Law and Order

A roving former lawman and his friends reluctantly become the law in Tombstone. Surprisingly dark and realistic Western despite frequent bouts of humour and an amiable, easy-going performance from Walter Huston. Written by the star's 26-year-old son John Huston, it's a thinly veiled account of the clash between Wyatt Earp and the Clantons (quite why Universal felt it necessary to change the characters' names is a mystery), although Doc Holliday is missing. Packed with smart dialogue, tense situations and a real feel for detail, Law and Order is undeservedly forgotten

Before you get excited, let me tell you that the 1932 film Law and Order has nothing to do with the television series in the 1990s. This type of law and order has to do with the Wild West, when there was none. Frequently, towns that were so overrun by bandits and criminals sent away for a deputy to "clean up" the town. In this film, Walter Huston is the new sheriff. Of course! He's always playing someone decent and honorable, except for the rare roles when he plays someone really mean.

Walter is supposed to be a real stand-up guy, but one scene in the film made me dislike his character. After a hanging sentence gets passed on a young Andy Devine, Andy starts to cry. Walter's way of cheering him up is to say, "Pull yourself together. You've got to act like a man now." Then, he tells Andy his will be the first legal hanging-as supposed to just a lynching by the angry mob-in the county, to get him excited for his own death! I was all set to dislike him for the rest of the movie, but it's not really possible to dislike Walter Huston, is it? He has a wonderful presence, an almost magical quality that makes you think every movie he's in was written for him.

As it turns out, that part of the movie was just to show how "by the books" his character is, so that when he finally gets to his last straw-and this is a Walter Huston movie, so you know he will-he'll really lose his temper. For an early western, this movie isn't that bad, and it has all the elements fans look for: shootouts, bad guys, death scenes, and saloons.

Even though my Encyclopedia of movie Westerns recommends it(calls it underrated)I was a little surprised by how much I liked it. A well constructed story(by John Huston), well defined roles played by great character actors, some good dialogue(when you could make it out), and surprisingly good photography(specially in the bar scenes). So maybe the sound quality was lacking, but remember this movie's from 1932, only a couple of years into sound. Nevertheless,there's a neat little gimmick near the end when the good guys are gathering up all the guns from the townspeople. One of the town ladies goes to curse a blue streak at them and just as she's getting her words out, a stagecoach drives by, muffling her obscenities. The story unfolds in a very predictable manner, but the camera-work and the acting make almost every minute enjoyable. A surprising number of pan-shots and tracking shots for a film of this era, and the deep focus photography in the saloon shots really leave a lasting impression.

"Law and Order" is one of the first (if not THE first) screen treatment of the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Curiously enough, although the main characters are clearly based on the Earps and the Clantons, they are called by other names. The "Earps", for example, are called Johnson and the "Clantons", Northrup.

All that aside, "Law and Order" is an excellent action packed western from the early sound era. As such, many of the actors were still learning to act for sound. So you will still see many of the exaggerated facial expressions and gestures that were common in silent films. The gunfight sequence is as good as you will ever see.

Walter Huston plays a Wyatt Earp type character called Frame Johnson who with his brother Luther (Russell Hopton) sidekick Deadwood (Raymond Hatton) and a Doc Holiday type character called Brandt (Harry Carey), ride into the lawless town of Tombstone. There they encounter the ruthless Northrup Brothers (Ralph Ince, Harry Woods, Richard Alexander) culminating in the famous gunfight which takes place, for the most part,in the O.K. barn. Along the way, Huston hangs a dim-witted murderer (a very young and very thin Andy Devine).

Huston plays the lead alternatively between a Gary Cooperish style country bumpkin and the no nonsense law enforcer. Carey as always is excellent as the stove pie hatted gambler Brandt. Woods is his usual sneering villain. Also down the cast list is a young Walter Brennan as a saloon worker and perennial bartender Dewey Robinson as, you guessed it, the bartender.

"Law and Order" is an excellent western of this or any other period. It is a pity that it is not more widely available for viewing.

If you are old enough to remember the "oaters" from television in the '50s, this is one that you wish you had seen. A thinly vieled "Gunfight at the OK Corral" 25 years before the fact with few words, much action and as the shorts used to say "blazing guns". No gratuitous shootimg here. All the bad guys deserved it.