Cavalier of the West: A Dusty, Forgettable Trail

Is this thing worth a watch?

If you like black-and-white westerns where the dialogue sounds like it was written on a napkin, then sure. It’s for the hardcore B-movie completionists. If you’re looking for a hidden masterpiece, you’ll probably find this one pretty hollow.

The whole thing centers on a frame-up. Lieutenant Allister gets blamed for killing a guy named Manuel, and his brother John has to step in to defend him. It feels like a very standard procedural stretched out over a western landscape.

Notes from the couch

The trial scenes are painfully stiff. I kept waiting for someone to actually show some personality, but everyone just recites their lines like they're reading a grocery list. It’s funny how in these old films, the courtroom always feels like it’s set up in a living room.

There is this one moment where a character just stares at the wall while waiting for a witness to talk. The camera stays on him for way too long. I checked my watch. It was a good six seconds of pure, awkward nothing.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Cavalier of the West (1931) through its definitive frames.

I couldn't help but compare the pacing to something tighter, like Blazing Days. That movie knew when to get to the point. Here, they just linger on the dust and the talking.

• George 'Gabby' Hayes is in this, which is basically the only reason to pay attention for the first twenty minutes.
• The horses look like they’re having a better time than the actors.
• The framing of the murder is so obvious that you realize within five minutes who the bad guys are.

The bad guys, Burgess and Greeley, are just cartoonishly mean. They don't have layers; they just have mean faces and bad intentions. It’s almost charming in how lazy the writing is. 🤠

There's this strange, muffled sound in the background during the final shootout. It sounds like someone dropping a bucket of spoons. I tried to see if it was a horse or just a bad audio mix, but the movie just cuts away. Probably a blooper that made it in.

It’s not a film that stays with you. You finish it, you drink your coffee, and you move on to your day. Maybe it’s not meant to be more than that, but I still wanted a bit more grit.

If you have a free hour and don't mind a little boredom, go for it. Otherwise, maybe just watch the trailer and call it a day. It’s not the worst western I’ve seen this month, but it’s definitely not one I’d recommend to a friend unless they’re really into old-school justice plots.