The Red Blood of Courage (1935) User Reviews

Enjoyable little picture that is long on action and short on plot

[tpea1 · 5/10 · 27 July 2006]

This film features Kermit Maynard at his best. Kermit had a far better personality than brother Ken . He was 'likeable ' , but did not have the the 'star' look . He was far more imaginative in his stunts and riding than Ken . Each of Kermits films demonstrate that fact as can be seen in this film . This entire series has to rank as one of the better B-western series in the 30's . This is quite a feat considering the studio .A big drawback was most of his films were Mountie films and the public was not that much into Mounties.

Ann Sheridan is in an early role in her career . She still is getting used to the camera as seen in various close-ups , but no question that a star is in the making . The 'cheapness' of the production centers in the fact that most of the story takes place in a cabin and has a lot of chases . Still this is an enjoyable little film with some of the plot variations that 'indies ' were more prone to do than the 'cookie-cutter' formulas of the major B-western studios.They always had good germs of plots that could have been more well developed with a bigger budget.

Decent B Western

[zeemanguy · 5/10 · 20 October 2003]

Ann Sheridan in one of her early roles is visiting her uncle and gets caught up in attempt by the bad guys to take her uncle's land. She and Kermit Maynard attempt to save the day. The film is only 55 minutes long and worth watching as a good example of the old B Westerns.

Make it 6.5!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 19 August 2015]

Ann Sheridan's 25th movie would you believe – but she doesn't look a bit like the Ann Sheridan we all know and love. No oomph girl here, that's for sure, but a very attractive young woman all the same. In fact, all the players in this Kermit Maynard "B" are pretty good and though the movie is somewhat house-bound, it manages to holds the viewer's interest. All the same, it would have been even more agreeable with less talk and more action. As the plot crunches slowly forward, the movie actually seems to run somewhat longer than its allotted time span of 55 minutes. Like other entries featuring Ken Maynard, the movie is set in Canada and even has maybe ten or twelve minutes of location footage. Dull footage at that, but nonetheless... Available on a very good Alpha DVD.

Early Ann in an ordinary oater

[jjnxn-1 · 5/10 · 25 July 2014]

Programmer western of the type churned out to fill the bottom of a double bill is ordinary in every way with some awful acting by Kermit Maynard and several of the supporting actors. This was an extremely early movie in Ann Sheridan's career and one of the first times she received credit on screen as Ann rather than Clara Lou Sheridan. On loan from Paramount during her brief time there before moving on to the a much more productive tenure at Warner's she's fresh and relaxed but the star making machinery hadn't started turning yet and she looks very rustic.

The plot such as it is has been done in westerns a million times so the only real interest in catching this short feature is if you're a Sheridan completist.

"... and if anyone should ask you, I wasn't here and you didn't see me."

[classicsoncall · 3/10 · 26 April 2012]

Well you never know who you'll come across in some of these old B Westerns, and if I had seen her here first, Ann Sheridan might not have become my favorite actress of the era. Fortunately there were roles like Laurie Ferguson in "Angels With Dirty Faces" to reveal what a sassy but classy actress she could be. Here she wasn't given much of a chance to shine, but the promise was there, and it was interesting to see in the opening credits that she was on loan to cheapie Ambassador Pictures from home studio Paramount. If I had to bet, I'd say she was glad to get back.

Perhaps it was the abundance of awkward jump cuts in the print I watched that brought the quality of this film down for me. There were just so many plot lines back in the day for these film makers to retread, so the story itself wasn't that unique. Basically you had a lead villain (Reginald Barlow in a dual role) attempting to take ownership of property belonging to Sheridan's character Beth Henry and her uncle. In my version of the picture, you never got to see Pete Drago make the switch with Uncle Mark, so you don't get to figure that out till the end of the picture.

With Kermit Maynard, you don't get to see a whole lot of acting ability, but if he's the guy doing his own riding and stunt work, then that's good enough for me. He does an interesting maneuver from the back of his horse in which he flips up into the saddle on a dead run, made more impressive by facing where he's come from and not where he's going. It's really a cool move.

Maybe even more impressive is the price tag for some supplies he picks up at the local trading post - a half pound of bacon, two pounds of sugar and a peck of feed for two dollars and sixteen cents! "...and weigh it out where I can watch ya" he says to the shopkeeper!

The one thing that puzzled me though - when Beth told Jim (Maynard) to hide in the closet and Uncle Mark was shot in the back, how could Jim tell if the uncle was facing the closet door?

Pretty bad, though I didn't see the original form of the film.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 31 October 2014]

Like so many old B-westerns, this film was chopped up a bit for TV viewing. In other words, to allow time for commercials, it was trimmed by some idiots. So, while I disliked the film, perhaps it would have been a bit better if 9 minutes weren't missing!

This film stars the genial minor star, Kermit Maynard (Ken was his much more famous and ill-tempered brother). While I like him in films, he doesn't have much of a screen presence compared to the more famous B-cowboys of the age. In support is a VERY young Ann Sheridan--long before she underwent a complete makeover from the studio. She is far from glamorous here and isn't as sassy or likable as she'd later become when she worked her way up to Warner Brothers. Together, the two have some amazingly bland adventures that make very little sense. It's about a fake uncle and some jerks who want to cheat Ann out of her inheritance HOWEVER it never makes any sense and bored the life out of me due to pedestrian writing, semi-competent direction and some listless acting. Watch if you dare...just don't say I didn't warn you.

Incognito

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 11 September 2021]

"Red Blood Of Courage was originally released back in 1935.

Anyway - As the story goes - The owner of some land rich in oil deposits is kidnapped by a ruthless gang with the intent to substitute him for a double who will take the land from the rightful owner.

Undercover in the great northwest

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 17 April 2018]

Kermit Maynard and so many B picture cowboys did not get leading ladies from Hollywood's A list. But Maynard did so here albeit Ann Sheridan would get there in two years after Warner Brothers picked up her contract.

The Red Blood Of Courage is set in the great northwest of Canada and Maynard plays a mysterious stranger asking about a man reputed last seen in this vicinity.

That curiosity gets him shot at by folks who presumably had a hand in the disappearance of the guy he's inquiring after. But Maynard also runs into young Ann Sheridan who has been sent for by Reginald Barlow her uncle whom she hasn't seen in over a decade and he seems real anxious to get her hitched to Ben Hendricks who's a roughneck sort and works for Barlow. That prospect doesn't appeal to Ann who figures she can do a lot better. Remember this is the future Oomph Girl we're talking about.

I won't say more other than Sheridan who's a perfect Little Nell type heroine has some nasty schemes built around her marrying this slimeball.

There's a bit more plot involved here and sadly a lot of the film has been cut and you have to fill in the gaps. The film was shot outdoors with Big Bear Lake serving as the Canadian Northwest. I've noted that several B westerns seem to have been filmed here, it will look familiar to you if you've seen others.

A bit better than what you normally get from poverty row outfits like Ambassador Pictures which produced The Red Blood Of Courage. Still the editing is from hunger.

Has An Upside As Well As A Down

[dougdoepke · 13 August 2023]

Oddball cowboy programmer set in modern times, but with plenty hard-riding, fast-shooting, and forrest scenery. Plot's pretty complicated and at times hard to follow, but maybe that's just geezer me. Seems old guy Henry has rich, undeveloped land that a gang wants, but to get it they have to first get rid of him then marry his daughter to one of them (and what a bunch of ugly guys they are!). Meanwhile, stranger Maynard shows up and wants to join gang. But does he fit in. So what's gonna happen. Anyway, events may be crowded for the short run-time, but they're seldom predictable with only a few cowboy flick cliches. So you might give the 55-minutes a try.

(In passing - that's A-list actress Ann Sheridan as daughter Elizabeth, then on her way up the Hollywood ladder as the Oomph Girl though you'd never guess it from her virginal presence here. Then too, there's cowboy Maynard who taught me a whole new way of 'dotting an I'.)