IMDb's reviews have been extremely helpful to me lately. So, it seems only fair that I should write something about a movie that's lacked any reviews up to now. First of all and very positive, somehow this Poverty Row studio managed to rent a satisfactory number of cattle. In far too many films there are only a dozen or so. Here, I'd guess 50. Taken as a comedy, "A Man's Land" is easy-going, agreeable and stupid
but nice stupid. Hoot Gibson, Skeeter Bill Robbins and Ethel Wales do the comedy bits well. There were the usual amazing things about the Old West that I sure wouldn't have otherwise known when I was a kid: Although there were no electricity and no phone wires, there was a functioning wall telephone. Although there were no filling stations, there was one automobile (solar powered?), which suddenly appeared to frighten the girl's horse. As things developed, it must have frightened her too, since she was unable to control it though later on it was obvious that she was a highly skilled rider.
Another thing about the Old West: as usual, the scheming villain (black hat, thin black moustache, cigar) was a banker. This wasn't surprising in a 1932 movie --- bankers weren't popular back then. Still, it would be nice to see a movie in which the hero or heroes came to the rescue of the banker who was being cheated by all the local deadbeat ranchers, store owners, hotel owners, and saloon, dance-hall, gambling hall, and Even Worse proprietors.
Another thing about the Old West that I wish I'd known as a kid: how to knock somebody down by a punch to the jaw that clearly missed by a couple of inches: Hoot accomplished this with Henchman Joe.
The movie begins promisingly with Skeeter admiring a Bathing Beauty postcard of Tootsie Wootsie, a young woman with whom he's been corresponding. This went straight to my heart, since my wife and I met on the contemporary equivalent, the Internet. Tootsie Wootsie wanted $500 to come to Skeeter. This would be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 in today's money, so that portended all sorts of interesting plot possibilities. Sad to say, though, the only woman besides Ethel Wales who showed up was the one whom Hoot eventually married. As a nasty old man, I have nothing against his being old enough, easily old enough, to be her father. However
well, let's say that she was unlikely to become a godly, submissive wife. Ever.
I've long known that in detective movies drivers rarely look back when they're being followed or notice when they're being watched from a parked car. Similarly Hoot was unable to hear the bad guys riding off, even though they were only a few yards away. Given the young lady whom he was going to marry, let's hope that this was because he was deaf. However, it may simply have been because of my copy's continuously scratchy background noises that accompanied its constantly blurry screen resolution.
One could go on
the rustlers panicking and riding away from Hoot and Skeeter, even though they greatly outnumbered them, the bad guy unsuccessfully shooting twice at Hoot then throwing his gun away before he got into the saddle and chased him. All in all, IMDb might consider adding Comedy to its Western caption. On the positive side, nobody sang. So, I give the movie 6 out of 10.