The Desert Trail (1935)

the audience applauded

Powerful

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

John Wayne (John Scott), Mary Kornman (Anne), Eddy Chandler (Kansas Charlie), Paul Fix (Jim), Carmen Laroux (Juanita LaRoux), Lafe McKee (Sheriff Barker), Al Ferguson (Pete), Henry Hall (Farnsworth), Archie Ricks (stage driver), Theodore Lorch (robbed stage passenger), Gordon De Main (stage passenger), Silver Tip Baker, Frank Ellis, Wally West (poker players), Frank Ball (banker), Frank Brownlee (Rattlesnake Gulch sheriff), Tommy Coats, Artie Ortego, Tex Palmer (deputies), Dick Dickinson (man watching poker game), Jack Evans, Ray Henderson (townsmen), Lew Meehan (posse rider), Fred Parker (doctor).Director: LEWIS D. COLLINS. Original screenplay: Lindsley Parsons. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Carl Pierson. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Music director: Lee Zahler. Sound recording: John A. Stransky, junior. Producer: Paul Malvern.A Lone Star Western, not copyrighted by Monogram Pictures Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 22 April 1935. U.K. release through Pathé: 18 November 1935. 54 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Difficult to summarize the plot of this unusual western, concerning the adventures of a rodeo rider and his card-sharp sparring partner, who object to the champ being paid off with two bits on the dollar. So they force the promoter to pay out the full amount of the champ's winnings at the point of a gun. Almost immediately afterwards, the pay office is cleaned out by a pair of bandits who point their fingers at our hero and his sidekick. The scene switches to the hacienda of a vampish senorita. It turns out that this siren has vamped not only our hero and his sidekick, but one of the bandits as well. After a series of complications with the bandit hiding in the closet, the story really gets under way in a different town altogether when our hero rescues a runaway stagecoach after the driver has been shot by the very same badmen who robbed the rodeo office. Hero and his unlikely off-sider now vie for the attentions of a pretty storekeeper, whose brother turns out to be one of the bandits who really robbed the stage and the rodeo! This, of course, is where the story really starts. But, never mind: Most of these elements are cleverly tied together at the finish in which the heroine (that's right, the heroine!) rides to the rescue in a buckboard! COMMENT: I don't know why director Lewis D. Collins opted to hide his contribution under the pseudonym "Cullen Lewis". Aside from obvious stock footage in the rodeo sequences, this rates as an unusually well-produced and smartly directed entry in the Lone Star series. Wayne turns on the virile charm and makes a most ingratiating lead. We love the sparks that constantly fly between him and his unlikely (but fascinating) off-sider, Eddy Chandler. We also enjoyed the performances of both Mary Kornman (as the icy storekeeper who tries to put Wayne in his place) and Carmen Laroux (who turns on the heat as a Mexican vamp). Despite some familiar plot elements, the script is both cleverly out-of-the-rut and highly entertaining. The dialogue is especially deft. At the same time, the plot incorporates more than enough action to satisfy the fans.

Rodeo star John Wayne and his hard-gambling sidekick are forced to take Wayne's winnings from a crooked promoter. After they leave with the cash, two thieves murder the promoter and frame them for the killing. However, the boys are too busy chasing after a young Spanish woman and a pretty shop girl to try and clear their names!Coming near the end of Wayne's contract with Lone Star/Monogram Pictures, this is more spare than some of the earlier films in the series. It's still a lot of fun (and funny) with more comedy in this than usual, resulting in some very amusing scenes like the one where Duke leers at the shop girl's backside!The comedy here is reminiscent somewhat of the slapstick in Wayne's later films.

John Wayne and Eddy Chandler play a strange combination of friends in The Desert Trail. Wayne's a fast living rodeo cowboy and Chandler is gambler/conman. They fight a whole lot about everything, cards, liquor, women. There kind of a western version of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.When Wayne decides he's not going to get stiffed out of rodeo prize money he won, they take matters into their own hands, taking precisely what's owed Wayne. Of course when two real robbers, Al Ferguson and Paul Fix decide to clean out the rest of the rodeo cash and kill the promoter, our heroes get blamed for it and have to spend nearly the rest of the film on the run.Of course this is a Lone Star cheapie that the Duke stars in here with production values severely limited. This one however had the potential to be something better. At a better studio with a tighter script and their production values, this could have been a Duke classic.As it is it's one of his better B pictures from Monogram.

Pretty good B-Western of the venerable "bickering buddies" formula benefits from Duke Morrison's increasing confidence as an actor and comfort with the "John Wayne" persona, as well as from the increasing willingness to let Wayne play characters with a bit of an edge, rather than the Roy-Rogers-type goodie-goodies of his earlier films.Definitely worth a look for fans of the Duke.7/10