Born in the West (Hell Town) Review

Interest: 6/10

Acting: 6/10

Storyline: 5/10

Cowboy Toughness: 10/10

Fights Guns or otherwise: 8.5/10

Excitement: 5.5/10

Cow rancher talk: 10/10

Nudity: 0/10

Cheaters in poker: 8.5/10

Logic: 7.5/10

I think this is the first western I’ve reviewed, and also I would also assume it’s the first John Wayne movie I’ve reviewed (and a young one at that!)Let’s see how good this movie really is?

Interest: It was an old black and white western, lot’s of dialogue, little action. But assuming the dialogue was correct (Not going to research it) it was then informative, and interesting about cattle ranching. It kept me interested all the way through with that, some fights, and a love interest in it as well. Not an over the top western, but not something so dry you’d turn it off either.

Acting: The film had what it needed to portray a western to someone that just wanted the gist of the old west, and not wanting the true nitty gritty, hard, dark life of a person in the old west. It is mostly light hearted besides alluding to gambling addiction, but I digress, the acting was fluid enough, but seemed still stiff, but for age, is pretty solid.

Storyline: So a some cattle thieves have come into a town they’re known and then decide to change their ways to be actual cattle ranchers, and attempt to get a woman in the process, 1 of these two things happen, and one of them gets tons of chances until it works. It’s the mold of most old west movies, and literally the mold. Most westerns I’ve see follow this formula, and just build on it, to add layers and complexity like a fine wine, this movie merely the grapes for the wine.

Cowboy toughness: Fist fights, empty pints and gun play happened, and it was pretty solid for the age of the film. It all was fairly believable, The gun fight, I don’t think anyone died and it was a typical western movie.

Fights, guns or otherwise: It was a western movie, There was a fairly large gunfight, No one dies, which is a little saddening, but also understandable. No big fist fights happen, and a few verbal arguments come out, most just jabs and quips, bu things to get said. It was modest.

Excitement: As I said, this film is really a mold, and while that’s good, it doesn’t mean things won’t get approved upon later. What I’m getting at is this film was meh in excitement. It had it’s moments and shined, but it was incredibly slow, and semi tedious to be excited for this film and have wonderment and to see things unfold, they all just kind of happened.

Cow Rancher Talk: There was a lot of that. It was good, nearly a complete language on it’s own, but you could get the general idea of what was being talked about. It was fun to (Hopefully) learn the talk, granted it isn’t used a ton anymore, but it was interesting and fun.

Nudity: There is no nudity in this film, most westerns don’t, but also this film was in 1937. Nudity was a huge no no, hell even to much skin was potentially too adult. I didn’t expect it, and it didn’t have any. So eh, it is what it is.

Cheaters in poker: Well There was poker talk in the beginning of the film, so at some point there had to be a poker game eventually, and sure enough, there is cheating, with our main character and then his boss. It does get found out eventually, but it was a good cheat, I had never seen it before in a movie.

Logic: Everything fit well, no jarring inconsistencies, and things made sense. I really don’t have much else to say about that, it was simple logic, and it stuck to it.

This movie wasn’t bad, it’s short (Less than an hour) and if you’re into westerns, it is nice to see the the near beginnings of the western. This movie was slow, and really, just wasn’t what I wanted, but I can’t fault it on what I want. It is a good movie and I think to many it would be a good watch, and I’d watch it again. 63% isn’t terrible by any means from some of the stinkers I’ve had to watch. Go give it a shot, it’s in the public domain so you can acquire it legally on the internet for free.