Honor of the Mounted: A Mountie in a Jam

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s B-westerns, you'll probably have a decent time with Honor of the Mounted. It’s short, punchy, and doesn’t waste any time with fancy camera angles. If you need complex character arcs or high-budget sets, skip it. You will absolutely hate this if you get bored by guys in hats riding horses in circles for ten minutes.

Tom Tyler is the guy here. He plays Tom Halliday, a Mountie who gets framed for murder. It is such a tired trope, but he plays it with enough straight-faced determination that you just kind of go with it. He spends most of the movie without his badge, which is supposed to make him an underdog, though he still fights like he’s got a full squad behind him.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Honor of the Mounted (1932) through its definitive frames.

Observations from the trail

The pacing is a bit weird. One minute he is being accused of a crime, and then he is just instantly in the U.S. crossing the border. No travel montage. No border guard scene. Just *poof*, he's there.

There is this one moment where the bad guy is running away and the stunt work is, uh, let’s call it creative. You can tell they were trying to save money on film stock because the cuts are so fast it makes your head spin. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in 'Neath Western Skies, where things just happen because the script said they should.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Honor of the Mounted (1932) through its definitive frames.

• The horses look more tired than the actors.
• The villain is wearing a hat that looks two sizes too big.
• Nobody ever seems to run out of bullets, which is nice for them.

The ending is where the movie actually earns a smile. It leaves our hero in a spot that makes you wonder if they just ran out of money to film a real resolution. It’s not quite as abrupt as the ending of Harem Follies, but it’s close. 🐎

I found myself staring at the background extras more than the main plot. There is this one guy in the background of the tavern scene who looks like he has absolutely no idea why he is there. He is just leaning against a post, watching the fight, looking like he is waiting for his lunch break. 🥪

If you are looking for something to put on while you fold laundry or organize your desk, this is perfect. It doesn't demand you pay attention to every line of dialogue. Sometimes a movie just needs to be a movie, you know?