classicsoncall I would never have figured Randolph Scott and Ann Sheridan in a picture together, much less a Western. At least it's nominally a Western, with it's fair share of mystery elements as hero Larry Sutton (Scott) arrives on the scene as a mining engineer with a penchant for detective work.I saw this picture under the title "The Fighting Westerner", packaged as part of a two hundred fifty film Western collection by Mill Creek Entertainment. The surprise of the movie in retrospect was the actor Chic Sale portraying Deputy Sheriff Tex Murdock, who I would have sworn was in his Seventies, but a quick check of his bio revealed he was only fifty at the time he made this picture. He died the year after this film's release of pneumonia and something tells me he would have been a cool character to know personally.If you think about it, the way the villain dispatched his victims here was pretty gruesome. But I have to tell you, that hydraulic press made such a hideous noise I had to lower the volume every time it's power was engaged. At one point, our hero is knocked out and placed strategically under the press to become it's next victim, but if you're attentive, you'll see the 'unconscious' Randolph Scott move his left arm across his chest. Fortunately, he wakes up just in the nick of time to solve the murder mystery and hook up with Ann Sheridan by the end of the story. I did a double take when I saw them under those palm trees, but heck, that made as much sense as anything else in the story.

FightingWesterner Rocky Mountain Mystery exists in that parallel universe where the old west never really ended but continued on well into the nineteen-thirties and forties, usually inhabited by Gene Autry, Roy Rodgers, Tex Ritter, and sometimes even a very young John Wayne.The characters ride horses, use oil lamps to light their way, and seemingly live a frontier existence under territorial law, all with six-guns on their hips. The viewer either forgets or is unaware that this is supposed to take place in modern times when suddenly the cowboys encounter modern cars, telephones, radio, and electricity. I sometimes wonder if the depression era children who were the films' main audience actually believed the west was really like this.This is an above average B-western and a great example of what modern experts are calling "horror western" due to their odd plots and sadistic mystery villains. I prefer to call them mystery or suspense westerns.Rocky Mountain Mystery effectively mixes an Old Dark House plot with frontier themes. It's not as chilling as I'd like but it does have a creepy fiend dressed in black complete with gloves, hat, and cape; a killer that prefers to crush heads in a hydraulic press but isn't afraid to menace a pretty girl with a straight razor either! The ending is quite surprising and well plotted.

disdressed12 this is a pretty good western.but it's not just a western.it's also a mystery.actually it's probably more of a mystery than a western.it's short clocking in at around 65 minutes,but it's a pretty good movie.it stars Randolph Scott,Anne Sheridan,Kathleen Burke,Florence Roberts,Howard Wilson,Charles 'Chic' Sale,Mrs.Leslie carter,George F. Marion,among others.i thought it was well done.it had a nice atmosphere,and wasn't wholly predictable.the acting was good by all concerned,and the story was interesting,but similar to another western i remember seeing.though i can't recall weather this movie came out before that one or not.by similar story,i don't mean the general outline and formula that most westerns follow.i mean that some of the story details and specifics are similar.regardless,i liked it.for me,The Fighting Westerner is a 6/10

Michael_Elliott Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935) ** (out of 4) Randolph Scott stars in this "B" picture, which is based on a story by Zane Grey. In the film Scott has to go to a small mining town where murders are taking place for what appears to be a possible future inheritance. Scott must battle the bad guys, find out who the killer is and romance Ann Sheridan. This is a rather strange film that mixed with Western and Mystery genres together but the end result isn't as good as one would hope. The biggest problem are the incredibly low production values, which usually leaves all the action to one small place. There's never any scope to the film and the low budget doesn't leave much that the cast can do. In fact it seems like the budget is so low that they can't really do much of anything except talk. The mystery itself isn't too interesting but Scott does make the film worth watching. He's certainly not his classic self here but he is good enough for the film. Sheridan is decent in her role but still a little rough around the edges. This was director Barton's third film and of course he's go on to do several Abbott and Costello films. He handles the material here pretty well even though he doesn't have too much to work with.