Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely brilliant

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Rocky Mountain Mystery exists in that parallel universe where the old west never really ended but continued on well into the nineteen-thirties and forties, usually inhabited by Gene Autry, Roy Rodgers, Tex Ritter, and sometimes even a very young John Wayne.The characters ride horses, use oil lamps to light their way, and seemingly live a frontier existence under territorial law, all with six-guns on their hips. The viewer either forgets or is unaware that this is supposed to take place in modern times when suddenly the cowboys encounter modern cars, telephones, radio, and electricity. I sometimes wonder if the depression era children who were the films' main audience actually believed the west was really like this.This is an above average B-western and a great example of what modern experts are calling "horror western" due to their odd plots and sadistic mystery villains. I prefer to call them mystery or suspense westerns.Rocky Mountain Mystery effectively mixes an Old Dark House plot with frontier themes. It's not as chilling as I'd like but it does have a creepy fiend dressed in black complete with gloves, hat, and cape; a killer that prefers to crush heads in a hydraulic press but isn't afraid to menace a pretty girl with a straight razor either! The ending is quite surprising and well plotted.

this is a pretty good western.but it's not just a western.it's also a mystery.actually it's probably more of a mystery than a western.it's short clocking in at around 65 minutes,but it's a pretty good movie.it stars Randolph Scott,Anne Sheridan,Kathleen Burke,Florence Roberts,Howard Wilson,Charles 'Chic' Sale,Mrs.Leslie carter,George F. Marion,among others.i thought it was well done.it had a nice atmosphere,and wasn't wholly predictable.the acting was good by all concerned,and the story was interesting,but similar to another western i remember seeing.though i can't recall weather this movie came out before that one or not.by similar story,i don't mean the general outline and formula that most westerns follow.i mean that some of the story details and specifics are similar.regardless,i liked it.for me,The Fighting Westerner is a 6/10

Randolph Scott at this point in his career when he wasn't doing other films was learning the western genre in a series of films that Paramount's B unit was doing from Zane Grey novels. In this particular one, Rocky Mountain Mystery, Grey tried his hand at a detective story and skilfully combined the genres.Randy's a mining engineer, but he's turning amateur sleuth to find out what's happened to his brother-in-law, who no one has heard from. Upon arriving at the scene he meets deputy sheriff Chic Sale who's investigating the murder of the owner of a mine. The two of them decide to join forces.The film is set in the contemporary west, at least the contemporary west of when Zane Grey wrote the story. There's reference to Chic Sale's son killed in the Great War and how Scott reminds him of his late son. When these two arrive at the mine, there's a lot of interesting people living there.As it turns out there's quite an intricate scheme working there of which the homicide is only one aspect. I wish this film had been given a bigger budget and the A treatment because the film had potential.Young Ann Sheridan is the female lead, this is probably one of her first films in that regard, she'd be signed by Warner Brothers next year.However the important reason to see the film is the appearance of one of the great stage stars of the last centuries and notorious personalities. Mrs. Leslie Carter (and that's how she was billed) has the role of family matriarch of the clan at the mine and even in her old age you can tell what a beauty she was back then. Her acting is also decent, no exaggerated stage mannerisms from back in her day when she learned her craft from David Belasco.Her divorce from her husband was one of the great scandals of the day. Divorce back in her time was scandalous in and of itself. She was left penniless by the divorce, but Belasco seeking to capitalize on her notoriety, took her under his wing and trained her in the thespian arts. People exploiting their celebrity, some things never change. You can see her story in the film, The Lady With Red Hair starring Miriam Hopkins and Claude Rains.By the way she was billed under her former married name to take advantage of the fact that was how the public knew her and to stick it to her ex.Even without Mrs. Leslie Carter, Rocky Mountain Mystery is a decent film, I wish had been given better production values by Paramount.

I quite enjoyed this movie. Randoph Scott was quite good as the agent sent to investigate things (I can understand how Cary Grant was supposed to be smitten by him at the time). I liked the production values for this 1935 film, it helped me know more about 1935. I enjoyed the story and was mildly taken by surprise as to the "who done-it". The old lady was a "hoot", I understand she was quite an actress in her day and quite a personality also: a movie was made about her and her husband, for some unusual reason. Loved watching Ann Sheridan and all the other actors (seemed like a stage play) who all seemed to have long and interesting careers. Loved the scene in Hawaii for some reason, maybe it tied up all the loose ends, happy ending, etc. I also prefer the "Rocky Mountain Mystery" title as opposed to "The Fighting Westerner" title that I bought.