Mickey's Wild West is basically a fever dream of 1930s kids screaming

If you're looking for a quick blast of 1930s chaos, this is... well, it is something. Honestly, it is only worth watching if you want to see where Mickey Rooney started before he became a massive star. Most people today will probably find the humor a bit too dusty or just plain loud. 🤠

Mickey plays Mickey McGuire, and he has this weirdly intense energy for a kid. He wears this top hat that looks like it is trying to eat his head. It is huge. I kept waiting for it to fall off, but it stayed stuck on there through all the running around.

The whole thing is basically the kids playing pretend in a "Wild West" setting. There is a lot of running around and falling over. I noticed the sets look like they were built in about twenty minutes with some spare plywood.

It is not exactly The Law of the Mounted, which feels like a "real" movie compared to this backyard mess. But that is kind of the point, I guess? It feels like someone just turned a camera on during a school recess that got out of hand.

Jimmy Robinson is there too, playing Hambone. It is a bit uncomfortable to watch how they used him for gags back then, which is typical for these old shorts but still makes you wince. The vibe is very much of its time, for better or worse.

But the chemistry between the kids is actually kinda real. They aren't "acting" as much as they are just being loud and annoying, which is what kids do best. One kid has these suspenders that look like they are holding his whole life together. I think he spent more time pulling them up than actually saying lines.

The scene with the "stagecoach" is pure slapstick. It reminded me a little of the energy in Arizona Sweepstakes, just way more childish and less organized. Things just break and people fall over for no reason.

The film doesn't really have a plot, it just sort of happens until it stops. It is way better than some of the stuffy dramas from that era like Man and Maid. At least nobody is sitting around talking about their feelings for an hour. It is just pure, unrefined noise.

Mickey Rooney's face is just... constantly moving. He has these bug-eyes that make every reaction look like he just saw a ghost. Even when he is just standing there, he looks like he is about to explode into a dance or a fight.

I think I liked the dog more than most of the humans. The dog actually looked like it knew where the camera was and felt sorry for us. It has this look of "I can't believe I'm in this movie" the whole time. 🐶

Anyway, it is short. If you hate it, you only lost about 15 or 20 minutes of your life. It is certainly better than White Slippers, that is for sure. It's just a weird little time capsule of how people used to think kids should behave on screen.

One reaction shot of Mickey looking tough lingers so long it becomes funny. You can almost feel the director behind the camera waving his arms to get them to keep moving. It's imperfect, messy, and loud.