Way Out West
About Way Out West
Carnival barker Windy cheats cowboys with a rigged roulette wheel. When they catch him, they put him to work on Molly Rankin's ranch until the debt is paid. He falls for Molly, fights her foreman Steve, and is still on the ranch when a rattlesnake bites her and a sandstorm hits. Cowboys later think he has taken her. He beats Steve and asks Molly to marry him.
Cast & crew
More about Way Out West
Fred Niblo directed William Haines for MGM. The working title was Easy Going; the release title was set in May 1930. Harry Rapf produced, without a credit.
Themes
Making
A sound studio was hauled to New Mexico on a train that also carried a laboratory car, a camera car, and a sound-recording car. Cast and crew climbed ladders at Acoma Pueblo.
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall, in The New York Times, called it "an impertinent, moderately comic affair tinctured with slapstick and romance." Variety said the fast action and wisecracks got laughs.
Look
Henry Sharp photographed the ranch scenes in New Mexico, including the sandstorm near Gallup.
Music
Joseph Meyer wrote the music, including the theme "Singing a Song to the Stars."
Notes
- Leila Hyams plays Molly Rankin, Polly Moran plays Pansy, Cliff Edwards plays Trilby, and Ralph Bushman plays Steve.
- Joseph Farnham, Byron Morgan, and Ralph Spence wrote the screenplay from a story by Byron Morgan.
- Members of the Hopi Tribe, who had not seen a motion picture, worked as extras.
- Near Gallup the company wore gas masks while shooting in a real sandstorm.
- During a hanging gag the horse bolted and left Haines hanging by the neck for several seconds.
- The theme song is "Singing a Song to the Stars," with lyrics by Howard Johnson and music by Joseph Meyer.
Scenes
- Windy, mistaken for the cook Pansy, answers, "I'm the wildest pansy you ever picked!
- A horse bolts during a hanging gag and leaves Haines hanging.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Way Out West (1930).webm)
Quotes
I'm the wildest pansy you ever picked!
