The Crooked Trail: Just another day in the dust

Is it worth your time?

If you like your westerns with a side of sand in your teeth and plot points that disappear as quickly as they show up, you might find something to love here. If you need a movie that makes logical sense, stay far, far away. It’s for the folks who grew up with Saturday matinees and don't mind a little bit of nonsense.

The whole thing kicks off with a desert scene that goes on for quite a while. Honestly, watching people suffer from dehydration in grainy black and white is a specific kind of mood. Jim Blake finds Harve Talton and Estaban Solano just in time to save them from a very dry fate. It’s a classic setup, but the chemistry is... well, it’s mostly just people standing near each other in hats.

Watching this reminded me a bit of the pacing in Mexicali Rose, where things move along because they have to, not because the story is actually going anywhere interesting. The gold strike angle feels like an afterthought. It’s just an excuse to get everyone into the same canyon so they can start shooting at each other.

Odd little notes:

• There is a moment where the dialogue gets so stilted I actually checked if my audio was lagging. It wasn't.
• The horses look like they’re having a better time than the lead actors.
• Someone really wanted that gold, but you never actually see a single nugget. Just bags. Why is it always bags?
• The way they frame the shootouts makes it look like nobody is actually trying to hit anything.

I couldn't help but think about how much easier life would be if these guys just stayed home instead of wandering into the desert. But then we wouldn't have a movie, right? It’s not quite as charming as some of the older stuff like Kathleen Mavourneen, but it has that same dusty, forgotten-in-the-attic quality.

Don't expect a masterpiece. It's just a guy trying to be nice to a criminal who clearly doesn't want to be nice back. Classic, maybe. Groundbreaking? Not even a little bit. It's perfectly fine for a rainy afternoon when you don't want to think too hard about the plot. Just watch the hats. The hats are great. 🤠