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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
Honestly? Only if you have a very specific appetite for early sound-era chaos. If you love movies that have no idea what their own genre is, you might get a kick out of this. If you want a story that makes sense or characters who behave like real humans, you are going to hate every single minute.
The whole premise is just absurd. You take a guy, drop him in the middle of nowhere, and he decides, "You know what? This needs a dance floor and cocktails." It’s the kind of logic only movies from this era seem to possess. It feels less like a narrative and more like someone just throwing darts at a board of concepts.
There is a weird energy here that reminds me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Reckless Age, but with way more sawdust. The transition from a quiet ranch to a bustling club happens so fast you’ll get whiplash. One minute there is a horse, the next there is a guy in a tuxedo holding a martini. 🍸
The ranch setting is just a backdrop, really. It doesn't feel like the West; it feels like a set built on a soundstage that hadn't quite dried yet. The way the characters move through the space is stiff. It’s like watching people who have never actually been outside before try to play at being cowboys.
There is a moment near the middle where a character just stops talking for an uncomfortably long time to look at a door. Why? No idea. It’s the kind of imperfection that makes you realize someone was probably just tired on set that day. It’s not deep, it’s just weird. 🤠
It doesn't have the charm of something like The Bird Store, which at least knows what it's selling. Here, the movie tries to sell us on the idea that a nightclub in the middle of nowhere is a natural evolution for a rancher. It’s not. It’s a disaster.
Maybe it’s worth watching just to see how wrong things can go. Or maybe just skip it. I’m still not sure.
