Better Late Then Never

Best movie ever!

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.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Syd Saylor was as good a serious side-kick as ever forked a horse, but he was thoroughly capable of playing a comic, or occasionally comic, partner as well.He proved it in this excellent B Western, with a lot of by-play between him and star George O'Brien.O'Brien was as good-looking and healthy a specimen as ever played a cowboy hero, fully capable of action heroics as well as romantic scenes.The story, by iconic Zane Grey, is beautifully presented in a script by Barry Barringer directed by Edward Cline.What makes this stand out is the characterization by all the performers, including the lovely Irene Hervey. She plays a spoiled, even seemingly conceited young lady of the range in a breezy city-slicker manner, but proves actually very likable, if sometimes flighty.LeRoy Mason, here Le Roy, is his usual good-looking but rotten villain, alternating between seemingly likable and trustworthy ranch foreman and lecherous and traitorous thief.Again, the entire cast is just about perfect, from the briefly seen Vesper Pegg, who just steals his scene of bringing up a mount, to the West-loving Earl Dwire, to Slim Whitaker and Lafe McKee and ... well, several others, none of whom get screen credit, but who all give us good reason to praise IMDb for providing the information.There are a couple of flaws, a moment of trite action happening in just the right place, for example, that brought down the rating from that perfect 10, but I highly recommend "The Dude Ranger" which is available at YouTube.

"The Dude Ranger" was the first in a series of film Westerns George O'Brien did for producer Sol Lesser, released by Fox Studios. That collaboration lasted for two years and resulted in a total of eight films. Irene Hervey, who appears as the romantic interest in this one, was also the leading lady in 1935's "Hard Rock Harrigan".Western fans can file this one under the usual plot line in which a back East greenhorn inherits a cattle ranch from his uncle (it's always an uncle), and arrives to find that someone is rustling all the cattle. As can be expected, the main heavy Dale Hyslip (LeRoy Mason) is behind the gang that's robbing caretaker Hepburn (Henry Hall) blind, and he also has eyes for Hepburn's pretty daughter Ann (Irene Hervey). O'Brien's character Selby comes on the scene, and in a case of mistaken identity, decides to play along as a working hand on the ranch in order to do some undercover work. Veteran character actor Sid Saylor provides some interesting work as the rhyme singing sidekick to Selby, going by the name of Nebraska.The story plays out pretty much as you'd expect, but there were two unique elements in the picture that are worth mentioning. An unseen villain's hand dumps a rattlesnake on Selby's bed in the middle of the night, with Nebraska making the save. Later, near the end of the picture when Selby confronts Hyslip over the money stolen from Hepburn's safe, he pretends to shoot the bad guy with an unusual behind the back maneuver that you'll just have to see for yourself. I also found it odd in retrospect that Selby and Hyslip never got into a traditional fist fight throughout the picture. The only time they roughed it up was when Selby knocked him off his horse just prior to the throw down I just mentioned.The Selby/Ann Hepburn relationship see-saws back and forth throughout the story, but you know it has to end with the couple hitching up at the finale. I'd have to say that Irene Hervey is one of the prettiest female leads you'll find in a film going this far back, and that would go for any genre. She made a slew of films into the late 1940's, then popped up in numerous guest spots in dozens of TV series for the rest of her career.

This is one of the better B-Westerns I have seen, and I have seen hundreds. It is definitely something special, and a pleasant surprise. George O-Brien and his sidekick Syd Saylor do a great job of sprinkling in lots of humor and strike up a good-natured friendship. Irene Hervey is memorable in this role and provides a lot of spunk, good comedic timing, and great expression on her face during close-ups. Male viewers will find the beauty, personality, and good-natured vanity of Irene Hervey's character quite a draw, and I would think female viewers would be charmed by George O-Brien, who employs some intentional vanity of his own, making for more good fun. Syd Saylor as "Nebraska" Kemp provides an oddly fun character that I haven't seen before, with his impromptu songs for all occasions. The film has a welcome sweetness to it, aided by the director's use of close-ups and allowing characters to show emotions, humor, and affection. Even the bit part of the lawyer, played by Lloyd Ingraham, provides some humor.The scenery is great and you will keep asking yourself, "Where is that?" or you'll think, "What a great mountain that is!". The mountain scenery is unique compared to most B-Westerns which give us the same scenery so often that we notice that it is the same backlot area being used. The makers of The Dude Ranger must have gone to extra expense and a lot of extra trouble to bring us unique scenery that has not been overutilized, and in fact has been underutilized over the years. Much of the film was filmed in Zion National Park, and Johnson Canyon (near Kanab), Utah.The plot and characters are much better developed in The Dude Ranger than in the preponderance of B-Westerns. The film does not spend too much time on drawn-out horse chases or gunplay, though there is just enough. Instead the film spends most of its time developing the plot and characters through many scenes that build to aid several finales. I was struck by how different this movies was compared to most B-westerns, with their simplified stock characters and quick drawing of the lines that create the good guys and bad guys. Even though you know from the start who the good guys and bad guys are, this movie lets us gradually see the traits of the various characters via a number of well-developed scenes. The movie seems to fit a lot into its 65 minutes, while still allowing scenes to play out. There are a few flaws in the scenes involving guns and standoffs. Though you have to like Henry Hall's Sam Hepburn character, and I am now a fan of his too, there is some disappointment for the viewer in how his character is handled by the scriptwriter or director in one scene. My rating of 9 stars out of 10 is for B-Westerns. Compared to all films I would give it a 7, or even an 8! Enjoy.

This Western is based on a Zane Grey story about a crooked rancher who is stealing cattle. George O'Brien plays the owner of the ranch, who through a case of mistaken identity, is thought to be the Dude Ranger on the ranch. He is after the crooked bosses daughter, played by Irene Harvey.The film as the typical western sidekick, in this case a guitar playing singer. The film is OK, nothing special, and is an example of a cheap B-Western film, filmed with spectacular scenery. Irene Hervey was loaned out from her home film studio to play the role in this film. LeRoy Mason plays one of the villains.