JohnHowardReid
Director: WILLIAM NIGH. Continuity and dialogue: Harry Fraser. Story: Lee Sage. Photography: Edward Linden. Film editor: Holbrook Todd. Settings: Tec-Art Studios. Assistant director: Harry Fraser. Sound recording: B.J. Kroger. Associate producer: George M. Merrick. Presented by Louis Weiss. Produced by Supreme Sound Pictures (President: Alfred T. Mannon). Distributed by Weiss Bros., Artclass Pictures, Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 2 January 1932. 66 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Peter Marlan is a professional gambler who works both sides of the border. When his brother, a Texas Ranger, is killed, Pete sets out to discover the killers. Along the way, he discovers that Bernie Donovan is actually...COMMENT: Although a bit rough at the edges (partly due to a few minutes of discarded footage), this is one of the best westerns of the year. And no wonder! It has a great story with interesting characters enacted by a great cast, produced on a fair-sized budget using some really atmospheric locations and sets, and it's directed with power by William Nigh, a top "A"-feature director in the 1920s, who was just beginning his descent into the "B" league. Ideally cast, Harry Carey gives one of his most impressive performances as the reluctant hero. Although his role is much smaller, Gibson Gowland is almost overpoweringly ferocious as the sadistic villain, while Mary Jane Irving enacts his victim so appealingly that we share every terrifying minute of her ordeal. AVAILABLE on a very good Platinum disc DVD.
bkoganbing
During the silent years Harry Carey was a major screen cowboy hero, but before transitioning to character roles in sound he was gradually going down the scale of studios in his western. This one Without Honor was as poverty row a western as they get.In Without Honor Carey does a part he did a lot of on the silent screen, the good bad man. When his Texas Ranger brother is killed investigating a gang on a border town, Carey steps into the fray.He also clears up a decades old kidnapping and reunites mother and daughter and wins mom's everlasting gratitude.I have to say the gang really had a clever scheme at money laundering after a robbery. I'll say that the shallowness of the Rio Grande River aids and abets in this idea.Carey fans should like this, it would have been better with a major studio values.
winner55
Every now and then you find a real gem in the rough among the old genre films.This is the toughest-minded Western of its type I've ever seen. There are elements here prophetic of the 'adult Western' that would come into its own in the '50s, and some elements are suggestive of what became the 'film noir' of the '40s. As a gambler out to avenge his brother's murder (really a precursor of the 'anti-hero' type that would dominate Westerns in the '60s), Harry Carey gives a bravura performance: Marlin (Carrey) is on his way to meet the gang leader. Mary: Oh, that's dangerous! Marlin: Huh? Mary: That's dangerous. Marlin (pushing his hat forward): Gosh, I hope so.Mary. BTW, is Marlin's old flame, a woman of questionable repute who has married a bad man after being widowed and who gave her daughter away - a daughter raised by an alcoholic who beats her.Yeah, this is not one for the kiddies. Consider for instance the fist-fights - typical barrel-house round swinging, broken chairs, etc, right? Wrong. How about close order efforts to get behind the other guy and knock him down with a gun butt. Fighting fair is for people who don't like to win.Short, dark and handsomely made, this film is light on genre conventions and hard on impact. Absolutely remarkable for it's period. 1932? Absolutely remarkable.
FightingWesterner
Slick gambler Harry Carey returns from cleaning up in Mexico to find his younger brother, a Texas Ranger, murdered by a gang of smugglers and in possession of a letter implicating himself in criminal activity. Carey pins on the slain man's badge, setting out to clear his brother's name and nab the killers.In all, this is a very typical, ordinary low-budget production and is often quite turgid. However, this benefits greatly from a fantastic performance by Carey, who even in an impoverished movie such as this, has much screen presence. Co-star Mary Jane Irving is awfully pretty too, even though she overacts just a tad.Carey and Irving, along with some good scenery and sets, all make this a lot more entertaining than it should have been.The last scene has a joking reference to Scarface, another 1932 release!
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