Tumbling Tumbleweeds: Singing, Horses, and Some Very 1935 Drama

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s B-westerns or want to see the birth of the singing cowboy trope, sure. If you hate slow pacing or the idea of a movie pausing every ten minutes for a guitar solo, stay away. It is not exactly high art, but it has that weird, grainy charm of old celluloid that makes you want to drink a lukewarm coffee and just stare at the screen.

Gene shows up looking like he just stepped off a postcard. The plot is thin—like, paper-thin. His dad is dead, the law is looking at his friend, and the rest is just riding around trying to find the real killer. Don't look for complex motives here. It is all black hats and white hats, quite literally.

There is a moment early on where the dialogue feels like it was written on a napkin during lunch. Nobody talks like real people, but they talk like they are in a very important stage play. It is endearing in a clunky sort of way.

The music is obviously why you are here. Gene starts singing, and the whole world of the movie just sort of freezes. It reminded me a bit of the musical interludes in Louisiana, but with more dirt and fewer fancy clothes. It is an odd break in the tension, honestly.

• The horses look bored.
• Smiley Burnette is carrying a lot of the personality weight.
• The hats are impressively tall.

One scene in the barn goes on for way too long. They are talking about clues, but I spent three minutes just looking at the wood grain on the wall because the camera wouldn't cut away. It felt like the editor took a nap.

It is definitely not as tight as The Power and the Glory, but that is not the point. This movie wants to be a campfire story, not a history lesson. It succeeds at being exactly what it is, which is a tiny, musical western nugget from a long time ago. 🤠

Also, the ending happens so fast you might miss it if you blink. It is like they realized they were out of film and just decided to wrap it all up with a song. Classic.