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Showing posts with label charles barton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charles barton. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Born to the West A.K.A. Hell Town (1937)

An American western directed by Charles Barton, starring John Wayne, Marsha Hunt and Johnny Mack Brown.
A pair of cowboys get caught up in a gunfight and end up meeting the cousin of one of them. The cousin gives him money and sends him to lead a cattle drive. He also meets a woman who bandages his eye after a fist fight. During the cattle drive, the main character saves this woman when her horse runs away with her on it. When the drive is over, the main character is getting robbed by playing a rigged game of poker. The rich cousin steps in, wins back the money and catches the other players and the bartender cheating. Another gunfight ensues.
There was some fast paced action with the chases and fights. The plot was not as clearly communicated as I would like and the characters were a little too shallow. There were some good camera angles, the best one showing the bartended switching decks of cards when he served drinks. The style was very much of the time, but the audio and video were pretty clear. I rate this tolerable because it was alright, but didn't really catch my interest.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Africa Screams (1949)

An American comedy adventure directed by Charles Barton, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
Abbott and Costello work at a book store where they threw away a book about Africa. Some people come in looking for the book and offering money for a map that was in it. Abbott and Costello coerce their way into the African safari.
The plot was full of sub-plots, as most comedic films are, and the characters seemed to be repeating their roles from previous work that I haven't seen. There were a few physical comedy acts that I found amusing, but otherwise, nothing special. It's just really good to watch something that isn't kung fu. I rate it poor.