Lightnin' Bill Carson Review: A Western with a surprisingly dark conscience

Should you actually sit through this?

If you like old black-and-white Westerns where the hero wears a hat that looks two sizes too big, then yeah, give it a go. It is better than Gun Law by a little bit.

People who hate old movies where everyone talks like they are reading from a grocery list should probably stay away. It’s not exactly high art. 🤠

Tim McCoy is the star here. He plays Lightnin' Bill Carson, and let me tell you, this man has the stiffest posture I have ever seen on a human being.

He looks like he swallowed a broomstick before every take. It’s kind of impressive, honestly.

The story starts with him catching the Pecos Kid, played by Rex Lease. Rex is doing a lot of 'acting' with his eyebrows.

They put the Kid on trial, and everything moves fast. Like, way too fast.

Before you can even finish your popcorn, the Kid is found guilty and sent to the gallows. This part actually caught me off guard because usually, in these movies, the hero saves the guy at the last second.

But no. They actually hang him.

There is this one shot of the crowd waiting for the execution that feels really uncomfortable. You can tell the extras were just told to stand there and look 'serious,' but some of them look like they are trying to remember if they left the stove on.

Then the movie takes a turn. Bill starts getting these doubts. Big doubts.

He starts looking at the evidence again, and you can see the regret on his face—or at least, as much regret as a man with that much hair grease can show. It turns into a sort of mystery, which is a nice break from the usual 'shoot 'em up' stuff.

I noticed a weird thing in the background of the saloon scene. There is a guy in the back who is pretending to drink from an empty cup, and he tips it back so far he almost falls over. I love stuff like that.

The villains are pretty standard. They have the usual thin mustaches and they spend a lot of time whispering in corners. It reminds me a bit of the vibe in The Woman Racket, just with more horses and dust.

The weird little things

• Tim McCoy's gloves are blindingly white. How does he keep them clean in the desert?
• The horse chases are okay, but the sound effects for the hoofbeats sound like someone tapping spoons on a table.
• There is a scene with a letter that is so obviously written in modern felt-tip pen (okay, maybe not, but it looks like it).
• The ending is a bit of a scramble. It feels like they ran out of film and had to wrap it up in three minutes.

Is it a masterpiece? No. But it has this weird, gloomy energy that you don't always get in these 1930s quickies. 🐴

It’s a bit like The Reckoning in how it deals with people being blamed for things they didn't do, but way less polished.

The dialogue is clunky. "I've done my duty, but my heart is heavy." Who actually says that? Nobody.

But McCoy sells it with those intense, unblinking eyes. He stares so hard I felt like I was the one being interrogated through the screen.

If you have an hour to kill and want to see a man feel bad about a hanging, this is your movie. It’s not as fun as The Opry House, but it’s got more 'grit,' I guess you could say.

Just don't expect the plot to make total sense. Just enjoy the hats.

One more thing—the music is way too loud in the final scene. It almost drowned out the sound of the gunshots. It’s like the conductor was trying to win an award by being the loudest person in the room.

Anyway, it’s a decent watch for a Sunday afternoon when you're feeling a bit lazy.