The Lone Avenger (1933)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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.

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.

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!