Romance of the West (1930) is okay if you really like horses

If you are looking for a masterpiece of cinema, you should probably keep walking. Romance of the West is one of those movies you find at 2:00 AM on a channel that usually sells kitchen knives. It is worth watching if you have a soft spot for the early 'talkie' era where everyone sounded like they were shouting into a tin can.

Fans of modern, fast movies will probably hate this. It moves at the speed of a tired turtle. But if you like seeing how movies used to be made when they were still figuring out how microphones worked, it is kind of fun.

Jack Perrin plays our hero, Jack Walsh. He has this very specific way of standing that makes him look like a cardboard cutout. He is chasing the man who killed his sister, which is a pretty heavy reason to be riding around, but he seems weirdly calm about it most of the time.

The Horse is the Real Star

I have to talk about Starlight the Horse. The horse gets a credit in the cast list. Honestly, the horse acts better than half the humans in this thing. There is a scene where Starlight just looks at the camera and you can tell he’s thinking about his oats. 🐎

Jack eventually finds himself in Mexico. Or at least, a part of California that has a few extra cacti and people wearing bigger hats. He rescues a girl named Mary Winters from a drunk guy. The drunk guy’s acting is so over-the-top it actually becomes the best part of the first ten minutes.

Mary has been tricked into coming to Mexico by a guy named "Kayo" Mooney. Mooney is an ex-prizefighter. I love that detail. In most westerns, the bad guy is a land grabber or a cattle thief. Here, he is just a guy who used to box and now spends his time kidnapping women. It feels very random.

The plot is kind of a mess if you think about it too hard. Jack is looking for his sister's killer, and surprise surprise, it turns out to be the same guy who kidnapped Mary. What are the odds? It is the kind of coincidence that only happens in movies that are 60 minutes long.

• The fight scenes are... well, they are 1930s fights.
• Lots of swinging arms and people falling over before they get hit.
• The sound of the punches sounds like someone slapping a wet fish.

I noticed a weird thing during the kidnapping scene. Mary doesn't seem that scared? She mostly looks annoyed, like she just missed her bus. It makes the stakes feel a bit low. If she isn't worried, why should I be?

Compared to something like The Shooting of Dan McGrew, this movie feels much cheaper. It doesn't have that same grit. It feels more like a rehearsal for a better movie that never got made. Even The Yellow Dog had a bit more bite to it than this.

The dialogue is very clunky. People don't talk; they deliver speeches. There is one moment where Jack explains his whole backstory while sitting on his horse and it feels like he is reading a grocery list. "I am looking for the man... who killed... my sister." Okay, Jack, we get it.

One reaction shot of Mooney lingers for way too long. He just stares into the distance for about five seconds after he finishes speaking. I think the editor might have fallen asleep for a second there. It’s those little mistakes that make these old B-movies charming, though.

Is it actually good?

Not really. But it isn't boring if you like the genre. It’s like eating a plain piece of toast. It isn't a steak dinner, but it fills the hole. If you’ve already seen things like Alias Jimmy Valentine and you want something more outdoorsy, give it a go.

The ending showdown is pretty quick. Jack wins, obviously. He gets the girl, obviously. The horse probably got an extra carrot that day. It wraps up so fast you might blink and miss the resolution of the whole "sister's killer" plot point.

I kept thinking about The Silent Battle while watching this, mostly because that movie also struggled with its own pacing. Romance of the West isn't trying to be deep. It’s just trying to get you to the next scene where someone falls off a roof.

One more thing—the music. It’s very loud and very constant. It’s like the director was afraid that if the music stopped, the audience would realize how quiet the desert actually is. It makes every small movement feel like a huge deal. Jack tips his hat? Dramatic horns! Mary sighs? Sad violins!

If you're into the history of Westerns, or if you just want to see Jack Perrin look confused in a big hat, it’s a decent way to spend an hour. Just don't expect it to change your life. It’s just a dusty little relic from a time when movies were simpler and horses were stars. 🌵