Pioneer Days: A Movie Review

Pioneer Days is a surprisingly charming b western picture from 1940 starring Jack Randall and directed by Harry S. Webb. The film has just the right mix of action, humor, and heroics to satisfy most fans of low budget western movies from that era.

The story opens with a trio of would be stagecoach robbers saving a beautiful young lady from a gang of other stagecoach robbers who beat them to their holdup. From that point on, the less than honest trio go out of their way to help the lovely girl after she is swindled out of her inheritance by an even more dishonest man than them.

If that summary seems a bit vague to you, I do apologize, but I think this works better the less you know about it. Also, the bare bones nature of the story is very similar to many other movies, but it plays out in some surprising ways here.

Jack Randall is suitably heroic in the lead, he carries himself with the right amount of swagger, and has enough charm to cover for his slightly wooden performance. Sadly, he was killed in a stunt accident five years after this movie, he was only 39 years old. That's a real shame, because I see enough potential in his performance here to show the makings of someone who could have been a genuine b-western legend along the lines of many less talented, but better known stars.

Director Harry S. Webb worked a lot in the western genre. His direction is generally quite efficient here, he keeps things moving at a fairly decent pace, handles the comedy well enough, and delivers the goods at the end of the day. This might serve as an interesting piece of trivia for some people; this film was his final directorial effort.

Pioneer Days is not the kind of picture that will stick with you, but I still found it mildly entertaining. Do I recommend it? Sure, for the right viewer. I trust my readers well enough to think that you should know whether or not you fit into that crowd. If it sounds like something you might enjoy, give it a try, it's short enough to not be considered much of a time investment.

-W. Jay Pinto

Six-Gun Song by Orlando Rigoni: A Book Review

 

Orlando Rigoni was an author that I was not familiar with, this book was another one of those blind fifty cent purchases from a local thrift store, based entirely on the strength of the cover. Now that I have finished this novel, I will be very actively looking for more material from this brilliant writer.

On the surface this is a very simple revenge tale, but Rigoni's unconventional approach to the storytelling makes this a rewarding read, and a genuine page-turner. I wish I could say more about the unconventional nature of the novel, but covering much of that nature would also enter into spoiler territory that I would prefer to avoid. Suffice to say that despite the derivative elements of the book's plot, the author took a path with the story that is likely to pleasantly surprise the average reader. Even readers like myself who read western tales all the time and have seen every cliche that one could think of at least a million times.

The story opens with a sixteen year old boy witnessing the murder of both his mother and his father. One of the three killers goes as far as to scalp the woman so as to make the crime scene look like the work of Apaches. The boy, Scott Gentry, had been away for several years before the killings, getting an education from his aunt, and was on his way back home when he witnessed the ghastly scene.

Gentry goes into hiding for three years, training himself in gun skills, hand-to-hand combat, and carefully plotting his revenge. After three years of hard work, Scott emerges as a strong, and dangerous man, ready for action, and hungry for revenge.

Now, I do realize just how cliched, and simplistic that plot sounds, but the approach to this story that Orlando Rigoni takes is so unique, and so original, that this tome is going to rank among my favorites. There are a surprising number of completely unexpected plot-twists in the narrative. The story benefits from incredibly engaging characters, religious imagery, and surprisingly philosophical thoughts on the nature of revenge.

Six-Gun Song is a brilliant novel. It was such an amazing pleasure to read that I can easily say that this is one of my highest possible recommendations. Seek this book out, you will not be sorry.

-W. Jay Pinto