Man Of The Forest (1933)

A corrupt land baron (Noah Beery) desires the river property of a wrongly accused ex-convict (Harry Carey). When he hears that the ex-con is turning over his property to his niece (Verna Hillie), he plots to have the niece kidnapped. Based on the novel by Zane Grey and directed by Henry Hathaway (TRUE GRIT). This pre-code western is just a B western programmer but it's just different enough to stand out a bit. Being a pre-code, it's more adult than the family friendly westerns of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry that would follow. The implied sexual relationship between Beery and his longtime housekeeper (Blanche Friderici) comes to a bitter conclusion in an act of a woman scorned and there's no assumption that she'll be punished! But perhaps most notably, it's an opportunity to see a young pre-stardom Randolph Scott at a very early stage of his career as the film's hero. Unfortunately, his character doesn't come off as very bright as he lacks the foresight to see what is obviously coming like we do. With Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane and Guinn Williams.