John Wayne Movie Reviews From The 1930s To The 1970s | Mostly Westerns
If you’re a fan who likes to watch as John Wayne mimes along to someone else’s singing voice, then this one is for you. Westward Ho (1935) Republic, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 60mCast: John Wayne, Sheila Mannors, Frank McGlynn Jr., James Farley, Jack Curtis, Yakima Canutt Looks like Duke’s gone and jumped ship and … Read more
John Wayne revisits old territory as an undercover agent called John Wyatt required to infiltrate a counterfeiting gang who work under the guise of a travelling medicine show. Paradise Canyon (1935) Lone Star, Dir: Carl L. Pierson, b/w, 52mCast: John Wayne, Marion Burns, Reed Howes, Earl Hodgins, Gino Corrado, Yakima Canutt The only difference between … Read more
Barely five minutes into the film and stranger-in-town John Mason, played by John Wayne, is already engaged in a bout of fisticuffs with one of the locals, Ben McClure, played by Reed Howes. The Dawn Rider (1935) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 53mCast: John Wayne, Marion Burns, Denny Meadows, Reed Howes, Joe DeGrasse, … Read more
The Desert Trail (1935) Lone Star, Dir: Cullen Lewis, b/w, 54mCast: John Wayne, Mary Kornman, Paul Fix, Eddy Chandler, Carmen LaRoux, Lafe McKee The opening sequence in this film is actually quite entertaining. Wayne, as rodeo rider John Scott, is travelling with his gambling friend, Kansas Charlie, played by Eddy Chandler, to Rattlesnake Gulch and … Read more
Rainbow Valley (1935) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 52mCast: John Wayne, Lucille Brown, George Hayes, Leroy Mason, Lloyd Ingraham, Buffalo Bill Jr. On the way to Rainbow Valley JW, as John Martin, encounters the proper “Gabby”, the one we all know and love and in full ‘old-timer’ mode, who asks him for some … Read more
Texas Terror (1935) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 51mCast: John Wayne, Lucille Brown, Leroy Mason, Fern Emmett, George Hayes, Buffalo Bill Jr. When the film starts, John Wayne as John Higgins is – unusually – the local sheriff so we just know he’s going to be due for a fall early on in … Read more
‘Neath the Arizona Skies (1934) Lone Star, Dir: Harry Fraser, b/w, 53mCast: John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Shirley Jane Rickert, Jack Rockwell, Buffalo Bill Jr., Yakima Canutt “‘Neath the Arizona Skies” is the last of the nine Westerns John Wayne starred in for the year of 1934. It’s not quite up there with the twelve films … Read more
The Trail Beyond (1934) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 54mCast: John Wayne, Verna Hillie, Noah Beery SR., Noah Beery Jr., Robert Frazer, Iris Lancaster. Another Lone Star production, based on a story rather than a production-belt script, by James Oliver Curwood, and filmed in and around the stunning location of Mammoth Lakes in … Read more
The Lawless Frontier (1934) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 50mCast: John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Jack Rockwell, George Hayes, Buffalo Bill Jr., Yakima Canutt This entry in the Lone Star series is a bit more dramatic than others, the opening sequence in which John Wayne, as John Tobin, finds his murdered parents highly reminiscent … Read more
The Star Packer (1934) Lone Star, Dir: Robert N. Bradbury, b/w, 54m Cast: John Wayne, Verna Hillie, George Hayes, Yakima Canutt, Billy Franey, Ed Parker Another Lone Star production. Same costume and horse for John Wayne, so nothing changed there. Then surprise surprise. Yakima Canutt isn’t a baddie this time. He’s a Native American called … Read more