Border Devils

{{short description|1932 film}}

{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Border Devils

| director = William Nigh

| production_companies = Supreme Features, Inc.

| producer = Louis Weiss
George M. Merrick
Alfred T. Mannon

| writer = Harry L. Fraser

| starring = Harry Carey
Kathleen Collins
Gabby Hayes

| cinematography = William H. Dietz

| editing = Holbrook Todd

| distributor = State Rights

| country = United States

| language = English

| runtime = 63 or 65 minutes

| released = {{Film date|1932|04|04}}

}}

File:Border_Devils_lobby_card_2.jpg

Border Devils is a 1932 pre-Code American Western black and white sound film directed by William Nigh and starring Harry Carey, Kathleen Collins, and Gabby Hayes.The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:[https://catalog.afi.com/Film/876-BORDER-DEVILS Border Devils] The film is Collins's last role and her only sound film.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

Plot

A man, Jim Gray, is wrongfully put in jail; he escapes to prove his innocence and reveal the real criminal. In the process, Gray discovers a second criminal who has been working behind the scenes with the more obvious villain.{{cite web |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Border Devils (1932) |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/border-devils-v6700 |website=AllMovie |access-date=September 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210921005222/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/border-devils-v6700 |archive-date=September 21, 2021}}

Cast

Production

= Script =

The film was written by Harry P. Crist ( credited for "script and continuity' under this pen name is the American director Harry Fraser{{Cite web |title=» A Western Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: BORDER DEVILS (1932). |url=https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=26611 |access-date=2023-03-20}}). The story was based upon the novel Dead Man's Shoes,{{Cite book |last1=Stallings |first1=Billee J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlzDIV6NKacC&dq=border+devils+leinster&pg=PA213 |title=Murray Leinster: The Life and Works |last2=Evans |first2=Jo-an J. |date=2011-08-12 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8715-8 |language=en}} by Murray Leinster.

= Shooting =

According to a contemporary issue of The Film Daily, certain scenes were filmed in Palm Springs, California.

Cast

The film features Gabby Hayes in one of his earliest credited roles, a sidekick figure that would become his signature character.{{Cite web |date=2016-11-22 |title=Border Devils (1932) |url=https://theconstantbleeder.com/bmoviescult/border-devils-1932/ |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=The Constant Bleeder |language=en-US}}

Release

Border Devils was theatrically released in the United States on April 4, 1932. The film was released on DVD in August 2011 by Alpha Video.{{Cite web |title=Border Devils (1932) On DVD |url=https://www.lovingtheclassics.com/border-devils-1932-on-dvd.html |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=www.lovingtheclassics.com |language=en}}

Themes

This film has been noted for the unexpected presence in a Western, of Yellow Peril themes, embodied in the character of the villain, a mysterious 'oriental' criminal figure known as the General.{{Cite web |title=Border Devils (1932) starring Harry Carey, Kathleen Collins, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Niles Welch, Olive Carey, Albert J. Smith, Tetsu Komai directed by William Nigh Movie Review |url=https://www.themoviescene.co.uk/reviews/border-devils-1932/border-devils-1932.html |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=www.themoviescene.co.uk}}

Commentators generally underline the weight of the original novel, a typical Leinster tale, in this adaptation: "the massive conspiracy that figures in his sci-fi, the shifting identity of the hero, and the generally peripatetic nature of the tale as our cowboy commandos shuttle hither and yon like horsing lot attendant."{{Cite web |title=» A Western Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: BORDER DEVILS (1932). |url=https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=26611 |access-date=2023-03-29}}

References

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