Fri 5 Dec 2008
A Movie Review by Walter Albert: UNKNOWN VALLEY (1933).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[18] Comments
UNKNOWN VALLEY. Columbia, 1933; Lambert Hillyer, direction and screenplay; Charles “Buck” Jones, Cecilia Parker, Wade Boteler, Frank McGlynn, Ward Bond, Arthur Wanzer, Alf James, Brett Black, Frank Ellis, Gaylord Pendleton and “Silver.” Shown at Cinecon 41, September 2005.
An unusual western. Buck, in search of his missing father, after crossing a desert to a range of mountains where his father appears to have been heading, stumbles on a community of religious extremists.
Buck discovers that their leaders, Ward Bond and Wade Boteler, have been mining for gold with the help of Buck’s missing father, now their prisoner, and plan to escape shortly with their loot.
The religious sect is not really identified, but they are (with the exception of their treacherous leaders) peaceful folk, who want only to maintain their way of life without interference from outsiders.
Buck was my favorite cowboy hero when I was a kid, and I think I had good taste. An intelligent film that has enough thrills and suspense to keep an audience enthralled.
December 6th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I love B-Westerns, especially the gritty, dirty looking ones made in the 1930’s before the clean looking singing cowboys became popular. Buck Jones and George O’Brien always were in the upper level, higher quality B-Westerns so they did not look as care worn as the other cowboys, but they are big favorites of mine.
December 6th, 2008 at 11:52 am
My favorite B-westerns as a kid were the Durango Kid movies. I think I liked the idea of the alter ego/secret identity he had. I also liked Straight Arrow on the radio for the very same reason.
In any case, if there was any singing in the Durango films, it would have been by Smiley Burnette, not the Kid himself. A little of Smiley goes a long way now, but again as a kid, I’m sure I thought his brand of comedy was super.
Walter makes this Buck Jones western sound very appetizing. As for George O’Brien, I reviewed one he made, Prairie Law, way back here: https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=173 .
— Steve
December 6th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Haven’t seen UNKNOWN VALLEY.
But Buck Jones made some good movies. Just out on DVD: JUST PALS (John Ford, 1920), with Jones as the town lazybones. And the Encore Western Channel shows CALIFORNIA FRONTIER (Elmer Clifton, 1938), an unusual left-wing political Western Jones made.
George O’Brien also worked with John Ford. Their THREE BAD MEN (1926) is also a landmark silent Western. And TCM shows O’Brien’s most famous role, the non-Western SUNRISE (1927). This is one of the most famous silent films.
Charles Starrett started out in non-Westerns too. You can see him in OUR BETTERS, in which he plays a sophisticated (and darn nice) pinstripe-suited American businessman in London.
My favorites Starrett Westerns have him starring with the great director Joseph H. Lewis: BLAZING SIX SHOOTERS (1940) and TEXAS STAGECOACH (1940). The Sons of the Pioneers do all the singing… Their “Hill Country” song in the latter film is extraordinary.
December 6th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Mike
One post and seven recommended movies I haven’t seen, though it’s possible I’ve watched one of the Starrett westerns, even though neither has the Durango Kid in it. (Am I wrong on that?)
In any case, I greatly appreciate the suggestions. More to add to my To Be Watched list!
— Steve
December 8th, 2008 at 11:55 am
That Buck Jones review got some action going. You do have some intelligent posters; i.e., they, like me, are fond of both Buck Jones and George O’Brien.
I don’t know that I saw any of the Durango Kid movies but they may have shown up occasionally at Saturday afternoon marathons.
A corollary interest of my film going is a fondness for film music. The new Collectors’ Choice Music Catalog has a listing for “The World of Sabu, “which includes music by Miklos Rozsa for “Jungle Book” and “The Thief of Baghdad,” and by Brian Easdale for “Black Narcissus,” all three of them either starring of featuring Sabu.
The “Jungle Book” music was released on 78s, with narration by Sabu. It’s not new to CD, but the “Thief” music may be. I tried to listen to excerpts but all I got was narration by Hugh Gray. The excerpts are very short and may include music as well as narration (the description of the album suggests that it does). The record is listed on a number of sites, some of which give a breakdown of cues.
“Thief” is, in my opinion, one of Rozsa’s best scores, and the entire score has never, to my knowledge, been released commercially. A substantial portion of the score is available in an extensive suite conducted by Elmer Bernstein, re-released (it was originally released on LP) as part of “Elmer Bernstein’s Filmmusic Collection” (Film Score Monthly Box 01).
Walter
December 9th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Today’s Dave Kehr’s DVD column in the New York Times has a review of SUNRISE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/movies/homevideo/09dvds.html
There are pictures of the film’s luminous stars, Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien.
Dave Kehr is a famous film historian; he knows everything about the movies.
I greatly enjoy Miklos Rozsa. It is amazing, that back in the studio era, Hollywood hired leading classical composers like Rozsa, to write classical music background scores for movies. Their music was of vastly great quality than today’s rock scores.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I read Dave Kehr’s dvd reviews every Tuesday in the NY Times. Today’s review covers an enormous box set of 12 early Fox films, silent and sound. You can read Kehr at nytimes.com and he also has his own website at davekehr.com.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:36 am
That box set Kehr reviews is called “Murnau, Borzage and Fox.” I saw it mentioned between movies on TCM last week, I think. I was impressed, but I’d let it slip my mind. I’m glad to have the reminder, but at $240 list price, I’m going to have to think a while before going for it.
… I’ve just checked. It’s $180 on Amazon, maybe less elsewhere. I’m still thinking.
— Steve
December 9th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
The DVDs in the set will likely soon be available for rental, at Netflix and elsewhere. I can’t afford to buy this either – but I’m sure going to borrow the whole set!
Last year’s gigantic FORD AT FOX set is now available at my public library. I’ve borrowed most of the DVDs – they are sensational.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I was going to mention the FORD AT FOX sets but … I forgot. I didn’t know there was a large combined set — or did I misunderstand you? — but I’m more likely to buy them individually anyway. If I do.
I have enough to watch already without needing to rent DVDs, but that’s not a bad idea as far as these pricey sets are concerned.
It’s sure a great time to be a movie fan.
— Steve
December 9th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
FORD AT FOX is indeed a huge combined set. It can also be rented/bought individually. That’s where I saw the Ford films mentioned.
I have a Netflix subscription. It doesn’t cost much. Plus I get DVDs from the library for free.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Yes, I’ve found the combined set on Amazon now. 24 movies & one documentary on 21 DVDs for $185, with third party sellers asking only $155 or so. List price $300.
Whew. I’m thinking about it. (I know enough not to ask Walker for advice.)
— Steve
December 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Steve,
Dave Kehr’s column in Tuesday’s New York Times is the first thing I look for when I bring the papers in.
I have “Sunrise,” part of an earlier boxed set of Fox Films that was thrown in for good measure. It’s a great film and should be in every film fan’s library. The Borzage films are very tempting, but I’m still waffling on this. Normally, I would leap at this kind of release, but what’s normal these days?
I watched “Mongol” yesterday, the first film of a trilogy on Genghis Khan. “Mongol” deals with his childhood and “career” up to his uniting Mongolia under one Khan and his assumption of his role. Wonderful location filming and I’m looking forward to the next segment.
Walter
December 9th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Steve mutters, “I know enough not to ask Walker for advice.” And I don’t blame you considering the numbers of dvds I have waiting to be watched. I try to watch a movie each day plus always a crime or film noir old movie at midnight. So at around 600 or so movies a year, I’m really falling behind.
I have the Ford at Fox box set and just received the Murnau and Borzage box today. Watching great movies, like reading great books or listening to great music, is an addiction, but I see it as a necessary part of my life. Anyway, if I get into financial difficulties I’m sure the government will bail me out(:
December 9th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
MONGOL sounds very interesting!
The last Russian film I saw was KOKTEBEL, a gentle, avant-garde film about a man and his boy’s cross-Russia journey to see his sister. Very nice, for people who like films in the art-film mode. I borrowed it from the library!
And yes, the last thing I was suggesting was that people should rush out and spend their hard-earned money, on my recommendations. I was merely suggesting you might want to BORROW these films someday. And then only if they sound appealing to you.
January 12th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Getting back to Buck Jones and UNKNOWN VALLEY: upon initial release it was favorably reviewed (even by VARIETY, which was generally pretty tough on “B” Westerns) but not terribly popular with Jones fans, who reportedly thought it a bit too off-trail for their tastes. Personally, I think it’s damn good and for many years owned a 16mm print of it.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Re: Charles Starrett. He holds the record for most starring Westerns made by one star at the same studio: 131, for Columbia Pictures, produced and released over a 17-year period. He played the Durango Kid in half of them, all but the first released between 1945 and 1952. Although the Durangos are very fondly remembered by aging Western fans who saw them in Saturday-matinee engagements, they’re generally cheap, shoddy productions with cookie-cutter plots and puerile comic relief.
Starrett’s earlier Westerns — especially the 1937-40 pictures in which his regular leading lady was Iris Meredith (the subject of a recent M*F thread) and his sidekicks the Sons of the Pioneers — were his best. I met Starrett twice and spoke to him at length about his career. His favorite among those early Westerns was also mine: OUTLAWS OF THE PRAIRIE (1938, based on a Harry F. Olmsted story originally published in DIME WESTERN), which cast him as a deadly “fanner” who has spent his entire adult life looking for the renegade who killed his father and cut off his trigger fingers. Starrett was also very fond of a short-lived series — also based on pulp stories — casting him as a frontier doctor who occasionally used his guns in defense of the law.
January 12th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
“… the Durangos are very fondly remembered by aging Western fans who saw them in Saturday-matinee engagements…”
You’ve got me pegged, Ed. I’ve watched some of the Durango’s in the past couple of years, and I can’t deny your honest assessment of them. At the same time, I don’t think I’ll ever give up my fondness for them.
But I’m also going to start tracking down some of Starrett’s earlier westerns — in fact, I already have, once I learned that Iris Meredith was in many of them.
— Steve
PS. Ed’s summary of Iris Meredith’s career can be found at https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=948.