Pleasantly Offbeat
11 September 2011
Easy-going Western, not to be taken too seriously (catch the amusing barroom brawl). Even the bad guys aren't really bad, more ornery than anything else. In fact the real bad guy is a rampaging brahma bull, too strong to catch. (Why don't they use some female cows to corral him.)

Anyway, Tufts makes a pleasant good guy who brings the breeding bull to Pecos Valley to improve the stock. Trouble is the rogue bovine gets loose and runs wild. Worse for Wrangler (Tufts), the ornery Keegan brothers resent him, especially after lovely Cherry (Britton) prefers him to Larch Keegan (Bishop).

Great Lone Pine scenery with snowy Sierras in the background. One notable feature —Gabby Hayes figures into the plot as a kind of bad guy (!), at the same time, he manages some of his usual gruff comedy relief. All in all, the movie's a rather pleasant, offbeat little Western, better than I expected.

(In passing—one reason I watched was to catch the legendary Sonny Tufts as a cowboy, of all things. Actually, he does well enough, keeping basically within his nice-guy range. Check out his bio and discussion to find out why his name became something of a joke for many years.)
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