff Malcolm's (Tully Marshall) case, you might chalk it up to old age. At the time of filming, the actor was sixty eight years old and looking every bit of it. You have to wonder why the town couldn't find a younger lawman. And by the way, that boot heel impression on the piece of paper was somewhat laughable, it could have been made by any boot! But I guess stuff like this didn't matter too much back in the day. These films were churned out in a matter of days and then it was on to the next one. However there was one interesting element here that I found kind of fascinating actually. It was when Tim McCoy took off on his horse after outlaw Russell, and his horse nearly stumbled before catching himself and getting upright again to continue the chase. If I had to guess, the horse might have been auditioning a near fall for a larger part in the next picture.

If you are a die-hard John Wayne fan and this is why you are watching this film, you are bound to be disappointed. He's in the film but just doesn't have much to do. His personality is practically non-existent---mostly because this is such an early film for Wayne and his B-persona hadn't yet been established. Instead, it's clearly a Tim McCoy starring vehicle--and an adequate one at that. I've seen much better McCoy westerns (he's one of my favorite in this low-budget genre) but it is passably good entertainment.The film begins with Tim Clark (McCoy) having to give up his ranch. It seems that he's had some business setbacks and the man holding the note to the property is demanding his money now. Having no choice, he leaves and is gone for two years. In the meantime, the baddie, Russell, is now trying to take Betty Owens' ranch as well--or force her to marry him. But, before this evil deed can take place, Clark returns and offers to pay off Betty's debt! And, it just so happens that about the same time McCoy makes this $10,000 payment that the Wells Fargo office is robbed and the clerk is killed. Naturally Clark coming into so much money seemingly out of no where makes everyone suspicious and Russell insists that the nice Sheriff (Tom Tully) arrest Tim. But by the end, naturally, Tim has not only found the real robbers and won the girl--and shown that he is LEGALLY a very wealthy man.Old western fans will also be pleased to know that Walter Brennan is also in the film. Uncharacteristically, he plays an evil henchman and you may not recognize him at first because he's young AND sounds very different--before he lost his teeth in an accident.

Though there seem to be some script holes, generally this is well written with some very good dialog.Tim McCoy was one of the best cowboys and was also a pretty good actor.As noted elsewhere, John Wayne was second billed, but had only a small part. Wallace MacDonald, as his buddy, does more, but his constant use of "y'all" to one person is one of the script's major flaws.As sheriff, Tully Marshall has one of his best roles. It is well written and very well played.Alice Day -- billed as "Alice Fay" on the DVD I own, from Canadian Disc Plaza, on a "Classic Westerns" collection of supposedly John Wayne movies -- is the least capable of the cast, but even she brightens up as the story progresses.Bad guys Wheeler Oakman and Richard Alexander also shone and Walter Brennan, as usual, stood out in one of his early appearances.Director D. Ross Lederman showed a lot of skill in his framing and camera angles. He was held in high-enough esteem to have stayed busy nearly his entire life with dozens of movies and dozens more TV shows.I highly recommend "Two-Fisted Law," despite the pointless generic title.