It is said that in mediaeval Europe animals could be tried in court for crimes against humans; the 1993 British film "The Hour of the Pig" centres upon such a trial. It would appear from this film that this practice survived in the USA, at least in the Western states, into the late nineteenth century, because as the film opens a horse named Duke is on trial for his life, accused of killing a man. A young cowboy named John Drury, who happens to be passing through town, is convinced that the animal is not dangerous, and the local people agree to spare Duke if Drury can ride him. He does, of course, and Duke is duly acquitted. The rest of the film tells of how Drury, ably and nobly assisted by Duke, manages to rid the area of a notorious bandit named "The Hawk".
John Wayne's first starring role was in Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail" from 1930, but when this film flopped at the box-office he spend most of the rest of the decade making third-rate horse-operas for the smaller "Poverty Row" studios. "Ride Him, Cowboy", however, is a cut above that sort of thing. It was, for a start, made by a major studio, Warner Brothers, albeit as a B-movie. (It is less than an hour long).
The film's main weakness is its major plot-hole. The Hawk turns out to be one Henry Simms, a man posing as an upright, respectable citizen, and in order to divert suspicion from himself he attempts to frame Drury for his crimes by dropping a mouth organ belonging to the young man at the scene of one of his robberies. At this point, however, Simms wrongly believes Drury to be dead. (Simms has tied him to a tree in the desert and left him to die of thirst, a complicated way of killing someone probably chosen by the scriptwriters in order to allow Duke to repay his debt of gratitude by loosening Drury's bonds). It seems quite illogical for Simms try and frame a man he believes to be dead, especially as dropping the mouth-organ would only serve to incriminate Simms himself, as the man in the best position to have stolen it.
Despite this, the film is a lot more watchable than many of Wayne's offerings for the period. It is not marked by the sort of bad acting, cheap special effects and incompetently choreographed fight scenes that marred films like "Paradise Canyon" or "The Desert Trail". There is a relatively decent story and Wayne, although by no means at his best, is certainly than he was to be in those two films and many others like them. There is an entertaining comic turn from Otis Harlan as a corrupt-but-funny hanging judge. The best acting, however, probably comes from the horse Duke. 5/10.
John Wayne's first starring role was in Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail" from 1930, but when this film flopped at the box-office he spend most of the rest of the decade making third-rate horse-operas for the smaller "Poverty Row" studios. "Ride Him, Cowboy", however, is a cut above that sort of thing. It was, for a start, made by a major studio, Warner Brothers, albeit as a B-movie. (It is less than an hour long).
The film's main weakness is its major plot-hole. The Hawk turns out to be one Henry Simms, a man posing as an upright, respectable citizen, and in order to divert suspicion from himself he attempts to frame Drury for his crimes by dropping a mouth organ belonging to the young man at the scene of one of his robberies. At this point, however, Simms wrongly believes Drury to be dead. (Simms has tied him to a tree in the desert and left him to die of thirst, a complicated way of killing someone probably chosen by the scriptwriters in order to allow Duke to repay his debt of gratitude by loosening Drury's bonds). It seems quite illogical for Simms try and frame a man he believes to be dead, especially as dropping the mouth-organ would only serve to incriminate Simms himself, as the man in the best position to have stolen it.
Despite this, the film is a lot more watchable than many of Wayne's offerings for the period. It is not marked by the sort of bad acting, cheap special effects and incompetently choreographed fight scenes that marred films like "Paradise Canyon" or "The Desert Trail". There is a relatively decent story and Wayne, although by no means at his best, is certainly than he was to be in those two films and many others like them. There is an entertaining comic turn from Otis Harlan as a corrupt-but-funny hanging judge. The best acting, however, probably comes from the horse Duke. 5/10.