Oath of Vengeance

Pretty amusing movie for such a standard storyline. AKA, a bad guy in town sets up the ranchers and the settlers to go against each other, and the middleman can profiteer of all of the cattle he steals from them too1 New man in town, Billy Carson, along with his ever present side kick Fuzzy, have suspicions about the origins of this feud, so they do a little investigating. Unfortunately, one of the female ranchers, thoroughly disagrees with this reasoning, and rips a new one into Carson every chance she gets. Fuzzy, for good reason stands back while all of this is happening. Pretty soon, Carson tries to stand back and tries to let the feuders realize who is setting them up. But will Carson be forced to intervene again? You know, the more I watch the Buster Crabbe westerns, the more I like them. They're quite lightweight, have plenty of action, and have a great pairing of Crabbe and Al St John sure make a good team. As a matter of fact, John often steals the movie from Crabbe. He's quite funny with his facial expressions and what not.

Predictable, but yet entertaining!

Al St. John opens a store. Meanwhile, Buster Crabbe hangs around as the ranchers and farmers start to fight, and he gets slapped by Mady Lawrence.

This PRC western has the air of improvisation about it, with a lot of time devoted to St. John's shenanigans. Unfortunately, they are not shot to particular advantage. I noted several that could have been a lot better, but that would have required destruction of props, and suspect that the usual microscopic budget didn't permit that. Miss Lawrence puts some oomph into her acting, but alas, it did nothing for her career. She made one more movie a couple of years later, and then vanished.

A fun entry in Producers Releasing Corporation's Billy Carson series, Oath Of Vengeance has Carson and his sidekick Fuzzy Jones opening a country store and trying to quell fighting between local ranchers and emigrating homesteaders.

They're pitted against some bad men who are trying hard to stoke tensions and ignite an all out range war between the feuding factions.

Al St. John is especially animated this time around, delivering an almost endless stream of sight gags, many of them revolving around his bickering with the local post master, played with comic ease by Marin Sais.

Buster Crabbe's heroics almost take a backseat to St. John's monkey shines, as he clearly walks away with the movie!

Buster Crabbe and Al St. John find themselves in the middle of an arranged range war in Oath Of Vengeance. Everybody is swearing blood oaths in this one. It's homesteaders versus cowboys here.

Of course in reality the whole thing is being arranged with a series of well planned incidents by villain Jack Ingram. He's looking to pick up some cheap land and this plot has been used a gazillion times in westerns both A and B.

Al St. John going under the name Fuzzy in most films had a remarkable rubber face that he could contort into all kinds of funny expressions. Note when Crabbe is having his climatic fight with Ingram, St. John puts a kind of minor key climax to the whole affair. The expression afterward is priceless.

No new trails blazed in

"The Oath of Vengeance" is a B-western of the type that I imagine will have to be an acquired taste for purists, while others may take even longer to settle in and permit themselves enjoyment and appreciation. I know I am a member of the former. Not having enjoyed Crabbe/St.John westerns when first exposed to them as a teen, thinking them a little tedious, I have found the passage of time has allowed me to fully get into these pictures and enjoy them very much, and what's more, to appreciate them (reviewing some of the scenes once or twice along the way was helpful). This picture is more than one with comic relief, it is really a comedy and has a cast from top to bottom that allows the comedy to naturally flow. Venerable B- director Sam Newfield allows the entire cast to cut loose and have a good time, and it indeed is funny man Al "Fuzzy" St. John who keeps this fun little program moving forward with his physical and facial antics. Buster Crabbe can't help but have a significant presence in any scene he is in because of his size, but he often takes the second banana position, being straight man for St. John and the film's two female roles. And although in his westerns Crabbe doesn't quite exhibit grade A acting skills, he does a good job as a foil for St. John, but don't ever doubt that he can definitely come alive and take care of the riding and fighting stuff when need be, too. Charles King is delightful, including playing a fine comedy scene with Fuzzy with expert seriousness. In summary, this picture has a cogent story good enough to allow for all the funny stuff to happen with a cast that seems to be having fun, but is also a film which contains plenty of fights, horses, and gunsmoke. Taking a look is warranted.