weezeralfalfa
This story much reminds me of the later John Wayne-starring western murder mystery "Tall in the Saddle" Like Wayne, Randy shows up unexpectedly from far away, with an oblique interest in the case, but becomes the main driving force in pursuing the identity of the killer. Like Wayne, Randy has two beautiful young women indirectly involved in the case, and we assume that he will wind up with one of them. See the movie to discover the meaning of my title.Interesting that a rare radium mine, rather than the usual gold or silver mine, was chosen as the story location and property of interest for the heirs to fight over. Less than a pound of radium/year was mined in the US at this time. As indicated in the film, it did fetch top dollar, being a transient radioactive breakdown product of uranium, and thus being extra hazardous to mine, as well as present in only minute amounts in the ore.Unless you are paying close attention, the identity of all the relations of the two old owner partners of the mine can be confusing. Thus, here is a rundown: Adolf Borg and Jim Ballard are the two partners, with Ballard the senior member, and Borg sometimes referred to as his caretaker. Adolf is the murdered man, while Jim is bed-ridden, claiming he is dying of some terminal condition. Thus, the kin of both have been called to Ballard's house, next to the mine, waiting to hear what portion of the mine they will inherit when he dies. Ballard has no children, only a divorced wife who hasn't seen him in decades. Thus, his only relatives are two nieces:Rita and Flora, and a nephew:Fritz. None of these had ever met Ballard before, as he is a very reclusive person. Also present are Mrs. Borg and her son John, as well as the Chinaman servant of Ballard:Ling Yat. Randy is present as the newly hired mining engineer for the mine, replacing his brother in law, Jack Parsons. The latter is the officially suspected murderer, but Randy discounts him as a suspect. Also present is Tex Murdock, the newly appointed deputy sheriff of this region: an eccentric old coot, who joins Randy in trying to solve the case. Mrs. Ballard doesn't show up until rather late in the story, and only at Randy's request. Yes, it all sounds highly contrived. Now, several strange things happen. The body, kept under a sheet in a back room of Borg's cottage, vanishes.(No one present, except presumably those who lived on the property prior to the murder, has seen the body). Flora and Fritz are found murdered in separate incidents, with Fritz's head crushed by the ore stamping machine, similar to the death of Adolf. Randy just barely escapes a similar fate. That's enough clues. You figure out what's going on, or see the film to find out the answer. Would have been poetic justice if the guilty had been also crushed by that ore stamper but he/she meets another fate.Kathleen Burke, who played the murdered Flora Ballard, was a striking exotic beauty, especially her eyes. Her main claim to fame in Hollywood was as the cat woman in the dark science fiction film of 1933 :"Island of Lost Souls". She was chosen from a nationwide search of thousands of young women. Her Hollywood career would last only a few more years. 'Chic' Sale, who played the old coot Tex Murdock, was a noted ex-vaudevillian comedian and current film character actor, specializing in tottering old men 20-40 years older than his 45-50 years. It's not hard to imagine him making an excellent Ben Gunn, as he did in the '30s version of "Treasure Island". Unfortunately, he would die of pneumonia only a year or two after this film was made. Otherwise, I'm sure we would have seen him in many more films of the late '30s and '40s.Willie Fung, who played the Chinaman, had a 20 year Hollywood career. Handsome Howard Wilson, who played the murdered Fritz, had a very short Hollywood career. Mrs. Lesie Carter was mainly a stage actress, with only a few film roles. She would be the subject of a film a few years later: "The Lady with the Red Hair", based on her biography. Of course, Ann Sheridan, would go on to have a substantial film career.This film is currently available on DVD as part of a very cheap package of some of Scott's lesser known westerns.
tedg
Much of the effort that went into screen writing in the thirties had to do with exploring the role of the detective. Most of that was playing with the detective story. Watching many films from this era is fun just from the experimental nature of the narrative.This is nominally a western. That is, there are horses, cowboy revolvers and hats. Our hero struts like all the other cowboys busy in other films establishing that genre. He has an honest heart, appears on the scene with no baggage and gets the girl. Otherwise, this is a standard detective story. Because it wants to make the case clear, it features a radium mine, something about as alien from the old west as possible. Judged as an experiment, it is pretty clever mix of genres. Judged as a detective story, it is slightly more complex than the ordinary. There is misdirection of a kind that seems predicable today but was likely a surprise then. (The murdered man had his face crushed in a mining press, so you know the body is not who it is claimed to be.) There is a surprise conspiracy.The version I saw had the title "The Fighting Westerner," and I suppose they tried to market this both as a western and a mystery.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
FightingWesterner
Rocky Mountain Mystery exists in that parallel universe where the old west never really ended but continued on well into the nineteen-thirties and forties, usually inhabited by Gene Autry, Roy Rodgers, Tex Ritter, and sometimes even a very young John Wayne.The characters ride horses, use oil lamps to light their way, and seemingly live a frontier existence under territorial law, all with six-guns on their hips. The viewer either forgets or is unaware that this is supposed to take place in modern times when suddenly the cowboys encounter modern cars, telephones, radio, and electricity. I sometimes wonder if the depression era children who were the films' main audience actually believed the west was really like this.This is an above average B-western and a great example of what modern experts are calling "horror western" due to their odd plots and sadistic mystery villains. I prefer to call them mystery or suspense westerns.Rocky Mountain Mystery effectively mixes an Old Dark House plot with frontier themes. It's not as chilling as I'd like but it does have a creepy fiend dressed in black complete with gloves, hat, and cape; a killer that prefers to crush heads in a hydraulic press but isn't afraid to menace a pretty girl with a straight razor either! The ending is quite surprising and well plotted.
disdressed12
this is a pretty good western.but it's not just a western.it's also a mystery.actually it's probably more of a mystery than a western.it's short clocking in at around 65 minutes,but it's a pretty good movie.it stars Randolph Scott,Anne Sheridan,Kathleen Burke,Florence Roberts,Howard Wilson,Charles 'Chic' Sale,Mrs.Leslie carter,George F. Marion,among others.i thought it was well done.it had a nice atmosphere,and wasn't wholly predictable.the acting was good by all concerned,and the story was interesting,but similar to another western i remember seeing.though i can't recall weather this movie came out before that one or not.by similar story,i don't mean the general outline and formula that most westerns follow.i mean that some of the story details and specifics are similar.regardless,i liked it.for me,The Fighting Westerner is a 6/10
