The Crooked Trail

The Crooked Trail was a western film starring Johnny Mack Brown that was an independent production for an outfit called Supreme Pictures. It would have to have been an independent film because the Code would never have allowed a film with a more than subtle gay subtext to have been done at a major studio where more scrutiny would have been exercised. I wonder what Brown and the rest of the cast realized about The Crooked Trail.

Johnny Mack Brown finds Ted Adams and John Merton both unconscious and suffering dehydration on the badlands. He saves them both though they tell conflicting stories about who was the aggressor in a fight they had.

Brown is a noted lawman from Texas who now just wants to seek a fortune in panning for gold and he takes Merton in as a partner. Everybody takes to Brown, especially Lucile Browne, but no one really likes Merton. In fact Merton unbeknownst to Brown is robbing the other prospectors.

The script provides for a Greek chorus of commentators among the old time prospectors. Just to make sure you get the point about the motivations of the characters, they tell you that Merton is jealous of Lucile Browne and the attention she's getting from Johnny Mack Brown. She's scared of Merton as are others, but Brown sees only good in Merton.

The Crooked Trail comes as close in a film during that time to illustrate an unrequited same sex crush as I've ever seen. And in a B western which would normally be for the Saturday matinée kiddie trade as well. Of course the gay man is the villain here, but that was to be expected given the times.

It's hardly a great film, not even having the production values of something from Republic or Monogram. Still The Crooked Trail ought to be examined by those who are studying the gay cinema and how it crops up in unusual places.

In general, I like Johnny Mack Brown's films. They feature no singing and his persona was very nice--laid back, gentle-voiced but tough. However, Brown's performance, though just fine, isn't able to overcome the problems with this film--in particular, an overly complicated plot, some poor acting as well as a ridiculous bit of exposition! The film begins with Harve evading the law by riding into the bad lands*. Because he hasn't got much water, the law figures he'll soon die and stop pursuit. When a nice Mexican guy finds Harve nearly dead, Harve returns the favor by trying to kill this Good Samaritan. Soon, Jim comes along and saves both men. Why? Because he's a really swell guy.

Despite Harve's well-earned reputation for evil, Jim takes it upon himself to reform him and makes him his partner. However, EVERYONE in town thinks Harve is a skunk--even Jim's new wife. Now how Jim got this wife involves some of the weirdest writing on the planet involving another skunk (Lanning). What's even weirder is the relationship triangle involving Jim, his bride and Harve.

The plot truly has shades of latent homosexuality--which COULD have made all this pretty interesting. The problem is that the plot is so darned complicated and seems like the script was badly in need of a re-write. An even more egregious problem comes at the 33 minute mark when there is a LONG exposition by two guys who basically tell the audience everything that happened during the last month!! This is sloppy as well as stupid and simply showing what has happened or making a RATIONAL allusion to it could have worked. Overall, a rather poor outing--and certainly not among Brown's better work.

*Incidentally, the Bad Lands is a region of the Dakotas. I don't think the film meant this--especially since it looked nothing like this cavernous area.

"The Crooked Trail" is a solid entry in the Johnny Mack Brown book, featuring a cast of B-western favorites and a story that needs to be followed carefully to most fully enjoy the show. It is somewhat hard to believe that smart and seemingly savvy Jim Blake (JMB) could be deceived for so long about the dangerously mean character of the man whose life he saved out in the desert's local badlands, especially since everyone else he knew tries to warn him, even his female love interest (the two men have more than one interaction of what seems to be affectionate horsing around that may seem a little surprising when contrasting yesterday's sensibilities with today's). This film is consistently entertaining. However, it becomes increasingly grim as the characters' relationships become ever more complex and sometimes strained (it is always interesting to view a film that shows a basically happy and breezy hero caught up in distressing turmoil). The acting is good in general, with the exception of leading lady Lucille Browne, who gives a consistently weak read. John Merton has a juicy role as the supporting very bad badman and does a fine job with it; he seems to pop up everywhere all the time and has almost as much screen time as JMB. The rest of the cast are familiar stablemates and it is fun just to look at all those fabulous faces. Plus the good ol' dependably photogenic Vasquez Rocks make yet another Oscar-worthy appearance. "The Crooked Trail" is a story-propelled movie for sure, but the direction and the cinematography could have been a little more polished. And one more thing... the fight scenes are strong and not for the faint of heart. But when Johnny Mack Brown wasn't fighting he had such a warm and reassuring presence that he must have made a lot of girls in the audience swoon! Enjoy the movie!