Young, skinny, and angry, future president Ronald Reagan plays the good guy to Wallace Beery's rhinestone-studded Bad Man, an over the top bandito performance that is both silly and offensive, as he seems to veer from a Mexican accent into a Russian one, and back again. Lionel Barrymore is persistently loud and annoying as a yammering, wheelchair-bound curmudgeon fighting to save his small ranch in Mexico, with nephew Reagan's help. Lots of yelling, chaos, and cheap humor. As a comedy, not very funny. As a romance, unconvincing. As a drama, truly ridiculous. However, the final scene of Barrymore flying down dusty desert roads with his wheelchair tied to the Bad Man's horse is a hoot!
Review of The Bad Man
