Rex Bell (Idaho), Marion Shilling (Ruth Endicott), Lafe McKee (Endicott), David Sharpe (the Kid), Earl Dwire (Clint Hollister), Charles King (Bibb Slagel), Lane Chandler (Jess Peters), Phil Dunham (Tumblebug Jones), Dorothy Woods (Ma Endicott), Francis Walker (Biff), George Morrell (Bascomb, the storekeeper), James Sheridan (Joe), Buck Morgan (Granger), Jack King (Mott), Jimmy Aubrey (Fish- Eye), Ed Carey (henchman), Herman Hack (stage passenger), Curley Baldwin (Marshal Nicolls), Dick Botiller (gunman), Ed Cassidy (bartender), Jack Evans, Murdock MacQuarrie, William McCall, Chuck Morrison (townsmen).
Director: BOB HILL. Screenplay: George Plympton. Story: Paul Evan Lehman. Film editor: Charles Henkel. Photography: Robert Cline. Music director: Lee Zahler. Assistant director: Robert Emmett Tansey. Sound recording: Hans Weeren. Associate producer: Max Alexander. Producer: Arthur Alexander.
Not copyright by Colony Pictures. U.S. release: 6 August 1936. 59 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A son tries to settle a range feud between his real father and his foster-father.
COMMENT: Although it is a well-directed script that embodies some interesting ideas, and packs in a fair quota of action and then comes to an absolutely staggering conclusion, this entry is, on the whole, a somewhat disappointing little western.
True, it's well acted, particularly by Earl Dwire as the embittered Hollister, but Rex Bell essays a character that is both more serious yet less personable than his usual type. He still smiles a lot, though there is an aura of sadness and almost inevitable failure about his presence that will not carry favor with fans.
On one hand, I applaud Bell's decision to go for more realism, but on the other I regret that the film lacks a lot of the fun we have a right to expect. Admittedly, it starts off that way, but even in the aborted hold-up that Rex turns into a practical joke, there is an unpleasantly realistic sting.
My recommendation: Definitely not for Bell's fans. Connoisseurs, however, will find much to enjoy in this meticulously produced, highly unusual (it breaks at least three cardinal rules) "Idaho Kid".
Director: BOB HILL. Screenplay: George Plympton. Story: Paul Evan Lehman. Film editor: Charles Henkel. Photography: Robert Cline. Music director: Lee Zahler. Assistant director: Robert Emmett Tansey. Sound recording: Hans Weeren. Associate producer: Max Alexander. Producer: Arthur Alexander.
Not copyright by Colony Pictures. U.S. release: 6 August 1936. 59 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A son tries to settle a range feud between his real father and his foster-father.
COMMENT: Although it is a well-directed script that embodies some interesting ideas, and packs in a fair quota of action and then comes to an absolutely staggering conclusion, this entry is, on the whole, a somewhat disappointing little western.
True, it's well acted, particularly by Earl Dwire as the embittered Hollister, but Rex Bell essays a character that is both more serious yet less personable than his usual type. He still smiles a lot, though there is an aura of sadness and almost inevitable failure about his presence that will not carry favor with fans.
On one hand, I applaud Bell's decision to go for more realism, but on the other I regret that the film lacks a lot of the fun we have a right to expect. Admittedly, it starts off that way, but even in the aborted hold-up that Rex turns into a practical joke, there is an unpleasantly realistic sting.
My recommendation: Definitely not for Bell's fans. Connoisseurs, however, will find much to enjoy in this meticulously produced, highly unusual (it breaks at least three cardinal rules) "Idaho Kid".