...I really envy my late grandfather's days, when it came to visiting the local cinema. Back in the '30's and '40's, for a measly ten cents, eager movie theater attendees of all ages, were privy to TWO feature films, which were proceeded by, and sandwiched a handful of movie trailers, a cartoon, a newsreel...and a weekly chapter of the latest serial, or cliffhanger. Never mind the pre-set allure and attraction of the feature films, each week...those cliffhanger chapters were definitely a great crowd-drawing gimmick, as...providing the serial was suspensefully engaging enough...people clambered back to the theaters each week, to see what happens to the cliffhangers' various characters, who were in dire straits and peril at the end of one week's episode, only to emerge from such peril, relatively unscathed, in the onset of the following week's vignette. It is somewhat surprising that in this day and age, when a hefty price at the movies (...nearly 100 times that of the aforementioned good old days, and thus driving folks further away from the auditoriums, and into their homes, where their wall-sized LCD television reigns movie-supreme) provides only ONE feature film, two or three trailers...AND commercials, no less...that movie distributors and movie house managers haven't considered reviving the movie serial, if at the very least, an able-bodied money-grubbing attempt to draw and keep theater patrons' butts in their seats. And this viewer, who WOULD gullibly, albeit gleefully venture regularly to the local cinema, in response to any such revival of the cliffhanger, can't help but think that THIS movie serial, a nostalgically wild and wholly, rip-roarin' action-packed, Old West six-shooter western from 1950, called "Desperadoes of the West", most assuredly had to have been one of those likably exciting chapter serials, which brought 'em in droves, back in the day...
...an aspiring town's sanctioned and law-abiding co-op, comprising of and led by good-guy, gun-slinging foreman Ward, and a respected rancher colonel & his daughter, are encountering relentless and unjustified aggression, bent against their plans to construct and maintain a productively strategic oil well, by a nefarious, pistol-packing group of...as the film title suggests...desperadoes. In the onset, it remains unknown to the hapless, albeit unswerven townfolk, who is behind the mercilessly driven opposition; however, in the continued and determinant efforts to put up the well...amidst hired hands diverted, or worse, killed...requested land & drilling experts abducted, and substituted with masquerading thugs...equipment and material hijacking...contrived legal obstacles...support money plundered...it becomes suspective, as to who the townsfolk are up against...yet cannot prove. In the meantime, the shady, though claimantly unsuspective (..."...who, me??"), money-grubbing land promoter and exploiter 'Dude' Dawson, is biding his time, anxiously awaiting for the diligent co-op's plans for the oil well to fail, so that he can take over the land where the proposed oil well is being built, when the lease on said land expires. Could he be the instigator of the diabolical plot to wreck the town's plans for the oil well??
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...it's relatively easy to see that, despite the simplicity of the plot...a storyline which was fairly ordinary and commonplace in these classic Wild West shoot-em-ups...why this particular serial, culled from the reputed cliffhanger masters at Republic studios, was quite popular with not only audiences, back when the serial was originally flickered, but film lovers of today's ilk. From one connecting episode to another, the action and the suspense never stops, the dilemma of the aspiring townsfolk is personally engaging & relatable, and the opposing villainy...deliciously dastardly. Even if given a much more staged presentation, such as an old fashioned 'cheer the hero, boo the villain' vaudeville (...where, in fact, a lot of these Old West movie themes were inspired from, albeit gear and structured for a wider, spansive locale), this production would still make for rather satisfying, compelling and suspense-filled drama. Nearly every chapter herein, features a grueling chase of some sort, a death-defying explosion, as well as well-choreographed cross-fire gunplay. And of course, no Wild West production would be complete, without a rough & tumble, rowdy fist fight...or two, or four, or ten...either one-on-one, on the open range, or in the town's dusty saloon...in this particular scenario, also realistically well-choreographed (...though, some of these fights seem to start off, based on the most subtle and meager of reasons...Go Figure...I guess, any excuse for a fight, right?). Accenting the thrilling proceedings herein...a most emotionally rousing and triumphantly moving soundtrack...as written & composed by Stanley Wilson, and an uncredited Jerry Roberts...and oddly, a musical score seemingly and just slightly out of place here, though no less relishably engaging; the flavor of the music seems more befitting a much more contemporary (...for it's time) set production, or even something more 'super-heroic', than adorning itself to rip-roaring Wild West composition set piece, such as this...
...having found a successful niche in western productions, stemming as far back as 1929...using a number of alias monikers, such as George Duryea, and in the case of THIS production, Richard Powers...Tom Keene was ably cast in the role of Ward Gordon, the gun-toting heroic foreman; rather than projecting a certain flamboyance, which a number of western stars, back in the day, were known for (...sequined and/or tasseled tunics, ten gallon hats that could hold 25 gallons, a gun in one hand and a guitar in the other, etc.), Keene played Ward as more of a respectable, albeit ordinary 'everyman'...well adept and capable, in gun AND fist, but occasionally, humanly fallible (...although he held his own quite well, this viewer was pretty sure that he was knocked out with a good punch, in just about every other chapter, during the fights he engaged). Actress Judy Clark stood out rather surprisingly here, as Sally Arnold...a spunky little lady, who despite BEING a proper lady, and as such, had her moments of peril in the events that transpired herein, had no qualms in picking up a six-shooter and firing off eagle-eye accurately amongst the best of the gun-totting fellows in the town...and of course, despite his stern ordinary-ness, Ward is most assuredly her man. Actor Standford Jolly...also having forged a respectably successful film career in westerns, himself...was probably the most amiably flamboyant and over-the-top amidst the players herein, playing a most devious and dastardly fellow, right out of the school of vaudeville villainy, with his grit-accented voice, dastardly 'stache, always-proper coal-black attire and accompanying stove-pipe top hat. With Roy Barcroft, Lee Roberts and Tom Steele as prerequisite, nefariously tasked henchman, and prolific character actor Cliff Clark as Colonel Arnold...
...and so, folks...return...return with us, to the thrilling days of yesteryear (...clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop, clip-a-clop...), with one of the reputed best, and most engaging of the western-themed cliffhanger serials, in the sense that much like a good book, one won't want to put THIS one down, despite the 2 1/2-plus running time. For those familiar, distributor Cheezy Flicks, as well as the quality of the film titles rendered and distributed by them, is beyond criticism; the film prints they offer...most of which fall within the realm of public domain...spliced, gritty, faded, washed out, and far from appearing 'cleaned up' & remastered, is without a doubt, part of the embraceably 'cheezy' charm of what they have to offer...even of any specific film in their library. With specific regards to "Desperadoes...", the print at their disposal is quite watchable, with a negligible, non-distracting level of grit and splicing, and the audio is crisp and impacting, where need be. Overall, a delight to partake in...and for those un-privy to the arena of cliffhanger chapter serials, Cheezy Flicks' release of "Desperadoes of the West" is definitely a great place to start...
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