Sundown Rider

It is always a pleasure for a B-western fan to watch a never-before seen (or at least not remembered) picture with one of the great western heroes from the glory days of the genre', and that certainly applies to me with Buck Jones' "Sundown Rider" from 1932. And this is one of the rare times that the given title has real relevance and meaning!

The film is directed by Hillyer Lambert, one of the more prolific of B-western directors and one who helmed many pictures for William S. Hart. The film is strongly atmospheric, including the musical offerings of the quartet of cowboys singing plaintive songs with solo guitar that melds Texas cowboy music with Appalachian origins.

The story unfolds in numerous settings, indoors and out, and includes a well-choreographed and even better captured fight between Ward Bond and Buck. We even get to see Buck riding thrillingly and more than once at full tilt on his beloved Silver.

The camera and players throughout the film move around together smoothly, thanks to Lambert's proven steady leadership. I must admit, however, that there isn't anything of particular note in the movie to single out as novel or singularly significant. It is just a well-constructed, quickly paced, and, as usual for a Jones film, serious-themed western.

The most effective and appreciated scene for me is the sequence when time is running out for things to get resolved, signified in stages by the evening sun's golden rays climbing ever higher on the wall and finally leaping onto the ceiling.

In summation, "Sundown Rider" is a good entry in the Buck Jones treasury of adventures and fans should definitely dive into it when afforded an opportunity.

The opening reels mark this as a more ambitious than usual oater B, with effective staging and violence, like that of Hillyer's W.S. Hart films. The leader of the posse, who think our hero is a rustler, uses the hot iron on him. "There's a crooked brand on you now!"

The bar room scene, where Jones tracks down bad hat Wheeler Oakman who was responsible, while the saloon gambler watches, is worthy of a more ambitious production.

The girl rancher plot is less involving, though there is a good punch up between Buck and Ward Bond, where both actors do their own fighting.

The technicians do competent work to support star and director.