Ride Him, Cowboy
Tags: violence, murder

Plot synopsis:
John Drury (John Wayne) is passing through when townsfolk are about to kill Duke, a horse they believe to be dangerous. He convinces them to reprieve the animal if he can ride it. He does, earning the gratitude of Ruth Gaunt (Ruth Hall).
He then volunteers to deal with an outlaw known as the Hawk who has been terrorizing the area. Solid citizen Henry Simms (Frank Hagney) volunteers to guide him to the Hawk's territory. But Simms is actually the Hawk and he ties Drury to a tree, leaving him to die. Simms then leads a raid on a ranch, kills a man and plants Drury's harmonica at the scene. With the help of his horse Duke, Drury manages to free himself.
However, a group of vigilantes, believing that he is the Hawk, accuse him of murder and take him to face a hanging judge. Fortunately, Ruth shows up, with the news that a wounded witness has regained consciousness and confirmed Drury's claim that Simms is the real bandit. Simms' men burst in and hold everyone at gunpoint. Simms takes Ruth with him to his hideout, but Drury manages to escape and follow them. The posse overpowers Simms' henchmen and captures the rest of the gang. Simms and Drury fight; when Drury is distracted by the arrival of help, Simms knocks him out and tries to flee, only to run into the deadly hooves of an enraged Duke.

Review: It was a very interesting short film that was done very well.It had action, comedy, romance and suspense all packed into a movie less that lasted only 55 minutes.
It had a convincing nasty villain, a pretty girl, a talented horse named "Duke," and a crooked-but-funny judge.
The horse was able to untie rope and acted almost human.The only thing that looked a bit dated - but applied to all classic westerns - is when they broke chairs over the good guy's head and it never seemed to faze him.
"Ride Him Cowboy" was the first of six westerns that John Wayne made for Warner Bros.
Most were remakes of Ken Maynard silent westerns pf the 1920s thus giving the studio the opportunity to use stock footage from those films (which they did).
To match any stock footage used, the studio costumed Wayne in Maynard's costume and used a horse ("Duke") that looked the same as Maynard's "Tarzan".This first film gets the series off to a good start.
Since the series was made at WB, the production values were far superior to those in Wayne's later "Lone Star" westerns.The story centers on how Wayne came to acquire his horse "Duke".
The attack, for some reason, is made to look like Webb was trampled by Gaunt's prize palomino "Duke".The horse is about to be destroyed after a "trial" in town when a stranger, John Drury (Wayne) rides into town.
Gaunt allows Drury to take the horse as he also becomes attracted to Ruth.Drury offers his services to the town to track down the mysterious bandit.
In the desert, Sims reveals himself to be "The Hawk" and ties up Drury and leaves him for dead.
"Duke", however, is able to free his master.While attacking another ranch, Sims plants Drury's harmonica and later cites him as "The Hawk".
A mock trial before Judge Clarence "Necktie" Jones is held, Drury is found guilty and..................................A good series opener with little obvious use of stock footage..
John Wayne (as John Drury) saves a Devil-horse ("Duke") from execution, after the horse's murder trial.
The already inferior "Ride Him, Cowboy" swipes its most exciting material from Ken Maynard's silent "The Unknown Cavalier" (1926).
*** Ride Him, Cowboy (1932) Fred Allen ~ John Wayne, Ruth Hall, Henry B.
Early Wayne western is a good B-film....
A smart horse and a pretty girl are the hero and heroine of RIDE HIM, COWBOY, in which a very young JOHN WAYNE is a drifter mistaken for "The Hawk", a ruthless villain who's the leader of a bunch of gunfighters.
Its plot sounds like something that Mel Brooks could make into one of his western satires about a villain called "The Hawk" and a weak sheriff, as well as the hero mistaken for a villain.It plays well, fast and furious with some plot devices that have become clichés over the years but manages to hold the interest throughout despite some obvious flaws and the dated look of the film itself.RUTH HALL is the pretty young woman and the smart horse is "The Duke", an amazing animal used well as the critter who identifies the masked man known as "The Hawk" and takes his revenge for the final scene.
He's also involved in a clever rescue when Wayne is left strapped to a tree to die in the desert with the horse nearby, able to free himself and Wayne from the predicament.Summing up: Surprisingly good, unpretentious little western that winds up its tale in less than an hour.
This film was the first of a series of B westerns that John Wayne did for Warner Brothers and it was decided to give him a horse companion named Duke.
He went after the villain and the villain who is masked bandit known as the Hawk says the horse is a mankiller who attacked him for no good reason.
Since by day the villain is a respectable town citizen everyone believes him, almost.One of the almost is young cowpoke John Wayne who says he can tame the stallion and proceeds to do so.
He even offers to track down the Hawk.It starts to get a little ridiculous here especially in the way that the villain gets the drop on Wayne.
Of course in the tradition of Trigger, Champion, Topper, and Robert Taylor's horse Varick in Knights of the Round Table, Duke rescues his friend John Wayne.
Doesn't that sound a little odd.Otis Harlan has a very funny bit as the country judge before whom Wayne is tried when he's accused of being the Hawk.
This movie starts with a horse named Duke coming to the rescue of a man being bushwhacked.
Before he's sentenced to death, a cowboy (John Wayne) shows up and offers to ride the horse to prove he's not wild.
After he does and saves Duke, the horse's owner (great character actor Henry B.
Walthall) asks Wayne to help the town catch a masked bandit named the Hawk.
He was named John something-or-other in every movie and always had his horse Duke.
John Wayne got top billing although he shared it with Duke, his horse.The action moves quickly enough for kids to follow it to see if Wayne caught the bad guy or at least exposed him to the law.
Solid supporting cast with both Harry Gribbon and Otis Harlan providing the humor; a little gallows at times but no doubt that was for any adult who wandered in.
You have to feel sorry for Wayne's character, John Drury, who goes from horse saving hero to wanted outlaw in the blink of an eye.
Ride Him, Cowboy (1932) *** (out of 4)Duke, a horse, is on trial for killing a man and the judge is about to put him to death when cowboy John Drury (John Wayne) makes a deal.
Of course the cowboy comes through and soon the two of them are trying to track down the real murderer.RIDE HIM, COWBOY was Wayne's shot at stardom as this was the first of the six picture deal that he signed with Warner.
The film is certainly a step up from movies like TWO FISTED LAW, which featured Wayne in supporting parts.
On a technical level this might still be a "B" movie but it's still better than what we had seen the now legend in up to this point.The best thing about the picture is actually Wayne and his supporting cast of actors.
I thought that laid back approach of Wayne's worked pretty well here including the scenes where he trying to smooth talk the leading lady played by Ruth Hall.
Walthall turns in another fine supporting performance.As you'd expect, there's a lot of gun play as well as other Western trappings but they're all handled quite nicely by director Fred Allen who keeps the film moving at a nice pace throughout its 55 minutes..
I really liked this short movie (55 minutes on TNT), mostly because of a very young John Wayne and a lovely Ruth Hall.
There are some serious flaws (like when the villain leaves Duke with John Wayne out in the desert), but overall a very enjoyable film..
As a fairly early Western, this picture has many of the classic ingredients...bad guys, good guys, romance, lively crowds of town folks,and even a horse for a hero.
However, even with these faults whatever possible enjoyment Western fans might have found is ruined by the incredibly poor acting of John Wayne.
John Drury (Wayne) is new in town but wastes no time taming an angry horse (Duke), making sweet time with Ruth (Hall), and going after the film's villain (Hagney).Folks seem a little harsh in judging the acting and plot.
For drama there are some double-crosses (Drury is framed for being the murderer) and tough talking.John Wayne is nowhere near as polished as we see him in later (and more successful) movies.
John Wayne In His First Starring Turn at Warner Brothers .
Director Fred Allen's "Ride Him, Cowboy," a remake of the 1926 Warner Brothers' Ken Maynard western "The Unknown," toplined John Wayne in his first oater for the Burbank company as a harmonica playing hero out to break up a ring of range thieves terrorizing ranches.
Essentially, "Ride Him, Cowboy" was a B-movie sagebrusher where the star's horse shows more sense than most of the characters and behaves like a resourceful canine rather than a skittish mount.
Aside from a cowboy orchestra strumming a tune, "Ride Him, Cowboy" contains no orchestral soundtrack, but this western boasts better than average production values and looks more expensive than Wayne's later Lone Star westerns that he made after Jack Warner turned him loose some five westerns later.
Predictable from fade-in to fade-out, "Ride Him, Cowboy" is nothing distinguished, but director-turned-editor Fred Allen makes interesting use of dolly shots and there is an interesting point-of-view shot of the sun boiling down on our hero when he is tied to a tree in the desert."Ride Him, Cowboy" opens during one dark, rainy evening as the notorious outlaw 'the Hawk' (Frank Nagney of "The General") a.k.a. Henry Sims and his henchmen attack the Gaunt ranch to steal money.
Meanwhile, the doctor thinks that Webb will pull through without harm, but the ranch hand remains in a coma for three days.The next day in the frontier town of Cattlelow in Maricopa County around the year 1900, Judge Bartlett (Charles Sellon of "Baby Face") convenes court to decide whether to destroy Duke or let the horse live.
Ruth rushes to Duke's defense and pleads with the judge not to destroy a horse as gentle as he is.
About that time, wandering cowpoke John Drury, late of the Tumblin' Ace Ranch in Texas, rides into Cattlelow on his horse 'Buddy' playing a harmonica without a care in the world.
When Drury leans about the impending demise of Duke, he intervenes and persuades Judge Bartlett to let Duke live if he can ride the ornery horse.
Sims makes a one-hundred dollar wager with Gaunt that Drury cannot stay aboard Duke and loses.
Ruth and Gaunt are overjoyed that Drury saves Duke and a bystander observes that Drury would be a great addition to the vigilantes in their fight against the Hawk.
Gaunt invites Drury to their meeting after our hero says that he loves excitement and gives Ruth a loving eye.At the vigilante meeting, Drury suggests that the best way to handle the Hawk is for one man to tackle the villain.
Drury learns that nobody knows what the Hawk looks like, except the man has ridden roughshod over the county for years now.
John Gaunt persuades Sims to escort Drury into the Hawk's bailiwick.
One of the best dolly shots in "Ride Him, Cowboy" occurs during this scene when Allen dollies out from a close-up of Sims to show the entire with several western characters seated around a table.
Later that evening at the Gaunt ranch, John and Ruth get to know each other and Ruth insists that John take Duke when he leaves to track down the Hawk.
At the same time, Duke trots up and strips the saddle off Drury's horse Buddy.
Drury rides off on Duke and meets Sims the following day at Eagle Pass.
They compare their ability to make difficult shots look easy and Sims tries out Drury's six-gun and gets the drop on our hero.
He ties Drury to a tree while Duke restlessly pulls at his own reins after Drury has knotted them to nearby tree.The Hawk gathers his men, attacks a ranch, and kills the son of the owner and wife.
Meanwhile, Webb recovers from his coma and informs Ruth that it was Sims as the Hawk who attacked their ranch.
Ruth mounts up and rides like the devil to save Drury's life.
Ruth arrives in the nick of time to save Drury from an inevitable hanging.Clocking in at a lean, mean 55 minutes, "Ride Him, Cowboy" moves at a brisk pace and never bogs down.
SYNOPSIS: John Drury (Wayne) is a wandering cowboy who saves a spirited wild horse ("Duke") from being put down after a killer, whose identity the horse knows, tries to cover up his crime by laying the blame for the rancher's death on the animal.
The first of six "B" westerns Wayne was to make for Warner Bros, all of them co-starring "Duke" (variously billed as "The Devil Horse" and "The Miracle Horse").
COMMENT: A fascinating little western with great production values (augmented by a few stock shots from the 1926 Ken Maynard version), a suspenseful story, a few offbeat characters and some great acting, particularly from "Duke" the horse, "Duke" the star, Otis Harlan the judge (repeating his role from the 1926 film), and Frank Hagney the villain.
During the 1931/1932 movie release season, Columbia Pictures had Buck Jones under contract to do a series of Westerns.
However with the signing of yet another Western hero, Tim McCoy, Wayne became expendable after appearing in three films that featured Jones and McCoy.So Wayne was picked up by Leon Schlesinger over at Warners, resulting in a series of six films; "Ride Him, Cowboy" was the first.
Long after seeing all sixteen of Wayne's Lone Star Westerns (1933 to 1935) he made right after the Warners gig, I've been diligently seeking them out, and lo and behold, all six appeared on the Turner Classic Movie Channel this past week, aired in the order of their original release.
Sometimes the movie gods smile down favorably.The film opens with Wayne galloping into view atop his horse 'Duke', perhaps not as dramatic an entrance as he made in the opener for "Stagecoach", but impressive nonetheless.
What's interesting is that the picture serves as the origin story for Wayne's horse, who appeared in all six of the Warners sagebrush yarns and released as 'Four Star Westerns'.
The film's captioning stated the town's name as 'Catalog', but I use another reviewer's description since it seems to make more sense.Duke, who's owned by the Gaunt's (Henry B.
Walthall and Ruth Hall), is saved by harmonica playing John Drury (Wayne) after successfully staying on board the bucking Duke to prove that the horse is manageable.
That scene of Drury taming down Duke was handled using stock footage from an earlier Ken Maynard film atop his horse Tarzan.
One more note of interest - Duke appeared to have some sort of brand or mark on his left hindquarter, and depending on the camera angle, the mark looked like 'A1' or '/H', a little difficult to tell, although in the follow up picture, "The Big Stampede", it definitely looks more like 'A1'.Duke proved invaluable in the later going when it became necessary to save his new master from dying in the desert after the villain Hawk (Frank Hagney) tricked Drury into giving up his gun.
Duke managed to uproot the tree he was tied to and undid the rope securing Drury so he could bring the Hawk and the rest of his rustling gang to justice.
Before that though, Drury had to stand trial for a raid on the Gordon Ranch, having been implicated by his harmonica placed at the scene by Henry Sims, the Hawk.
A newspaper headline touting 'Dewey Captures Manila' in the office of Judge 'Necktie' Jones (Otis Harlan), places the date of this story some time after May 1st, 1898.Riding hard to make the save, because Duke couldn't actually speak, one of the few things he wasn't capable of, Ruth Gaunt arrived just in time after outwitting a trio of Hawk's henchmen.
In a story made credible only by the standards of these early B Westerns, Drury and his gal Ruth close things out with a kiss, establishing a tradition that would carry through the remaining Four Star Westerns as well as the Lone Star films to follow.Addendum**** 6-7-2016 - Doing a little research on 'Duke', you can see a pretty good screen capture of the brand noted in my review here at: http://www.b-westerns.com/hoss-jwayne.htm.
Wayne's Warner Brothers' Vitagraph Debut Forgettable.
Ride Him, Cowboy was John Wayne's debut film for Warner Brothers from 1932.
Wayne stars as a drifter who happens upon a small town besieged by the "Hawk", a vandal terrorizing the townsfolk for a reason that's never fully revealed.
A horse named Duke (of all names) joins up with Wayne in thwarting the "Hawk".
The film moves at a brisk pace, but Wayne never gets to show his stuff much and is upstaged by Duke the horse, as is everyone else in the film.
Film is not up to later Wayne standards, even for a programmer.
In the 1930s, John Wayne made a very long string of low-budget westerns.
Heck, Duke the Horse is MUCH smarter than everyone else in this silly film!
No one in town seems to know who the local villain, 'the Hawk', is, but Duke sure knows--and might pay for his life because of this!
A bit later, it turns out that Wayne's character is also amazingly stupid.
In a badly written scene, it's obvious to every single person in the audience (including the babies) that the guy in the desert with Wayne is the Hawk.
I guess the Hawk knew Wayne was the hero and, as such, was invulnerable!
Later still, it's obvious that Wayne is a good guy.
Overall, this is a pretty terrible film--even for a B-western.
Wayne went on to make some very good Bs, but his early ones for Leon Schlesinger Studios were amazingly bad.
It's bad enough that a 25-year-old John Wayne is almost strung up for possession of a harmonica, before he's done anything in Real Life to earn his nickname of "The American Anti-Christ." But the heartless bozos who populate the U.S. West go too far in putting Wayne's Wonder Horse "Duke" on trial, with an eye toward dropping the white stallion on the Gallows.
Both "Dukes"--man and horse--are nearly doomed on the say-so of the local crime-lord, a top honcho on the town's Vigilante Council.