Sunset Range

1935 "A THRILLING OUTDOOR CLASSIC"
6.4| 1h0m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 02 April 1935 Released
Producted By: First Division Productions
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Grant hides stolen money in the luggage of Bonnie Shea who is moving west. Later when he and his men arrive to retrieve the money, they also kidnap Bonnie. This sends Reasonin' Bates and his cowhands on their horses after the gangsters in their cars.

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
JohnHowardReid Hoot Gibson (Reasonin' Bates), Mary Doran (Mary Shea), James Eagles (Eddie Shea), Walter McGrail (Grant), John Elliott (Dan Caswell), Ralph Lewis (sheriff), Eddie Lee (Ling Fong), Kitty McHugh (Della, the maid), Horace B. Carpenter (Joe Jackson), Slim Whitaker, Goober Glenn, Bill Hickey, Jim Corey, Ed "Pardner" Jones, George Sowards, Lem Sowards, Freddie Gilman, Bill Gillis (themselves), Fred Humes (Teddy Dove).Director: RAY McCAREY. Story and continuity: Paul Schofield. Photography: Gilbert Warrenton. Film editor: Ralph Dietrich. Music director: Abe Meyer. Production manager: Leon D'Usseau. Assistant director: George Sherman. Sound recording: Hal Bumbaugh. Copyright 15 March 1935 by First Division Productions, Inc. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 3 April 1935. 6 reels. 60 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Two cowpokes have saved up almost enough money to buy the ranch at which they work, when a new owner suddenly arrives from the east. A female to boot!COMMENT: Starts off slowly but soon develops into a rather charming comedy/romance with a slap-up chase climax. Deftly shot on location by director Ray McCarey (brother of Leo), this little western has much to recommend it, not least the attractive performances rendered by almost the entire cast, led by Hoot Gibson, Mary Doran and John Elliott.
Michael Morrison Maybe we mostly go to B Westerns for the action, gun play and saloon fights and horseback chases. At least I do.But "Sunset Range" has something else: Charm.And good humor.And extremely likable ranch hands who suddenly find themselves employed by a city-slicker girl who herself just oozes charm.The joy of "Sunset Range" begins with a wonderful story, by Paul Schofield, of whom it is very difficult to find any information.That story is presented by director Ray McCarey, and it must run in the family, directorial excellence, because he was brother to Leo McCarey.McCarey is gifted with not only his own skill but with a cast that is about as close to perfect for this cine-play as a cast could get.Many of the performers play characters with their, the actors', names, such as Goober Glenn and George and Lem Sowards.One stand-out is John Elliott, who has credits starting in 1919 and running till 1956! He gives what must be the best performance in this movie, and one of the best I've ever seen in a B Western.The ranch-hand characters are dirty and dusty and unshaven fellows suddenly presented with a city-slicker girl as their new boss, because her brother bought her the ranch, and their reaction is priceless.One hand, though, is resentful. Even this lovely and adorable girl is still a girl and he just don't like 'em. Girls, that is.That hand is the estimable Hoot Gibson. I have only recently -- February of 2016 -- re-discovered Hoot and I am just enthralled. Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but so far I believe he is one of the most likable movie performers, probably in all of Hollywood history.He is not our standard rough and tough cowboy hero, but in real life he had been a cowboy who became a movie stunt man, an early one.He earns our admiration and liking by his personality and not just his fisticuffs.He and his cowboy colleagues in "Sunset Range" make us awfully glad we tuned in to watch them and the charming and adorable Bonnie, played by the charming and adorable Mary Doran.A good story so well played by this perfect cast is really quite a surprise to someone expecting a shoot-'em-up, but it should be a very pleasant surprise.By the way, there IS plenty of action, too, and director McCarey uses his cameras very well in capturing it.I highly recommend "Sunset Range" which is available at YouTube.
MartinHafer In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, a bazillion different B-series westerns were made starring the likes of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne and Hoppalong Cassidy. Some of these films were pretty weird, as very little effort was made to make them period pieces. So, you might see Gene Autry or Hoot Gibson on the telephone, chasing men in a car or truck while they are on horseback or using the latest electrical devices! These anachronisms were not in most of these films but they were pretty common. Because "Sunset Range" is one of these very anachronistic films, it is strange to watch. After all, many of the characters dress in contemporary 1930s garb and the rest dress like traditional cowboys. But, weird as this aspect is of the film, the plot is light and engaging and worth seeing.A group of cowboys are horrified to hear that their ranch where they work has been bought by someone back east. When this mystery owner arrives, he turns out to be a she--and most of the men are thrilled to meet her. But one of them (Hoot) isn't and has a hard time accepting a lady boss. However, she likes him and he likes her--so what are they to do? See this film and find out--but I am pretty sure there is no way you'll guess exactly what happens next.Inventive and worth seeing if you like B-westerns.
bkoganbing There's a lot more humor in Sunset Range than you would find in most B westerns. And I mean humor not at the expense of some dopey sidekick. Hoot Gibson and Mary Doran are a well matched pair of leads and the comedy is on the level of some of the better Roy Rogers/Dale Evans westerns which also had a battle of the sexes.Mary Doran has come west to live on a ranch purchased by her brother James Eagles. Eagles is a racketeer albeit not a very good one. His rackets boss Walter McGrail hides $100,000.00 in stolen loot in Doran's trunk in a secret compartment to get it out of town while they wait until the heat cools down. Doran doesn't know she has it.In the meantime she settles in on her new ranch where she has to win over the men headed by Hoot Gibson who had hoped to buy the place for himself. Gibson and Doran are not quite Tracy and Hepburn, but they do have their moments. There's a funny tooth pulling scene and later on Doran gets Gibson to wear a pair of wool chaps that drugstore cowboys would normally wear. She does it by using some loaded dice on the unsuspecting Hoot.The reason the scenes play so well is that the director here is Raymond McCarey, Leo's brother. The younger McCarey never got the acclaim that Leo did, he never graduated into A feature pictures. But he did do a lot of comedy shorts for Hal Roach. Ray McCarey's comedic touch is a sure one that those years with Roach would have taught him.McCarey also did do B westerns and he does have a really furious climax with the city bandits who have taken Doran hostage in Sunset Range. All in all Sunset Range is a really excellent B western, way out of the league of the normal poverty row product.