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6.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Under the Tonto Rim remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you're looking for a tight, logical western, look elsewhere. Under the Tonto Rim is for people who enjoy seeing how movies were duct-taped together back in the early thirties. If you hate slow pacing or characters who switch personalities because the plot suddenly demands it, you are going to have a bad time here.
The whole premise is honestly kind of hilarious. Poor 'Tonto' Daily is just the worst at his job. He loses the wagon in a river, he falls asleep on guard duty—honestly, how he kept his job for ten minutes is a mystery to me. It makes me miss the grounded, desperate grit you see in films like The Wildcat. Here, things just sort of happen because the script needs them to.
Then there's the pig farm thing. I’m still not sure why a couple of cowboys are so obsessed with pigs, but they keep trying to drag Daily into it. The moment they start telling everyone he’s actually the notorious 'Tonto Kid' is where the movie goes off the rails. It's ridiculous, and yet, there’s a charm to watching these guys try to act tough when they look like they’ve never been in a fight in their lives. 🤠
The transition from 'meek loser' to 'roaring two-fisted he-man' happens in about thirty seconds. One minute he's getting tossed out of a saloon like a sack of potatoes, the next he's practically a different person. It’s not exactly subtle, but it gave me a good laugh. It feels like the director just got bored of the nice guy act and decided to flip a switch.
Some of the background shots of the desert are actually pretty decent for 1933. You can see the dust and the heat in a way that feels surprisingly real compared to the cartoonish plot. It reminded me a bit of the weird, mismatched energy you find in The Trouble with Wives, where the tone shifts so fast you get whiplash.
Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. But if you’ve got an hour to kill and you like watching old films that don't quite know what they want to be, give it a go. Just don't ask too many questions about the cattle rustling plot, because the movie definitely isn't interested in the answers. 🌵