Ridin' Law (1930) Review: Mostly Just Watching a Very Good Horse

If you are looking for a masterpiece, you should probably just stop reading right now. Ridin' Law is one of those movies you find at 3 AM on a channel that usually sells non-stick frying pans. It is a 1930 Western, which means the sound is a bit fuzzy and everyone acts like they are trying to be heard from three blocks away. 🌵

Is it worth watching today? Only if you have a soft spot for the early talkie era or if you are a completionist for old-school stunts. If you need a plot that makes total sense or fast editing, you are going to hate this movie with a passion. It moves at the speed of a tired mule in some spots.

Jack Perrin plays our hero, Jack Rowland. He is looking for the man who killed his father. This takes him across the border into Mexico. For some reason, 1930s Hollywood thought Mexico was just three dusty hills and a shack, but we will roll with it.

The best part of the whole thing is Starlight the Horse. Honestly, the horse gets top billing for a reason. He seems more aware of the camera than half the actors. There are these long shots of him just standing there looking majestic while the plot struggles to happen in the background.

Jack gets captured by Buck Lambert’s gang. Buck is a smuggler, and he is clearly the 'bad guy' because he sneers a lot. It is not exactly a subtle performance. It reminded me of the villainy in The Hand Invisible, just very big and loud.

Then we meet Carmencita and Ricardo. Jack thinks they are lovers. He spends a weird amount of time being jealous or moping about it. It is one of those classic movie misunderstandings that could be fixed with one five-second conversation. But then we wouldn't have a movie, would we?

The Stunts and the Sand

Yakima Canutt is in this. If you know anything about Westerns, you know Yakima is the king of stunts. He does some riding here that actually looks dangerous. Unlike some of the stiff acting, the horse work feels real. You can almost feel the grit in your teeth just watching them kick up dust.

The riding scenes go on for a long time. Like, way too long. I think there is about four minutes of just people going up a hill, then down a hill. It feels like they were just trying to fill the runtime because the script was only ten pages long. It is not quite as wild as A Dangerous Adventure, but it tries.

• The hats are massive. Like, impossibly large.
• The sound of the gunshots sounds like someone popping a paper bag.
• Jack Perrin’s mustache is a character all on its own.

There is a scene in the smuggler’s hideout where the lighting is so dark you can barely see who is hitting who. It is messy. It feels like they only had one lamp and a dream. But it adds a weird kind of honesty to it. It’s not polished. It’s just a bunch of guys in a room pretending to fight.

The undercover agent twist is pretty standard. Carmencita and Ricardo are actually working for the Mexican government. They aren't sweethearts; they are brother and sister. When Jack finds this out, the look of relief on his face is almost funny. He’s more happy about the girl being single than he is about catching his dad's killer. Priorities, I guess? 🤷‍♂️

"I thought you loved him!" "No, he is my brother!"

That is basically the climax of the emotional arc. It is very simple. If you want something with more layers, maybe check out The Wild Party instead. This is strictly meat-and-potatoes storytelling.

Why it kind of works

Despite the clunky dialogue and the weird pacing, there is a charm here. It’s short. It doesn't overstay its welcome. It reminds me of those old matinee serials where you just wanted to see the good guy win and the horse jump over a fence.

I noticed one reaction shot where Jack Mower (the villain) lingers just a second too long. He looks like he’s waiting for the director to yell 'cut.' It’s those little mistakes that make these old movies feel human. They weren't trying to change the world; they were just trying to get the shot before the sun went down.

The ending is exactly what you think it is. The bad guy gets what’s coming to him. Jack gets the girl. The horse gets a carrot, probably. It was actually remade later as Riders of the Sage, which I think had a bit more budget, but there is something about this 1930 version that feels more raw.

If you've seen things like Six Days, you know how melodramatic this era can get. Ridin' Law stays pretty grounded, mostly because it’s too busy being a western to get too sappy. It’s a movie that knows it’s a movie.

Don't expect much from the supporting cast. They mostly just stand in the background and look 'western.' One guy in the smuggler gang has a hat so low you can't even see his eyes. I spent half his scenes wondering how he didn't trip over the furniture.

Is it a 'must-watch'? No. But if you’re into the history of the genre, or you just want to see Yakima Canutt do his thing before he became a legend, give it a look. It’s better than The Leopardess, at least in terms of actually having things happen. 🐎

The film ends abruptly, like they ran out of film. No big sunset shot, just a quick resolution and then the black screen. It’s honest. It’s done. We can all go home now.

Final thought: Starlight the Horse deserves a star on the Walk of Fame. The humans were okay too, I guess.