Lucky Larrigan: A Western That Goes Nowhere Fast

Is it worth your time?

Only if you are a completionist for 1930s Monogram pictures. If you are just looking for a good Saturday afternoon movie, you will probably be bored to tears by the middle mark. It is stiff, it is dusty, and it really struggles to justify why anyone involved is doing anything at all.

The plot starts in the East, which is usually code for 'this movie is going to be incredibly slow until someone gets on a train.' Rex Bell plays Craig Larrigan like he is allergic to the outdoors. His transition from polo fields to ranch life is less of an arc and more of a jarring jump-cut in logic.

The Logic Gap

The reasons they drag him out West are paper-thin. I spent half the movie trying to figure out why the rancher, Jess Bailey, even bothers with this guy. The dialogue feels like it was written on the back of a napkin during lunch.

It lacks the grit you find in something like Satan Town, which at least knows what kind of movie it wants to be. Here, everything feels like it is being played at half-speed. You can practically hear the director shouting at the actors to stand still and deliver their lines toward the camera.

• Rex Bell looks very uncomfortable in a cowboy hat.
• The rustlers seem like they are just waiting for their shift to end.
• The romance is about as spicy as a bowl of dry oatmeal.

There is a scene near the end that is meant to be a big showdown, but it just feels like everyone is standing around waiting for the craft services truck to arrive. It is not quite as confusing as the pacing in Blake of Scotland Yard, but it is certainly not a highlight of the genre.

Maybe stick to the classics if you want a real Western fix. This one is mostly just background noise for when you are cleaning the house. 🌵