Roarin' Guns (1936) User Reviews

Well, at least McCoy is good.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 2 February 2015]

"Roarin' Guns" is a pretty standard B-western. The plot is very familiar and you must accept that too many of the citizens are idiots in order for it all to make sense. But, at least the film stars Tim McCoy--one of the best cowboy stars of his age. Unlike the 'pretty- boy' cowboy stars who wore ultra-fancy duds and sang, McCoy was more of a no-nonsense star who actually had an amazing life off camera-- being a real honest-to-goodness trick shooter who traveled the country putting on shooting expositions as well as being a Colonel in the US military (serving in both WWI and WWII). So, for his presence and acting, the film gains a point or two.

As for the plot, it's all a very standard sort of clichéd story. Some baddie is trying to grab up as much of the west as he can and to do so he sets rancher against rancher. And, of course, our hero, Tim, is there to save the day.

The biggest reason I cannot score this one higher than 5 is that there are a few brainless moments. One had an anonymous caller phone the sheriff* and say that Tim murdered someone--and the idiot sheriff just assumed Tim was a killer and went to arrest him. Wow...what a rube. Overall, not a terrible western--and one that at least has a few good moments.

*Yes, like too many westerns of the 30s, they have telephones and this makes it a strange sort of hybrid modern and old west sort of story.

FYI--The title screen says 1926 not 1936. Apparently whoever made this graphic didn't understand Roman numerals.

"Tim's a hundinger, ain't he"?

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 19 April 2011]

The intro to the story sets up a familiar cattle baron versus rancher theme, but the picture doesn't go very far in that direction. Instead it concerns a plot between a cattleman AND a rancher to muscle in on a spread owned by Bob Morgan (John Elliott). Earlier, Morgan sent for hired gunman Tim Corwin (Tim McCoy) to investigate the purported range war, but if there was one, it was in name only. There was some talk about rustled horses, including the stampeding herd in the opening scene, but that's as far as it got.

With the arrival of Corwin on the scene, the villain duo make plans to do away with him by setting him up for the murder of Morgan. But wouldn't you know it, Morgan's young son Buddy (Tommy Bupp) overhears their plans and warns the sheriff. This sort of thing was fairly commonplace in these early Westerns, a cheap plot device that relied on someone being in the right place at the right time without being seen to turn the tables. Morgan's niece May Carter (Rosalinda Price) is used to bait Corwin, but McCoy had been in enough of these pictures not to be fooled by the ruse. He makes the save for May, and guns down the villains in a showdown when the action shifts back to town.

It pays to keep attentive even in run of the mill stories like this because you never know what might pop up. I got a kick out of an advertising sign on one of the barns in town - it was for Smiths Pancake Trail Flour. I don't know about you, but it seemed to me like it could whip up a fair stack of flapjacks.

This is the consequences.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 25 January 2023]

Maybe not the best use of the English language, but this B Tim McCoy western quickly gets to the point with the chase sequence followed by the note of the villains being shown on screen, indicating you were ordered to sell or else face the consequences. That makes the point when old buddy McCoy is sent for to help his pal out, not making it in time but sticking around to see that justice is served. This plot has been used over again in hundreds of B Westerns, and only the leading hero has changed as far as the actor was concerned or the basic surroundings. Rosalinda Price aides McCoy in the romance department with Timothy Bupp the typical precocious kid cool goes out of his way to aide McCoy in getting revenge, in this case, being the son of the old pal. Bupp definitely has more appeal than the A-list stars over at MGM, Mickey Rooney and Jackie Cooper, quite natural, and making the repetition of the plot a lot more tolerable. Without him, I might not have made it through.

Squeeze Play

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 3 July 2013]

Roarin' Guns stars Tim McCoy as a Shane like western hero who being sent for by his good friend John Elliot who is caught in a squeeze play between two feuding ranchers Karl Hackett and Wheeler Oakman. They both want to acquire the property he's running for niece Rosalinda Price.

Elliot is killed and McCoy's reputation makes him a likely suspect. The one who truly believes in him is Elliot's young son Tommy Bupp. In fact he has a headshot autographed photograph of McCoy just like the ones that McCoy autographed for all the fans of his movies. I have to say that Roarin' Guns has first in B westerns or even C westerns where this one belongs. First time I ever saw a gunslinger having 8 by 10 glossies available for his fans.

That bit of silliness was really too much for me. This film was given or inflicted on the movie-going public by an outfit called Puritan Pictures. Poor McCoy, he really must have not had any better offers.

Range War

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 29 September 2021]

"Roarin' Guns" was originally released back in 1936.

A Cattleman's Association agent is assigned to investigate a range war between a group of settlers and a cattle baron. Enroute to the territory, the agent befriends a ranch hand and his son who happens to be employed by the cattle baron.

Whole herd of trouble headin' our way

[hines-2000 · 10/10 · 1 January 2021]

Bob Morgan (John Elliot) proclaims, "Corwin's a killer, that's right this is liable to be a killin' business before we're through." Loved the shooting scene with Tim McCoy and Tommy Bupp. In real life, McCoy was an expert marksman and Colonel in WWI and WWII. Also some good actors of the era with Wheeler Oakman the henchmen's henchman, Rex Lease from the silent era and Flash Gordon's loyal ally, Richard Alexander. Jack Rockwell's acting is solid as ever as is lovely Rosalinda Price in her short-lived career.