Western Wednesdays: Rocky Rhodes (1934) (Belated)

Apologies that this was late. I've been sick the last few days...

     Rocky Rhodes was released by Universal Pictures on September 24th, 1934.  Directed by Alfred Raboch and written by Edward Churchill from a story by W. C. Tuttle it stars Buck Jones as Rocky Rhodes, a cowboy who is called home by his father when trouble starts brewing at the home ranch in Cactus City, Arizona.

     Rocky Rhodes gets off to a shaky start with a rather uninspiring opening where Rocky and his terribly unfunny comic-relief sidekick (Stanley Fields' Harp Haverty) trade barbs with one another in the office of the Chicago stock yards where they work. After receiving a letter from his father requesting that he return home he and Harp are taken by surprise when a fire flares up which destroys the stockyards. There is then a tedious (and rather pointless) scene where the two men take a train to Cactus City and Rocky gets into a fight with a snarky cowhand. 

     Once we reach Cactus City the film picks up considerably. Rocky discovers that his father has been murdered, an act for which his trusted foreman, Paul Fix's Joe Hilton, stands accused. Fix is busted out of prison with the help of the real murderers, who shoot him in the back after his escape. Dan Murtch, head of the Cactus City Investment, is the man behind all the trouble. He plans to force the local ranchers, including John Street (Alfred P. James) and his daughter Nan (Sheila Terry), to sell their spreads to him but Rocky interferes. To get him out of the way, Murtch has Rocky framed for robbing the bank, causing Rhodes to go on the run. He must clear his name and prove who the real criminals are before Murtch can carry out his plans.

     Ted D. McCord's cinematography is quite good. There's a lot of nighttime photography which is particularly dynamic. Though Alfred Raboch's direction is inconsistent, at times it really shines. The climax is really thrilling with Rocky calling out Murtch in the saloon and then chasing him to the Street's ranch where an injured Nan is trying to crawl away before the explosives, planted by Murtch's men, go off. Hilton's death scene is genuinely poignant, as he reminisces about the god ol' days with Rocky and Harp. Paul Fix sells it really well. The scene where Rocky tells his mother (Lydia Knott) about his father's murder is also emotional, perhaps uncomfortably so, as Buck picks her up and carries her around the house!

     It's definitely a flawed film, marred in particular by occasionally jarring cuts and Stanley Fields insufferable comic relief. In the end, though at times crude Rocky Rhodes delivers the goods and is a solid start to Jones tenure at Universal.

 Score: 7/10