The Lone Avenger (1933) User Reviews

Good Ken Maynard Mystery

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 9 April 2010]

Ken Maynard comes to visit his banker father, only to find him dead of an apparent suicide and his bank looted. However, the suicide weapon is in the right-hand of a left-handed man. Maynard vows to bring the killers to justice, recover the town's money, and clear his father's good name.

The Lone Avenger is fast-paced fun, with loads of action and gun-play. However, the title is a bit of a misnomer, as Ken has a lot of help by the end of the picture, a neat, atmospheric final act in which Maynard and pals psyche out the villains in the midst of a driving nighttime thunderstorm.

One of the few real cowboys to get a picture contract, the salt-of-the-earth Maynard was the first singing western star (1929's The Wagon Master) and allegedly a mean SOB as well! Early on in the movie, he actually seems to be enjoying himself a little too much in a scene where his character orders a man to be dunked repeatedly into a water trough, until he apologizes for insulting his deceased dad!

Maynard at His Best!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 6 August 2014]

This one was directed by Alvin J. Nietz under his "Alan James" pseudonym. Nietz also added a lot of color (e.g. the climax in the storm, the addition of the Charles King character) to the script. Despite a familiar plot by Betty Burbridge and Forrest Sheldon that is a little naive in some places and bit long on coincidence in others, in Neitz's hands, "The Lone Avenger" provides a terrific feast not only for Ken Maynard fans but for all lovers of suspenseful, action-full, well- acted and stylishly produced "B" westerns. If you're not enthralled by all the action, stuntwork, fist fights and fast riding by the time the climax rolls around, then that finale in the saloon as the streets outside are lashed by a vicious thunderstorm will certainly have you cringing fearfully on the edge of your seat.

Both writers and casting director play some fascinating tricks on the audience. Whilst Maynard portrays much his usual stranger-in-town- with-a-score-to-settle, Muriel Gordon plays unusually fast as the heroine, and Charles King turns out to be a good guy! On the other hand, Niles Welch, the innocuous second lead of "The Mysterious Rider" (1933) comes across most effectively here as the schemingly ruthless head villain — whose evil intentions are superbly abetted by cowardly henchman, Al Bridge.

"Remember it only takes that one piece of paper to put a noose around all our necks."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 12 June 2012]

I wonder what compels some viewers to rate a picture like this a ten. This one has five users as I write this giving it a top grade and no one else below a five. Oh well.

You knew that bank president John Weston was a murder victim just as soon as the town doctor pronounced it a clear case of suicide. Probably the most commonly used plot element in these old B Westerns, it gives Cal Weston (Ken Maynard) a chance to arrive on the scene and get to the task of uncovering his father's killer. This may be one of the earliest examples of the old right hand/left hand gimmick that's also been used countless times since.

One of the things I get a kick out of is how the hero gets shot, in this case Maynard's character takes a bullet to the shoulder, and once the scene is over and he's patched up, he's as good as new as if it never happened. No soreness or immobility to contend with, just riding hard and fighting it out with the bad guys until the story's over. At the appointed time, Cal shows up at the local saloon to finger the man who killed his father, but if it was explained how he did so I must have missed it. Not going to worry about it though, most of these pictures fade to memory almost immediately after watching them, but they're fun while they last.

Nobody in film sneared or snarked better than Al Bridge.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 18 April 2020]

Irregardless of the fact that character actor Al Bridge was constantly typecast as a western villain, he would always notice him or at least recognize the voice. There were classiercharacter actors known for their snarking and snaring, like Fred Clark and Henry Jones, but they were in the major studios a list films. Rarely would you see Al Bridge in a major role in one of the big westerns. Here, he steals the film right out from under the nose of Western hero Ken Maynard, trying to find out who killed the town banker and made it appear to be suicide. This film is highlighted by a severe thunderstorm where all of the suspects are gathered together in a saloon while someone plays the death march at the piano. They stare constantly at the swinging saloon doors waiting for the hero to come in and pin the murder on the real killer. This has a few surprises, and is above average in atmosphere for a B Western. Muriel Gordon provides the feminine touch to the often creaky proceedings, not vital to the plot, but attractive for the middling romantic subplot. As far as B westerns go, I'd give this an A for originality and Bridge's theatrical performance, only taken down by its low budget and ultimate predictability.

Vanilla

[view_and_review · 4/10 · 28 December 2023]

I hate to use the term, but I can only describe "The Lone Avenger" as vanilla. I hate to say it's vanilla derogatorily because I love that flavor: ice cream, protein shakes, and Tootsie Rolls.

The main character, Cal Weston (Ken Maynard), was a stiff, clean cut choir boy of a character who was more Clark Kent than he was Superman. He came back to his hometown after his father was murdered. It was made to look like a suicide, but Cal knew better. He only needed to find out who wanted him dead, then he could find out whodunit.

One of the drawbacks of westerns pre-1960's is that they were too bland. The good guys were so good they didn't even make grammatical errors and the bad guys were slobs with the exception of their boss. "The Lone Avenger" was really basic and it didn't help that Cal's horse was an equine version of Lassie. He could untie knots and even give advanced warning to Cal if danger was approaching; proving that if a good guy is righteous even the animals will help him.

Give me something grittier and less pristine.

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