"The Ridin' Fool" (1931) is a superb "B" Western with Bob Steele. What is available to watch is a 58 minute re-release from Amity Pictures. Originally a Tiffany release, it probably contained a few more minutes of material, for now there are about three or four places where the near end of a scene goes black, and then a new scene occurs - no nice fades or good cut/tos. One scene looks as if it comes out of another scene that is no longer there. Nevertheless, this is a fine "B", well written, well acted, but only three-quarters on the direction by J. P. McCarthy, and the editing leaves a lot to be desired. Some scenes should have cut/tos from one speaker to another much sooner than occur, where there is a lingering camera shot that just stays on a thinking actor for long seconds when a cut-to the listener(s) would have made the picture punch forward much better. Still, an enjoyable Western whose last twenty minutes look as if the good guys are never going to get out of their predicament. They could even die! I literally wasn't sure how this one would end. But...this is a "B" Western. The good guys win; the bad guys don't. The lead gets the girl; even the second lead - - - doesn't...
In this one there are at least three real baddies. One is also the second lead, Ted Adams. In the end he's exonerated pretty much wholly. The one guy who plays the leading lady's brother, though - - - doesn't make it; he's a baddie, though. And the other baddie? He gets his, wouldn't you know. Bob Steele and Ted Adams don't get hanged afterall. You didn't think they really would, did you? Why, of course not!
One of the secondary ladies looked exactly - and I mean exactly - like Lupe Velez. Well, guess what?! She's Lupe Velez' older sister, Josephine. Only movie she ever made...even if you listen carefully you can only understand every third word. Her English needed a lot - did I say a lot? - more practice!
Francis Morris, Florence Turner (yes, same old star of early silents!), Al Bridge, Eddie Featherstone, Gordon De Main, Jack Henderson, and a couple of others round out this oater. Good show if you like "B" Westerns. Others may find it ever so slightly slow until near the end. But if you're a Bob Steele fan, this will please a lot.
