Riders of Destiny (1933)

Wonderful character development!

Instant Favorite.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A passable first effort by John Wayne for Lone Star Westerns is undone by odd comic relief and an attempt at strangling the career of Hollywood's greatest cowboy before it began by giving him a guitar.That's right, it's time for the musical stylings in the key of Duke. Ellington, he's not."His eyes were blazing with flames of hate/ And his guns were loaded with poison bait/ As they hung and swung at his side."That's Wayne as "Singin Saunders," known around the Old West as "the most notorious gunman since Billy the Kid," apparently for his ability to mow down hombres acapella. As an offstage singer tunelessly mutters lyrics while caressing a guitar with an oven mitt, Wayne lip-synchs his way into battle.It's the first of three Lone Star singing-cowboy roles for Wayne, and the one that jumps out at you for the way it is doggedly incorporated into the plot, with five separate scenes where Wayne's character breaks into song.When Wayne isn't singing, his quiet strength and easy charm make him a good fit for a low-key oater about a rough boss named Kincaid (Forrest Taylor) using his water rights to starve out a law-abiding town. Cecilia Parker makes for a lovely love interest, and Wayne is partnered for the first time ever by George (not yet Gabby) Hayes as Parker's pa. They make a fine trio.Unfortunately, this film has other issues. Everyone in it operates as if no one has a memory lasting more than five minutes. For example, after Parker's character is saved by Saunders, she comes to believe he is working for Kincaid and confronts him. Saunders shoots Kincaid's chief muscle and then gets offered the vacated job because Kincaid doesn't hold grudges.One sequence involves Saunders' plan to bypass Kincaid's water- rights chokehold by having a stooge ride a water wagon to the town, wait for Kincaid's goons to ride up and shoot said stooge in mid-drive, then ride up behind the goons and board the runaway wagon before it goes off a cliff. It's a good plan because {BRIEF SPOILER} Saunders works for the government and clinging onto the bottom of a runaway wagon restricts his ability to burst into song.The film suffers from a strange decision to save on comic relief by having clowns Al St. John and Heinie Conklin double as Kincaid's main henchmen. They stumble around in pursuit of Sandy in a serious of contrived encounters, one of which winds up with them lassoed together. "You make a fine pair of lovebirds," Kincaid sneers.But the real black mark on this lemon is the singing. Wayne didn't like having to do it, and it shows in a performance suggesting director Robert N. Bradbury had Wayne's family and dog tied up somewhere. It's an uncomfortable start to Wayne's Lone Star era, which did produce some decent results once Wayne left his guitar with Gene and Roy.

Having enjoyed watching a few of John Waynes previous Lone Star production's,I was very much looking forward to viewing the movie.After having seen the film,I feel that it has a very good plot and some unexpectedly impressive stunts.The plot: Secret Agent Slingin Sandy Saunders is sent from Washington to go undercover in a small town.When Sandy arrives to the town,he discoverers that the town is in big trouble due to a major businessman,declaring that he is to own all of the towns water supply by buying out all of the contracts. View on the film:Though screenwriter/director Robert N. Bradbury sadly does not film most of the excellent stunts (including a stunt that John Ford would use later on for the classic film Stagecoach) in close up.His screenplay makes up for it,by being surprisingly very ahead of its times with looking at the subject of small landowners getting crushed by huge corporations.With the performances,John Wayne gives a very good cunning performance as Sandy,especially in the scenes that he shares with the beautiful Cecilia Earler. Final view on the film: A well-written, surprisingly modern story with great stunts and fun performances from Wayne and Earler.

Please don't judge this film by the first 10 min.. John Wayne, alias Singin' Sandy Saunders, gets out his guitar in two spots, including the opening scene, and lip syncs to two very different sounding singing voices. Please spare us any more of this!It's pretty bad when you have to hold up the stage in order to beat the bandits you know, from experience, are going to hold it up a little later and take the money being sent to you. But, that's the predicament striking blond Cecilia Parker found herself in when Wayne saw her horse shot out from under her by the stage driver. Seems the expected bandits were part of the same criminal outfit, headed by a Mr. Kincaid, as the stage drivers. Actually, their main racket was hoarding nearly all the regional water and selling it dear to the ranchers. The ranch owned by Gabby Hayes and daughter Cecelia has a well, the only other water source in this region. Thus, Kincaid especially wants to acquire this property for a full water monopoly, while threatening to cut off his water to the other ranchers unless they sell their land to him for next to nothing. Nice guy, Eh? Well, ole John has a plan how to get the ranchers out of this impossible situation. Kincaid falls for it like Cecilia falls for Wayne and vice versa. During the follow up horse chase of Kincaid by Wayne, poetic justice is served, and the valley ranchers presumably live happily ever after. See the movie to learn the rather unexpected details. Clever man, that Singin' Sandy Saunders. Clever, but sneaky.

The good news is that "Riders of Destiny" just might be the best of John Wayne's Westerns for producer Paul Malvern's Lone Star Productions. The bad news would be that this was the first one, meaning that all the rest went downhill from here. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a 'B' Western fan from way back, but if you get a chance to view any of these, you'll have to take them with a good ole boy grain of nostalgia and an appreciation for simpler times.Actually, "Rider of Destiny" might have been the better title, since it's Wayne's show all the way. He portrays Singin' Sandy Saunders and has a reputation as the most notorious gunman since Billy the Kid. That's somewhat ironic though, since it's later revealed that he's a special Secret Service agent sent from Washington to investigate a land swindle scheme under the direction of town boss James Kincaid (Forrest Taylor). How would he have earned that nickname having just arrived? Some other bits don't quite jive as well, like Saunders' finesse with a six gun. In the only actual one on one showdown with a villain that I can recall in a Lone Star, Saunders neatly places a bullet in each wrist of Slip Morgan (Earl Dwire), thereby making him a threat no more to righteous folks. One wonders how he might have learned to shoot like that.But you know what? It doesn't make too much of a difference, because if you're a fan of these oaters, you'll have a blast with this one as much as all the rest. You've got your crazy horse spills, wild stage coach rides, and villainous intrigue to pull it all together. You also have your obligatory romantic leading lady, here portrayed by Cecilia Parker. Her character is Fay Denton, daughter of George (pre-Gabby) Hayes, and she signals her interest in Saunders right from the get go. He helps things along by serenading her with a few songs with Daddy present, and boy, they just can't get enough, even if his singing voice is nothing at all like his speaking voice.Yakima Canutt is on hand as an unnamed Kincaid henchman, and of course it's Yak that's responsible for all the daring stunt work, including that trademark 'jump on the horse team and go under the stagecoach' trick, simply remarkable if you consider the timing and logistics involved. His fellow baddies include a comedic pair of stage drivers also working for Kincaid, Bert and Elmer (Al St. John and Heinie Conklin). It would be a few years before Al becomes 'Fuzzy'.Modern day viewers might be left scratching their head over a line spoken by Wayne's character early in the film. When he discovers sheriff Bill Baxter wandering in the desert with a bullet wound, he tends him while adding - "I'll have you in Starbucks before night".A lot has been debated over who the singer was who dubbed Wayne's voice in this movie and "The Man From Utah". A couple reviewers on this board credit old time band leader and crooner Smith Ballew, although Ballew himself denied it consistently until he passed away. The odds on favorite seems to be Bill Bradbury, son of director Robert North Bradbury, and twin brother of another era cowboy star, Bob Steele. Bill had a fine baritone voice, and used his talent to make some extra money while going to medical school. For anyone who cares to learn more about the controversy, check out the following page - http://www.b-westerns.com/jwayne1.htm.You'll have to scroll down to the bottom part of the page, and it's a good read.Anyway, for old time Western fans, "Riders of Destiny" is as good a place as any to see how John Wayne learned his craft. Hard to believe that by the time he made his breakout film "Stagecoach" to become an overnight success, he already had fifty one movies to his credit! Only one question remains though while watching 'Riders' - where were all those geese hanging out when there wasn't any water around?