Tonight's Movie: A Demon for Trouble (1934) at the Lone Pine Film Festival

A DEMON FOR TROUBLE (1934) was a last-minute addition to our Sunday viewing schedule at this year's Lone Pine Film Festival, and I'm glad we saw it. Although lead actor Bob Steele was the only cast member whose name I recognized, the movie proved to be a satisfying 58 minutes.

The movie was a remake of ARIZONA TERROR (1931) starring Ken Maynard, released just three years previously. Steele plays Bob Worth, a scrappy young cowhand who's sweet on Lita Morton (Gloria Shea).

Lita and her brother Buck (Nick Stuart) sell their desert ranch to Dyer (Walter McGrail), but when Buck heads to town with the money, he's shot and killed. It turns out Dyer is running a scam and has a trio of henchmen who steal back his money.

Bob happens across Buck's body, where he's seen and blamed for the murder; he escapes and is aided by good-natured Mexican bandido Golinda (Don Alvarado) and Golinda's girlfriend Maya (Carmen La Roux). Bob and Golinda hatch a plan to set up Dyer and expose him as both a thief and the architect of Buck's murder.

I tend to think of Bob Steele from his "older roles" playing small parts in films like ISLAND IN THE SKY (1953) or CHARLEY VARRICK (1973) or even something from a little earlier, THE BIG SLEEP (1946).

It was thus quite enjoyable for me to watch him as a "B" Western lead for the first time; I was marveling at how young he was! He was about 27 when this was filmed. My dad reminded me that Steele had gone to Glendale High with John Wayne, who was the same age. I enjoyed Steele's feisty yet good-natured personality, and he also has a nice romantic touch in a couple of scenes.

Shea is a spunky leading lady, and Alvarado makes a charming sort-of bad guy. While A DEMON FOR TROUBLE is not great art, it's everything a "B" Western should be, a solidly told story filmed in interesting Western settings. I liked it quite well.

The film makes great use of Lone Pine's Alabama Hills, with a significant percentage of the film shot outdoors. In addition to the hills, the house known locally as the "Hoppy Cabin" appears as the Mortons' home, before it was known by that name! (The first Hopalong Cassidy film was released the following year, 1935.) Photos of the cabin with its distinctive well can be seen in my posts from 2014 and 2017.

I was particularly curious about the swimming pool seen in the background when Lita is sunbathing; did it exist at the time, or was it a phony pool created for the movie?

A DEMON FOR TROUBLE was directed by Robert F. Hill, who also directed Bill Cody in FRONTIER DAYS (1934), which I saw at last year's festival.

A DEMON FOR TROUBLE was filmed by William Thompson. It was released by Supreme Pictures Corporation.

A DEMON FOR TROUBLE is available on DVD from various public domain companies such as Alpha and The Film Detective. It can also be streamed on Amazon Prime.