The Courageous Avenger: A Dusty Ride Through 1930s Plot Holes

Is it worth the time?

If you like old-school westerns that feel like they were made over a long, hot weekend, you will probably get a kick out of The Courageous Avenger. It is not high art. If you are the kind of person who needs a logical screenplay or decent editing, you will hate every second of this. It is a movie for people who just want to watch hats get knocked off and horses gallop around in the dirt.

Johnny Mack Brown carries the whole thing on his shoulders, mostly by looking serious while standing near fences. The plot is simple enough: gold goes missing, bad guy is behind it, hero shows up. It moves along at a pace that I would call 'rushed,' but in a way that feels like they were running out of film stock.

The vibe

There is this one scene where a traveler gets snatched up in the desert, and it happens so fast you almost miss the drama of it. It’s almost funny how quickly people just disappear in this movie. The mine owner is clearly the bad guy from the first time he walks on screen, mostly because he’s wearing a hat that’s just a little too clean for the setting. Talk about telegraphing your intentions.

The dialogue is stiff. It’s the kind of stuff you’d hear in a play written by someone who had only ever heard people talk through a tin can. But, weirdly, that adds to the charm. There is no attempt at subtext here. Everyone says exactly what they are doing, which is refreshing in its own dumb way.

Small observations

• The horses look bored. Like, really bored.
• The way the mine owner yells at his henchmen feels like he’s practicing for a much louder play.
• I’m pretty sure I saw the same rock formation in the background of three different 'desert' scenes.
• The ending feels like it just stops because they ran out of lunch money.

It’s not as interesting as Blind Justice, which at least tries to have a bit of mystery. This one is just straight-up action, if you can call guys pushing each other around 'action.' Honestly, I’ve seen more intensity in a game of checkers. 🏜️

You can almost feel the director trying to convince you that the mine is a scary place, but it just looks like a dark hole in the ground with some dust floating in front of it. Still, it is a fun little relic. It reminds me of watching A Shocking Night, where the fun is really just in seeing how much they could get away with on a shoestring budget.

If you are looking for a masterpiece, keep walking. If you want to kill an hour watching people in dusty shirts ride horses, you found it. Don't expect to remember much about it by tomorrow morning, though.