Just Another Fighting Cowboy
Cash Horton (William Ryno) thinks his mine is worthless but then Bill Carson (Jay Wilsey) arrives to give him the news that the mine is full of the valuable Tungsten. News of this soon spreads and nefarious business man Duke Neill (Allen Holbrook) plans to own the mine by means fair or foul and sets about having both Cash and Bill killed. When that plan fails he convinces the Sheriff that Bill was behind a murder and has him arrested unaware that the man he thinks Bill Killed is still alive.
I've watched quite a few of these early 1930's westerns and it would be fair to say that not only are they generally forgettable but also that they tend to use what now is little more than cliche storylines filled with cliche characters. It is for that reason why "The Fighting Cowboy" might sound similar to another one of these early westerns and reminded me strongly of one of John Wayne's early Lonestar productions with the whole accused of the murder plot line where the person who is meant to be dead is still alive.
Aside from the familiarity of it all well the things which are noticeable about "The Fighting Cowboy" are firstly the opening music which feels like it has been lifted from an old carnival ride with its organ sound. There is also Jay Wilsey who appeared in this movie under his stage name of Buffalo Bill Jr. although don't get excited as Wilsey was in no way related to the real Buffalo Bill. And then there is Genee Boutell who only made 6 movies in total but grabs your attention here because of shall we say her bouncy performance in tight tops. Plus of course there is the curious character of a butterfly/ bug collector which you certainly don't see in many westerns.
What this all boils down to is that "The Fighting Cowboy" is another one of these early westerns whose only appeal now is to western enthusiasts. But like many of these early westerns, if all you want is a short movie to fill in an hour's free time it might just do the job.
