El camino de Sagebrush

Great stunt when Wayne, concealed in a camouflaged niche in the road, grabs onto the axle as the buckboard passes over him. Looks like a Canutt engineered trick and looks also like it's Wayne and not a double that executes it. Then too, the wheel spacing has to be perfect otherwise it's road-kill for a young superstar—he really earned his money in those early days.

The movie belongs to Lane Chandler almost as much as Wayne. Together, they're a youthfully exciting team, but my guess is that they were too much alike to stay partnered. So eventually, along comes old coot Gabby Hayes and the screen gets one of its really great all- time pairings.

Pretty good story from writer Lindsley Parsons, his first screen credit, who later became a prolific producer of B-films. Over time he scripted a number of Wayne oaters with plots generally more involved than most. This one involves Wayne infiltrating gang of robbers to clear himself of a murder charge. There're several nifty episodes-- Wayne hiding out underwater as a menacing boot almost steps on him, the script making him a cook (of all things) for the gang. Note too, the opening scene of Wayne dodging railway dicks after hobo-ing it into town—I expect that resonated with 1933 audiences when half the country was riding the rails.

Some good hard riding and a spectacular crash. Too bad, however, that producer Malvern couldn't get the boys up to Lone Pine for that marvelous Sierra scenery. Instead they get to race around the scrublands of greater LA, not nearly as much fun. Note the frequent use of the Bronson Canyon cave for entrance to the gang's hideout. Despite appearances, it's only a few miles from downtown LA and the studios, and was thus a favorite for tight-budget productions, especially sci-fi from the 50's. Also in passing—this is Nancy Shubert's only screen credit, unusual for a leading lady. I wonder what her story was.

Anyhow, it's a fun trip down memory lane for us geezers and for those younger folks who appreciate action done by real people instead of blue screens and digital computers.

"Sagebrush Trail" was the second in Wayne's Lone Star westerns made between 1933-35. It's one of the better entries in the series and is highlighted by the superior stuntwork of Yakima Canutt. He performs many of his signature stunts including a spectacular horse fall into a river, the mounting of a stagecoach from a prone position, a chariot like driving of a team of horses and several flying horse mounts.

The story involves Wayne on the run for a murder he didn't commit and searching for the real killer. He is befriended by an outlaw "Jones" (Lane Chandler) who brings him into the gang headed by Ed Walsh (Canutt). Wayne and Chandler become friends and compete for the affections of heroine Nancy Schubert. Meanwhile, the sheriff (Bob Burns) and his deputy (Wally Wales - aka Hal Taliaferro) are on their trail. Eventually Wayne discovers the real killer and proves his innocence.

This was one of the only pictures in the series that was not directed by Robert N. Bradbury. This one was directed by Armand Schaefer who does a pretty good job. There is plenty of action, imaginative settings and lots of hard ridin'.

Not a bad little "B" western on a modest budget.

While it is rather slow at times, and not always plausible, in general this is not bad at all for a B-Western. It's interesting to see John Wayne in one of his earlier roles, and while he's hardly yet become "The Duke" in this one, he's likable and worth seeing. The setup is interesting, and while the movie does not get everything it could have out of the possibilities, it still has enough going on to hold your attention.

Wayne plays a character who was unjustly convicted of murder, and who has broken out of prison in order to look for the real killer. He runs across a gang of outlaws, and when he begins to realize that things are different than he thought they were, he is faced with some real dilemmas. Later on in his career, Wayne could have done much more with this kind of role, but here he is at least always sympathetic. Although it misses some opportunities to make things more interesting, there should be enough story and action to make this one worthwhile if you enjoy older Westerns.

Released in 1933, this movie stars John Wayne as a very young and unpolished actor. His character is John Brant, a man wrongly convicted and imprisoned for murder. He decides that his only hope is to escape and find the real killer, which may have been an original plot device in 1933 but is now well worn. After he escapes, he eludes two law officers and meets outlaw Bob Jones, who introduces him to an outlaw gang living in an abandoned mine. Determined not to make his situation worse, Brant warns of upcoming robberies to be carried out by the gang and predictably starts a romance with a local store clerk. The plot unfolds in a manner that can be foreseen, the romance continues, Brant commits no other crimes and at the end, his newfound friend confesses to the murder that Brant is accused of. It of course ends with a kiss between Brant and his newfound love interest. There is one very amusing aspect of this movie and that is the number of rounds that the men sometimes fire without reloading. Their guns are closer to sixteen shooters rather than the standard six. This is a movie that you watch because it is a John Wayne western and no other reason.

Imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, John Brant escapes and ends up out west.

After giving the local lawmen the slip, he joins up with an outlaw gang.

Brant finds out that 'Jones', one of the outlaws he has become friends with, committed the murder that Brant was sent up for, but has no knowledge that anyone was ever put in jail for his crime.

Willing to forgive and forget, Brant doesn't realize that 'Jones' has not only fallen for the same pretty shop girl Brant has, but begins to suspect that Brant is not truly an outlaw.

Some decent fight scenes.

But let's be honest, this is a B picture. Better than a lot of westerns made for no money and not just because Wayne is in it.