A Masterpiece!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

NOTES: The first of two films Wayne made supporting Tim McCoy at Columbia. The other: Two Fisted Law (1932), shot by the same team of Lederman and Kline, also from a William Colt MacDonald story. VIEWERS' GUIDE: Okay for all. COMMENT: As will be seen from the synopsis, Wayne's role is relatively unimportant. True, the actor is much his usual self, even at this early stage of his career, but he has only four or five scenes and is surprisingly even up-staged by an unknown bit-player as the climax (in which he takes no part) comes around. Aside from Wayne's presence, this is a typical "B" western of its period. Not a great deal of action - a couple of undercranked fist fights and a brief climactic shoot-out; a lesser amount of comedy relief (somewhat inepty provided by a youngish Walter Brennan already into old-timer parts but not yet having them down pat); a lot of simple-minded intrigue; and a smidgin of romance. All against settings far more grittily realistic (the saloon girls) than those we are now used to. And of course no background music - a deficiency that despite Kline's lucid photography, gives the movie a somewhat primitive air.

"Texas Cyclone" is a Tim McCoy western about mistaken identity. John Wayne co-starred in two McCoy's oaters as a second-string cowboy. For the record, this was Wayne's first film with McCoy. Later, he appeared in "Two-Fisted Law" with McCoy. Altogether, Wayne worked with director D. Ross Lederman on three horse operas. Before his two co-starring turns with McCoy, Wayne co-starred with Buck Jones in "The Range Feud" for Columbia. Wayne's two McCoy sagebrushers were Columbia releases, too. "Texas Cyclone" emerges as a 1932 version of "The Bourne Identity." Our hero calls himself Texas Grant, but everybody else hails him as Jim Rawlins. Predictably, as it turns out, Tex Grant has suffered such trauma that he doesn't know he isn't Jim Rawlins. D. Ross Lederman stages an interesting saloon shoot-out between our hero and the dastardly villain with his camera set high in the rafters above the two shooters. This is distinctive because everything else is filmed at eye-level.Texas Grant (Tim McCoy) rides into the frontier town of Stampede and some gunmen are prepared to shoot it out with him. An obese bartender named Hefty tells Texas to masquerade as Rawlings. Hefty tells Texas how to get to the Diamond R Ranch where Rawlins lived. Texas has to beat some sense into one of his assailants before the hombre capitulates. Sheriff Lew Collins (Walter Brennan of "Red River") makes the same mistake that many other townspeople made. He believes that Tex is Jim Rawlins. When Rawlins's wife Helen (Shirley Guy) lays her eyes on Texas, she believes that she is seeing her long, lost husband Jim. It seems that Jim disappeared five years ago, and Hefty believes he was shot and killed. Texas takes Rawlins's wife inside and meets Katie (Mary Gordon) the housekeeper who makes the same mistake everybody else has made about Texas. She tells Tex in so many words that Helen is running the Diamond R, but Utah Becker (Wheeler Oakman) is rustling her cattle. Furthermore, Katie condemns the lazy, good-for-nothing ranch hands for their lackluster duty. Tex goes to the bunkhouse and fires ranch foreman Jim Lawler (Wallace MacDonald). He meets a cowpoke who doesn't string along with Lawler. This man is Steve Picket (John Wayne) and Tex takes a liking to Steve. Lawler and Tex have a knockdown drag-out fistfight, and Tex licks him. Helen decides go along with the ruse that Tex is Jim, and they fix him up a room in the house to avert suspicion. Later, Becker's men are rustling cattle when Steve spots them, and a shoot-out ensues. The two rustlers exchange gunshots with Steve, and they cease him in the shoulder and knock him off his horse. As the rustlers are hightailing it, Steve kills Web Oliver, while Steve's horse gallops back to the ranch. Tex and Helen find him and Tex leaves Steve in Helen's care. Meanwhile, Tex catches up with Farwell and takes him to Sheriff Collins. Tex and Sheriff Collins concoct a scheme to draw all the inhospitable types with no apparent job but money in their wallets to a lecture by Collins. Meantime, Tex has summoned ten Texas gunslingers to join him. Tex and his friends surprise the undesirables at Sheriff Collins' lecture and Collins compels them to disarm themselves. He orders them to leave Stampede and make a 20 mile hike to the nearest town on foot. Becker swears up and down that Tex isn't Jim, just as Tex has believed all along. Nevertheless, after a brief gunfight in Becker's saloon, a wounded Tex collapses. The next time that we see Tex, he is in bed with Helen tending him. As it turns out, Tex really is Jim and the mystery is resolved to everyone's satisfaction."Texas Cyclone" is a rougher than usual B-movie western with comic relief. Quite possibly, this may have been the first time that John Wayne and Walter Brennan co-starred in a western.

This Tim McCoy movie is well worth seeing due to its cast. Although today McCoy is pretty much forgotten, the film also features a couple future stars--John Wayne and Walter Brennan (spelling 'Brenan' here--and wearing a lot of makeup to make him look much older). Plus, for fans of old time comedy (such as Mack Sennett and Three Stooges films) will probably recognize Vernon Dent as the bartender.McCoy enters a new town and, oddly, everyone seems to know him and keep referring to him as 'Jim'. Apparently, this Jim was a bit of a hero who was loved by many and hated by others--but he died several years ago! Yet, in their eyes, Jim was somehow back from the dead. After talking with the bartender (with whom he develops an instant friendship), McCoy decides to pretend he is Jim to see what develops. However, this plan is sorely tested when he meets Jim's widow--who also thinks he's Jim! Using an old movie cliché, she faints at the sight of him. Soon he strikes up a friendship with John Wayne (who, for once, plays the sidekick role) and, along with some friends from back in Texas, they set out to set things right.While this is a pretty standard B-western (aside from the cast), it is a nice film to watch simply because the DVD is of such a nice quality. Unlike many of Wayne's early Bs, this one is in nearly pristine condition and even has DVD captions in three languages (including English). In addition, the acting and script is a bit better than you'd normally find in a low-budget western. While the film won't change your life and the whole mistaken identity idea is silly if you think about it, it's well worth seeing if you enjoy the genre...or if you have an hour to spare and want to try one of these old-time films.By the way, I'd like to explain my score of 7. This is relative to other Bs of the era as well as indicative of its watchability today. for what this is, it's pretty good. Also, if you like this one, McCoy and Wayne also did one other film together--"Two-Fisted Law".

I agree with the previous reviewer, if you can accept a very silly premise that a man could look and talk so much like a missing rancher who's from the town he rides into than you will enjoy Texas Cyclone. And of course you can see John Wayne in support of another cowboy hero Tim McCoy.During this short stint with Columbia Pictures Wayne did two films with Tim McCoy. Both are directed by D. Ross Lederman, both written by William Coit McDonald, and both had a whole lot of the same cast members. Repeating his role as villain is Wheeler Oakman and John Wayne is once again a cowhand, the only one it turns out who's honest and employed by Tim McCoy's 'widow' played by Sheila Terry. We also have for the first time Walter Brennan and John Wayne working in the same film. Brennan is the sheriff and he's made up to be quite a bit older than he was at the time. This may have been the beginning of all those old codger roles that Brennan played right up to when he was one.Of course McCoy finds that Oakman is still up to no good just like when he left and he has to deal with all the problems Oakman is causing. With John Wayne's help all things are righted in the end and the reason for McCoy's absence is explained in a very typical movie fashion.If it wasn't such a silly plot premise, I'd give the film a notch or two higher a rating. It's not bad for a B film and the young Duke is shown to great advantage here.