Border Devils

Like my cousin, Marion Robert and eventually Michael Morrison, I love Harry Carey, and Harry Carey, Jr., too. (Most people, but not all, know that John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison. When his brother was born, his strange mother took the Robert away from him and gave it to the new boy, and re-naming him Marion Mitchell. As he grew into his teens, though, he didn't want to be Marion Mitchell so he re-named himself Marion Michael, which I find to be a perfect choice except maybe for the "Marion." I would have done the same.)

One of the glories of YouTube is the presence of several Harry Carey movies, including "Border Devils," an action-packed western I am very grateful to have found.

It's not a great print, there at YouTube, but it's good enough for us to be able to appreciate the talent of the actors and the skill in the script, a change-of-identities story that keeps a viewer on edge: Will he get caught?

Helping the hero is a man who became probably the most-loved of all the sidekicks, George Hayes, an exceptional actor, who nearly always stole whatever movie he was in, and who could play villains as well as the comical partner.

He demonstrates HUGE talent in this early movie.

The leading lady was not only extremely talented, she was one of the most attractive western film actresses I've seen, Kathleen Collins. She was a real westerner, born -- and later, at age 91, dying -- in San Antonio.

For some reason, she made no more movies after "Border Devils," at least according to her bio here at IMDb. Maybe 28 movies was all she wanted, or maybe marriage interfered, but I find it a shame she made only those 28.

This is a good story, extremely well acted, and nicely directed and photographed, easily worth eight out of 10. And maybe a better print would have earned it at least a nine.

I highly recommend "Border Devils" and hope you get to watch it.

Harry Carey is looking for "The General", responsible for killing Jack Galleghar. He and Art Mix are poisoned, and Carey wakes up in jail alone, accused of murdering both men. He escapes and makes his way to the border, where Mix's sister, Kathleen Collins, is running the ranch. Carey tells everyone he is Galleghar, and he hooks up with George Hayes (who wants to kill Carey for Galleghar's murder) and they continue looking, even as border patrol dopes Niles Welch and Albert J. Smith keep trying to prove he is Carey. Fortunately, he's too smart for them.

It's a well-plotted western mystery, written by Will F. Jenkins under his better-known pulp pseudonym of Murray Leinster, and Harry Fraser. Leinster had a fifty-year career, and came to be known as "The Dean of Science Fiction"; his first story in the field was printed in 1919, but he also wrote plenty of mysteries and westerns. Surprisingly, few of his stories were adapted for the big screen; one, "The Purple Hieroglyph" was adapted three times, the last as a "Torchy Blane" series entry.

It's directed at a slow pace by William Nigh. Nigh had a long career in the movies, but during the sound era he dropped into the Bs and never recovered Despite the good script and actors here, you can see why.

"Border Devils" is a very bad B-movie. It's from the ultra-low budget Weiss Brothers Studio and you can tell it's cheap because there is no incidental music and the acting is really bad. Often, actors talk over the other actors' lines or just deliver their dialog like they never completed the second grade! It's a shame, as the film does have a couple decent actors in it...Harry Carey and George 'Gabby' Hayes. As for Hayes, he made it in his 'pre-codger' days...before the donned the beard, took out his false teeth and acting like a stereotypical cowboy sidekick!

Jim (Harry Carey) and his friend come back after a long hard ride. They drink some water and it turns out to be laced with some drug, and the two soon pass out. While they are unconscious, they kill one of them and make it look like Jim did it! After Jim is arrested, his friend Neil helps him escape...and soon Neil is killed as well! So, Jim pretends to be Neil and tries to join up with the gang he thinks are behind the killings.

The plot isn't bad...but the acting and dialog are strictly third-rate. The film also lacks energy as well as any reason to care about Jim and his plight.

Jim Gray is a decent, courageous, and law-abiding citizen. When he is framed for the murder of his friend, Neil Denham, he escapes to conduct his own desperate investigation. His plan is to masquerade as the deceased Denham and join a ranch which is plagued by a gang of Mexican bandits led by the "General." He hopes to prove the gang is behind the killing and end its grip of terror over the countryside. In the process, he is joined by "Squint" Sanders whose principal goal in life is to kill Gray in revenge for the murder of Denham. The two must contend with overzealous law enforcement, vigilante-minded ranch hands, and treacherous bandits.

On the surface, Border Devils appears to be fairly typical of low-budget westerns of the period. It is fairly fast-paced and has a rushed and sometimes confusing plot. Nevertheless, the principal cast (Harry Carey as Gray and George "Gabby" Hayes as Sanders) is superb. Further, there are a number of plot elements (which can't be revealed here without becoming spoilers) that are both inventive and entertaining. Particularly good is a scene where Gray and Sanders are in the gang's clutches and must effect an escape. Border Devils is recommended for fans of 1930s westerns. Most other viewers should probably pass on it.

In Border Devils Harry Carey is on the trail of the murderer of a couple of friends of his. For one of those murders he's been neatly framed and has to bust jail to do his investigation.

One of the strengths of the film is that other than Gabby Hayes whom he picks up as a sidekick, Carey is never sure exactly who the players are in this story, just who are the good, the bad, and the just plain stupid. He's after the leader of the gang, a mysterious guy known only as the general.

Japanese actor Tetsu Komai is the General and all I can say there is that he plays it in the best Fu Manchu tradition. The film also deals in human trafficking, a subject definitely not for the Saturday matinée kiddie trade.

Olive Carey, Harry's wife in real life makes an appearance in the film, but not as the leading lady. That is reserved for Kathleen Collins.

Border Devils is a cheaply made thing with the usual Poverty Row lack of production values. Still this is not a bad film on a subject not usually reserved for the western.