Valley of Wanted Men (1935) User Reviews

Good Peter Kyne Story

[boblipton · 5/10 · 22 July 2019]

LeRoy Mason, Russell Hopton and Paul Fix escape from State prison. With everyone after them, they head to Mason's home town. He insists he was framed for the money he stole from the bank he had been working for. Only two maybe believe him: Frankie Darro, his pal, and Drue Layton, Frankie's sister and Mason's ex-fiancee.... maybe. It was their father's bank.

What their father thinks is not mentioned. He doesn't even show up in this movie based on a Peter Kyne story. Kyne was both a prolific writer and a source for a great many movies, well over a hundred at last count. The best-known work based on his writing is THREE GODFATHERS.

It's shot in some beautiful scenery, full of woods and mountains by cameraman Arthur Reed, and directed by Alan James, usually a western specialist. I notice that former Hal Roach cameraman Len Powers is shown as production manager. Perhaps he had a hand in choosing the location.

There are some good performances here (by Mason in particular, and Grant Withers as a ranger), some standard ones (Darro is still playing the juvenile), and there are clear signs of padding: Al Bridge is handcuffed to a tree and he and Frank Rice spend a lot of screen time getting him free. However the story and camerawork are good enough to sustain the movie in spite of the usual Gower Gulch peccadilloes.

An enjoyable B.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 28 October 2018]

The career of Frankie Darro is a bit of an enigma. Frankie was a very small guy and looked much younger than he actually was...and certainly didn't look like leading man material. Yet, despite this, he starred in a lot of mostly B-movies in the 1930s and into the 40s. "Valley of Wanted Men" is one of his starring vehicles....though I think the real star was LeRoy Mason, as he had the lion's share of time on screen...though who ever heard of LeRoy Mason?!

The story begins with a brutal prison escape. Dozens of prisoners are running about the prison yard...and getting mowed down right and left by the guards. Somehow three manage to escape--and Doyle (Mason) leads them back to his home territory. Why? Because Doyle insists he was framed and is an innocent man...and he aims to prove it. His 'pal' Dexter apparently set him up to take the fall for a robbery...and he intends to prove his innocence. But his other two associates are not so interested in anything but saving their butts and getting rich...and Doyle constantly needs to be on guard against these 'friends'. The only one who will help Doyle in this is Slivers (Darro)....as he never gave up his faith in Doyle and his innocence. What's next during this manhunt? See the film.

This film is pretty much what you'd expect from a Darro film--a decent amount of action, some punching and a happy ending. Not an especially deep film but one that apparently satisfied a lot of 1930s viewers....and harmless entertainment today.

The hills alive with the sound of gunfire.

[robinakaaly · 4/10 · 10 December 2012]

A large group of prisoners try to break out from the city's house of corrections, but most are mown down by the warders' machine guns and the bodies pile high. Not a good advert for US penal practice, but common enough in the movies. Three prisoners get away and head off to a forest hotel. One of the prisoners, a bank cashier, was in the pen for a bank robbery he claims he was duped into assisting. Among the guests at the hotel are the bank manager and his fiancée, the former girl friend of the cashier. The ex-cashier believe the manager was behind the robbery and intend to prove it. After the required (a) two fist fights, (b) a gun battle, (c) some songs, (d) a couple of comedy interludes, (e) aerial surveillance (possibly by a Curtis Jennie), (f) several stick-ups, (g) the usual missed chances, (h) the girl being used as a shield (h) the girl's kid sister frequently getting in the way - this list is not exhaustive, the girl realises the manager is guilty, but to prove it pretends to go along with him so he shows her where he's stashed the loot behind a rock in the forest. He is then killed by one of the escapees before all is revealed and the ex-cashier falls into his re-united girlfriends arms. The body count was excessive, even for a B-feature.

There's a manhunt on

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 20 February 2014]

There's a manhunt on for three escaped convicts who are after some stolen bank loot after busting out of prison. Paul Fix and Russell Hopton are in on the robbery, but the authorities made a mistake in identifying the inside man and LeRoy Mason who was a cashier was arrested. Little does he realize that it was the bank manager himself Walter Miller who was the inside man and he's hidden the loot. The other two want to take it and run, Mason wants to prove his innocence.

Fortunately for Mason who usually graced many a B western as a villain, he has young junior Forest Ranger Frankie Darro on his side. In the end all is righted.

Why two men who did the job and who know who the boss was would want to escape with Mason who was framed is but one of the problems with this muddled story. It's a poverty row job from something called Conn Pictures so we start with low expectations.

And they are fulfilled.