The Hard Hombre (1931)

Director:

Otto Brower

Writer:

Jack Natteford (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 September 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

When Peaceful Patton goes to work at the Martini ranch he is mistaken for the notorious outlaw the Hard Hombre...

Plot Keywords:

Water | Mistaken Identity

Cast

Hoot Gibson	...	William Penn 'Peaceful' Patton
Lina Basquette	...	Senora Martini
Mathilde Comont	...	Maria Romero (as Matilde Comont)
G. Raymond Nye	...	Joe Barlow
Jessie Arnold	...	Mrs. Patton
Jack Byron	...	Abe
Christian J. Frank	...	Sheriff (as Christian Frank)
Rosa Gore	...	Wife In Shack
Skeeter Bill Robbins	...	Slim (as Bill Robbins)
Frank Winklemann	...	The Hard Hombre

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Photophone)

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Allied Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Remade as Trailing Trouble (1937)

"One rattlesnake looks like another..."

This movie starts out with "Peaceful Patton" (Hoot Gibson) riding right into the middle of a gunfight to try to get them to solve their problems without fighting. One immediately wonders what on Earth is wrong with him (perhaps he was dropped on his head numerous times as a baby) as this movie has an extremely weird take on what might otherwise be cliché (for example - if Don Knotts was in the role), but that's what makes it so amusing in parts, I guess.

Seriously, having a "rule" to not fight certainly doesn't mean you are going to go way out of your way to make sure you get killed; in other words, Patton seems totally oblivious to almost every facet of reality around him for the first half-hour. Oh well, as long as his mother is happy (although she tends to shout and nag a lot). It is about halfway through the movie before Patton comes to see that people think he's the "Hard Hombre", but then the movie goes quickly downhill from that point, especially when Patton then actually has a gun for a short time (thus simply throwing his lifelong "rule" out the window for the sole benefit of hamming it up for no discernible reason) - kind of ruins the continuity and previous takes.

The "Mexican" women certainly act, sound, and look a lot more like FRENCH maids. In fact, sometimes they sound so "French", it's like they're doing bad Napolean impressions. To be honest, I was seriously expecting a "certainly monsieur" in several scenes, and had this movie been filmed in Paris, I probably wouldn't have noticed. The Mexican man about 20 minutes in isn't much better - he sounds more like Werner Klemperer in an episode of "Hogan's Heroes".

What I learned from this movie - "The Golden Rule" means "ladies first".

I won't reveal the ending, but you'll probably be rolling on the floor with it.

6/10