Wild Horse Round-Up (1936) Review - Dust, Horses, and Cheap Thrills

Look, if you have an hour to kill and love old-school Westerns where the horses get actual screen credit, Wild Horse Round-Up is a pretty decent ride. 🐴

Its got some rough edges, but that is honestly the charm of these old matinee films. If you can't stand creaky 1930s audio and plots that move like a tired mule, you should probably steer clear.

The Plot (Or What Passes For One)

So, we got this greedy guy named Charlie Doan who finds out the railroad is coming through the valley. He decides the best business plan is to hire a bunch of masked goons called the "Night Riders" to scare everyone into selling their land cheap.

He almost gets away with it too, until he tries to bully Ruth Williams and her little seven-year-old brother Dickie. Enter Jack Benton (played by Kermit Maynard) and his quirky gang of wandering cowboys who decide to help out with the local horse roundup.

What follows is a lot of riding in circles, some genuinely impressive horse stunts, and a weird double-agent subplot where Jack pretends to join the bad guys. It's the kind of fast-paced cheapie that feels very similar to The Man from Guntown, which came out around the same time.

The Weird Little Things I Noticed

The barn burning scene is absolutely hilarious. You can tell they just set a tiny wooden model on fire in a studio lot, but everyone on screen reacts like the world is ending. 🔥

Also, the kid Dickie (played by Dickie Jones) has this incredibly high-pitched voice that could probably shatter glass. He spends half his screen time yelling at horses or looking incredibly confused by the adults around him.

And let's talk about the horses. Rex and Rocky the Horse are literally billed in the cast list, and honestly, they act circles around some of the human extras.

There is this one stunt where Kermit Maynard slides under a horse that made me gasp a little. No CGI back then, just pure, crazy stuntmen hoping they don't get stepped on.

Is It Actually Good?

Not really, but it's fun in that dusty, afternoon-TV sort of way. The ending wraps up so fast you might miss it if you blink to clear the dust out of your eyes.

It doesn't have the weird charm of something like Caught in the Act, but it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you like cheap cowboy movies with cool stunts and silly villains, give it a go.