Although he's all but forgotten now, in 1930, Hollywood's first full year of talkie films, William Haines was king of the box office. His movies - he starred in three of them - made more money than those of any other male star. WAY OUT WEST is one of those films.
Haines plays a carnival shyster who cheats some cowboys out of their money with a crooked roulette wheel. They retaliate by kidnapping him, taking him back to their ranch and forcing him to work off the debt.
There are some of the usual silly-billy antics you expect from a Bill Haines film. But there are also lapses into very serious areas as well. The look on Haines' bleeding face after he's been roughed-up by a big cowboy, without a word spoken, speaks volumes.
Also appearing are Leila Hyams, one of MGM's pretty starlets of the early 1930's; Francis X. Bushman, Jr.; the ubiquitous Polly Moran; and little Cliff Edwards, who gets to play his ukulele & sing.
Haines plays a carnival shyster who cheats some cowboys out of their money with a crooked roulette wheel. They retaliate by kidnapping him, taking him back to their ranch and forcing him to work off the debt.
There are some of the usual silly-billy antics you expect from a Bill Haines film. But there are also lapses into very serious areas as well. The look on Haines' bleeding face after he's been roughed-up by a big cowboy, without a word spoken, speaks volumes.
Also appearing are Leila Hyams, one of MGM's pretty starlets of the early 1930's; Francis X. Bushman, Jr.; the ubiquitous Polly Moran; and little Cliff Edwards, who gets to play his ukulele & sing.