TOO MUCH BEEF

Rex Bell

TOO MUCH BEEF (1936). Director: Robert F. Hill.

Rocky Brown (Forrest Taylor) owns the Wagon Wheels ranch and lives with his sister, Ruth (Constance Bergen). He realizes that steers which aren't part of his herd are being branded and placed with his own cattle. As Rocky was once falsely jailed for rustling, he is anxious to get to the bottom of this. To that end comes Johnny Argyle (Rex Bell) calling himself "Tucson Smith" as he investigates. Johnny romances Ruth as he interviews Rocky's gal pal Sheila (Marjorie O'Connell), drunk Tracy Paine (George Ball), Rocky's foreman Shorty (Jimmy Aubrey), railroad man George Thompson (John Cowell), and others. When a fellow named Dynamite (Lloyd Ingraham) is murdered, Rocky is framed for it -- Johnny goes into action and saves the day!

Constance Bergen and Forrest Taylor

In his day Rex Bell was a big western movie star, but he was probably more famous for being the husband of "It" girl Clara Bow. He is good-looking, with some charm, and a bare minimum of acting ability, at least in this very standard oater. The other cast members are a little more impressive, but the direction for this is slow, and except for one fist fight and some gun shots in the climactic courtroom scene, this is not too memorable a picture. Bell appeared in forty-three films, wrapping up his career with an uncredited bit in The Misfits in 1961. He and Bow were married for over thirty years until his death, which occurred when he was running for governor of Nevada. Forrest Taylor appeared in several serials, including the wonderful Manhunt of Mystery Island.     

Verdict: Rex is appealing in his way but the movie doesn't amount to much. *1/2. 

THE IRON CLAW

The Iron Claw looms in

THE IRON CLAW (15-chapter Columbia serial/1941). Director: James W. Horne. 

Old reprobate Anton Benson (Forrest Taylor) pretends to be ill in his sprawling mansion and jealousy guards knowledge of a cache of gold that everyone both within and outside of his family wants to get their hands on. Anton is assisted by the butler, Gyves (John Beck), who knows much more about what's going on than he reveals. Other greedy characters include Anton's jailbird brother, Roy (Norman Willis), Anton's daughter, Millie (Edyth Elliott), her husband Simon Leach (Allen Doone), Dr. James Benson (Alex Callam), and others. Anton's brother, Culver (James Metcalfe), is murdered in the first chapter. Gangster Silk Langdon (Charles King) and his cohorts are also after the treasure, as is a mysterious figure known only as the Iron Claw, who sneaks about the mansion's corridors and many secret passages. 

Joyce Bryant and Charles Quigley

Into this merry gathering come Anton's niece, Patricia (Joyce Bryant), reporter Bob Lane (Charles Quigley of Daredevils of the Red Circle), and his photographer, Jack "Flash" Strong (Walter Sande), with the hapless Captain Casey (James C. Morton) along for the ride. Much of the action shifts down to Mexico, where Anton -- and virtually everyone else -- go to find the treasure deep in a mine. The treasure winds up being tossed back and forth between participants while the final chapters take place both around and inside Anton's mansion. During all this the Iron Claw, who never really seems especially scary, seems to become a guest-star in his own serial, as there are far too many players to keep track of. Cliffhangers include explosions, cave-ins, a pit filled with spikes, a room with hot jets of burning steam, and so on, all recorded at a breathless pace. 

Sinister shadow of the Iron Claw

There are times when The Iron Claw resembles nothing so much as a screwball comedy, and there's too much alleged comedy relief. The fight scenes, which occur frequently, can best be described as riotous, with each melee a free-for-all in which lots of furniture is gleefully smashed along with heads and faces. These almost approach the level of the fisticuffs in later serials from Republic. Super-fast-paced and generally entertaining, it's a shame that there is no great copy of The Iron Claw in existence, to my knowledge. A copy in four parts on youtube is better than a copy I have on DVD -- at least you can see what's happening in the night-time sequences -- but there are still gaps, sound distortions, a murky visual quality and so on. The cast is certainly enthusiastic. 

Verdict: Fun, but you might want to wait until this is digitally remastered. **3/4.