Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935)

Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935)


Plot Summary

 A mining engineer named Larry Sutton (Randolph Scott) teams up with crusty deputy sheriff Tex Murdock (Chic Sale) to solve the mystery killings at an old mine where the owner's family waits for him to die, and where a valuable radium strike may have been made.

That's a pretty cryptic and vague summary but all the better because this movie is a bit of a strange duck and has a twist to it that I didn't see coming which made it all the more better IMO.

This is one of those Westerns that exists in the strange reality of the old west setting in the "modern day". This was a subgenre that existed in the movies of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and even a young John Wayne at times. It's further established as early on Sale mentions how Scott looks and reminds him of his son who perished in The Great War. (World War I) So already this is a stranger than usual Western. The other thing that makes this different is the combination of a murder mystery/whodunit with the Western genre. I don't think it quite meshed but thankfully for the flick it was carried on the backs of Sale and Scott.

Chic Sale was an old time vaudeville comedian and in this movie you'd think he was in his 70s but in reality he was only 50 years old. He'd die a year later of pneumonia which is a crying shame because he really looked like he was about to cement himself as a great character actor in films. His portrayal of the crusty ol' Tex Murdock dominates the film and the opening scene where he meets Randolph Scott for the first time is a thing of beauty to watch. Sale gets some great lines in this flick and he's just a delight in every scene. To give you an idea of what he's like in this, imagine an old geezer who has a bit of energy to him.

Randolph Scott is the one that really drives the action in this as he goes to work for Jim Ballard and his family replacing the engineer who previously worked there who's accused of killing one of the Ballards. Jim Ballard is a dying man who may have a ton of radium on his property ready for the taking. His family is at his place to see that he's safe and well, quite frankly to collect on his inheritance. This family is pretty eclectic what with Mrs. Borg the housekeeper and it's intimated that Ballard and her have had relations. She's played by a Mrs. Leslie Carter who would've been perfect to play Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. She's an old style actress of the theatre and gives the role a touch of class. There's her son John who is immediately fingered as the killer but it's soon established that he's not. There's also a few other relatives including a young Ann Sheridan playing Rita who immediately takes a liking to Scott. The flowering romance takes a back seat to the murder mystery however.

Like I said, there's a twist to the story which I won't reveal but it's well worth the viewing for it. This was pretty limited by budget as there wasn't much going on but the killer is pretty brutal when you think of it as victims are usually dispatched by being crushed by a hydraulic press! In fact, Scott is knocked out at one point and he barely escapes death. (There's a goof involved in that scene as the "unconcious" Scott moves his arm/body a bit so he doesn't get crushed) The killer tries to make it look like the Chinese manservant is the killer to put Scott and Sale off the scent and when that doesn't work Mrs. Borg tries to liquor up Murdock and convince him that Scott is after innocent people when the killer was the guy who previously worked there. (and who happens to be Scott's brother in law)

I give this movie a 1 1/2 * rating not because it's bad per se but because I don't think the meshing of the genres worked that well but it's well worth a watch (you can find a very grainy/beat up copy of this movie on Youtube under the The Fighting Westerner title) for the Sale/Scott team up.