Border Guns: A Glimpse into Early Westerns – Rough Edges and All

So, Border Guns. Is it worth tracking down today? Well, if you’re a serious fan of early Westerns, or just curious about how these movies were put together back in the 30s, then yeah, it’s a pretty neat watch. Anyone expecting slick dialogue or complex character arcs, though, might find it a bit of a snooze. This one’s for the genre historians, mostly. 🤠

Hal Taliaferro, often billed as Wally Wales, plays our nameless cowboy. He rides into a town that’s just... *tired*. You can almost feel the heat and the desperation coming off the screen, even if the acting sometimes feels like it’s just going through the motions. He’s the quiet type, naturally, until trouble finds him.

The trouble comes in the form of a bandit gang, led by a fairly standard villain. These guys are less 'menacing' and more 'a bit theatrical' when they show up. There’s a scene where they ride through town, firing pistols in the air, and it feels less like a raid and more like a poorly rehearsed parade. The extras in the street barely scatter, like they’ve seen it all before.

What I really noticed was the pacing. It’s quick. These old B-Westerns didn’t mess around. No long, drawn-out emotional scenes here. If something needed to happen, it just *happened*. A conversation, a quick punch, and then we’re on to the next bit. It’s almost refreshing in its directness.

There's this one moment. Our hero is talking to the local sheriff, and the sheriff just sort of *sighs* when he mentions the bandits. Not a dramatic sigh, just a weary one. It tells you everything you need to know about how long this town has been suffering. It's a small thing, but it stuck with me.

The action, such as it is, is pretty much what you’d expect for the time. Horse chases that are more about the horses running than actual danger. Gunfights where people fall over quite politely. But there’s a certain charm to it. You get the sense they’re doing their best with what they had.

One oddity: the sound mix. Sometimes the horse hooves are super loud, then a gun shot sounds like a tiny pop. It’s a little jarring. Like someone was tweaking the dials haphazardly. It adds to the raw, unpolished feel, I guess.

Doris Brook, as the love interest, doesn’t get a ton to do. She mostly worries and looks pretty. Her character feels less like a person and more like a motivation for the cowboy to stick around. Which, for the time, was probably fine. But it leaves you wanting a bit more.

There’s a scene near the end where a few townspeople actually stand up to the bandits. It’s not a big, heroic stand, just a couple of guys looking *really* nervous. The movie gets a bit of a lift right there. You root for them, even if you know how it’s going to end.

The whole thing wraps up neatly, of course. No loose ends. The cowboy rides off into the sunset, as they do. It’s not going to redefine cinema, but it’s a solid, if unremarkable, piece of its era.

Didja notice?

• The bad guys’ hats are *really* clean for bandits.
• One of the horses seems to have a real personality, constantly looking at the camera.
• Franklyn Farnum, as a bandit, has this amazing, twirly mustache. It almost steals the show.
• The saloon set is pretty convincing, actually. Lots of dusty bottles.
• There’s a moment where a character trips over nothing. It’s kept in! 🤣
• The lighting sometimes shifts suddenly between shots, like they ran out of power for a second.
• The ending feels very rushed, like they suddenly remembered they had to finish the film.