It's a good thing there were some other reviews here for this film, as I probably wouldn't have known what the story was about. To me, the dialog was virtually inaudible for most of the picture, although I did manage a clear line every now and then, like the one in my summary line above. Fortunately, besides Bob Steele, I managed to recognize B Western stalwarts like Al (before he was Fuzzy) St. John and perennial villain Charles King, looking almost slim in an early villain role.
One could argue that this film offered a couple of firsts given it's 1930 vintage. In the opening chase scene, a sheriff's posse decides against following Steele's character down a steep, rugged hill, and the sheriff declares to his men - "We'll head him off at the pass". This is also the oldest Western in which I've seen the cowboy hero sing. At least it looked like Steele was doing his own songs. Bob, who's real name was Bradbury, had a brother Bill who picked up some spare change as a college student dubbing other cowboy crooners since he had a pretty fair voice of his own. Others will dispute it, but it was probably Bill who dubbed John Wayne's singing voice in 1933's "Riders of Destiny".
Other than the handful of tunes, the only other thing this one has going for it is pretty Rita Rey as a romantic interest for the Oklahoma Cyclone, or Jim Smith as it were. Rita even gets to sing a song of her own, but it looked pretty comical when Steele handed his guitar to her, as she had a back-up band waiting in the wings.
One could argue that this film offered a couple of firsts given it's 1930 vintage. In the opening chase scene, a sheriff's posse decides against following Steele's character down a steep, rugged hill, and the sheriff declares to his men - "We'll head him off at the pass". This is also the oldest Western in which I've seen the cowboy hero sing. At least it looked like Steele was doing his own songs. Bob, who's real name was Bradbury, had a brother Bill who picked up some spare change as a college student dubbing other cowboy crooners since he had a pretty fair voice of his own. Others will dispute it, but it was probably Bill who dubbed John Wayne's singing voice in 1933's "Riders of Destiny".
Other than the handful of tunes, the only other thing this one has going for it is pretty Rita Rey as a romantic interest for the Oklahoma Cyclone, or Jim Smith as it were. Rita even gets to sing a song of her own, but it looked pretty comical when Steele handed his guitar to her, as she had a back-up band waiting in the wings.