The Montana Kid (1931) User Reviews

Righting Wrongs

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 4 July 2010]

The Montana Kid finds young Andy Shuford and Doris Hill arriving in Montana to settle their with relatives, Hill with her uncle the marshal Gordon DeMain and Andy with his father, rancher John Elliott.

Anticipating his son's arrival, Elliott goes out on a toot and it's an inebriated Elliott who gets into a card game where villain William Thorne cheats him out his ranch and then shoots him. Just as the stagecoach is arriving with Shuford. With nowhere else to go, young Andy comes under the protection of Bill Cody.

Of course cowboy hero Cody then proceeds on his own scheme to right the wrongs of the situation. More I cannot say without revealing too much of this western.

Made for Monogram, this is one of the better Cody westerns from the Thirties, B western action fans will still enjoy this one.

A watchable "B" western!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 14 December 2017]

Monogram spent a bit more money than usual on this "B" western which has a reasonably engaging plot and some excellent acting from both hero and villain. The young boy gives an excellent account of himself too, and I liked the young lady even though her role is rather small compared to the attention the hero, the villain and the young boy receive.

The location work is not expansive but it helps to keep interest alive. There is not much action, despite all the villain's dirty work. Nonetheless, I also enjoyed all the saloon scenes which were actually overcrowded with extra players. That was a pleasant surprise!

Unfortunately, the Alpha DVD has a defective final reel in which the players are forced to sand still for a series of jump cuts, Fortunately, we can still see what is going on, but it is a distraction that will annoy most viewersl

A nice story - little else.

[kfo9494 · 5/10 · 13 September 2016]

In this "B" western, Bill Cody plays a man named Denton that does what about all leading early western actors are known for, as he becomes the hero of the story by helping a youngster and thereby getting the girl at the end of all the activity.

It is a simple concept as the boy arrives by stagecoach in order to live with his father that has a nice ranch near town. Upon arriving, his father is shot by the villain, Larson, that then proceeds to take the ranch. Denton befriends the boy and vows to get the ranch back. And by some shadowy means, that will all be forgiving later, Denton begins his plan to give the boy back the ranch that his father wanted him to have.

As with most B class westerns, there is much suspicious acting going on throughout the film. At times the acting is so poor that it almost becomes comical. Bill Cody, that played in many of these types of shows, was as stiff as a board and looked like someone acting for the first time. I will give credit, as Andy Shuford, that played the boy, and Doris Hill, that played the lovely female part, did a nice job all around as they are the only ones that made the story bearable.

With full knowledge that this was a fast pace, and cheap western to produce- the movie gets a five just because of the story. It is called the "B" western scale.