Yes, those are indeed real African lions playing the part of mountain lions in this western that has a very misleading title. There really is no forest here, although there are a lot of trees. The first "mountain" lion seen is stalking Scott as he prepares to head out of the mountains after having a conversation with landowner Harry Carey over his inability to own land due to a previous incarceration. Carey intends to hand over the deed to his niece (not daughter as the plot description insists) but the nefarious Noah Beery has other plans.Those other plans don't just include kidnapping the pretty Verna Hillie, but later manhandling her as well, and that totally irks his long-time mistress Blanche Friderici, a widow who has hoped for marriage, but that hope has long been dashed. Scott manages to get Hillie first (Uncle Harry has been brutally murdered), and after convincing her that he's on her side and courting her with some adorable lion cubs, must protect her from the nefarious Beery and his men (which also includes Barton MacLane).There's a running gag of funny man Vince Barnett trying to "wrastle" an ornery mule. I just wonder why it is that every "B" western must include some buffoon or grizzled side-kick when the plot on its own carries the film well enough. Still, there's enough action and excitement in the hour long running time including trapping the good guys in a burning building, but unpredictability has never been a factor in these low budget oaters, even those made by "A" studios such as Paramount here.

The cast for this film is pretty good--with Randolph Scott, Harry Carey, Noah Beery, Barton MacLane, Buster Crabbe, Guinn Williams and many other familiar old faces. Unfortunately, the DVD copy is really bad--very choppy, overly dark and in need of restoration.This is an early Randolph Scott western--you can tell because Scott was sporting a mustache similar to the one worn by Errol Flynn. This is a bit hard to imagine but what is MUCH more difficult is seeing him playing with his pet lion--yes, lion! While very few would notice, the lion DID change sex in the opening scene--with shots of an adolescent male and female switching repeatedly. Later, you learn that Scott owns several lions as pets...in the American West! It got even weirder in a scene soon after where Guinn Williams is seen wrestling a young mule--literally wrestling! What a bizarre movie! Scott learns that an evil boss-man (Beery) is planning on kidnapping a young lady. So, to thwart his wicked plan, he kidnaps the petulant young woman himself. But in the meantime, the girl's father is killed and Beery frames poor Scott for this. Can the ever-heroic Scott manage to avoid a hanging AND bring justice to the frontier? See this for yourself if you want to know how all this ends.Overall, this is an enjoyable film despite its eccentricities--or perhaps because of them. The comic relief was actually pretty good, the acting decent (though Scott was a bit wooden--probably since it was one of his earliest starring roles) and the story engaging. Not great but quite enjoyable for a cheap B-movie.

This is a standard Western with all the proper elements: do-right hero (R. Scott), do-wrong villain (Noah Beery), henchmen and "characters", pretty scenery, and African lions (???).It is interesting to see a youthful Randolph Scott with a face-altering mustache and spouting an odd aristocratic Southern dialect ("they ah coming hyeah") while masquerading as a woman-hating mountain man.The "mountain lions" are of course African lions loaned out from Tarzan.The scenery, wherever it is, is very nice: mountains and lonesome pines.Noah Beery makes a nice villain, really very good at it, and Verna Hillie is attractive enough.The plot and acting are no more absurd than a million other B-westerns.

Randolph Scott who later became exclusively a western star got his first notice as a western in a series of Zane Grey films that were B films for Paramount his original studio. This is one of several Grey stories that Scott filmed at Paramount in the early Thirties.It's not one of the best ones. He's a small land owner caught between two enemies, Harry Carey, Sr. and Noah Beery, Sr. They've had a feud going for a score of years. The beautiful niece of one of them comes west and the other sees an opportunity to finally grab the other's ranch.Of course the niece falls for Scott, but he's got to do some shrew taming at first. And then Carey is killed and he's blamed for it. Noah Beery the brother of Wallace Beery played a fine line of movie villains in mostly low budget stuff like this. Here's he's a villain in the Snidely Whiplash tradition with designs on the little Nell heroine. In fairness Beery isn't given all that much to work with as his Verna Hillie the heroine.Of course this is a must for Randolph Scott fans who are a loyal bunch. It's a fine chance to see him in his younger days before those post World War II B westerns that he is now a screen legend for.By the way Scott has a pet mountain lion who plays an interesting role in his rescue from the dastardly Beery.