(1937)
2.5
Hans J. Wollstein
It's an old story, really: young Eastern wastrel toughens up on a Western ranch. The role used to be played by the likes of Hoot Gibson and Ken Maynard, who never fooled anyone but at least looked like cowboys in the climactic shootout. In Border Café, the youngster is played by John Beal, a rather nondescript actor who is somewhat believable as the profligate youth but hopelessly miscast as a defender of the western way of life. Harry Carey, meanwhile, lends his customary stolid presence to the proceedings and Armida performs all the usual south-of-the-border numbers with the exception, oddly enough, of "La Cucaracha". The end result, however, remains a somewhat strained affair that doesn't quite know whether to be a straight western, a romantic comedy a la It Happened One Night or a gangster melodrama.
Border Cafe on AllMovie
Border Cafe (1937)
