The Lonely Trail

An American Western; A story set in 1865 about a Civil War veteran who is asked by the governor to drive out corrupt officials in his home town in Texas. Even for a short feature it holds a modicum of interest as a tale of reconstruction and political tension that came after the war. John Wayne looks the part as the white hat, spritely and heroic as the Union officer to stop Cy Kendall, who plays the part of the sly carpetbagger well, killing, stealing, and taxing the local ranchers out of their property under the pretense of state authority. More could have been made of overcoming the hatred against him by the locals for being a Union man, instead there is a fairly mediocre story and plot.

The Lone Star and early Repulic two-reeler "oaters," i.e., hour-long westerns, ably served as John Wayne's training ground throughout the Thirties. I think most of the Duke's 1933-39 oaters entertaining as hell.

The cast, writers and production crew get in, get it done and get out, all in an hour give or take a few minutes. And they usually did it well. Were they corny? You bet, pardner. We're they sappy? At times. We're they scrappy? You bet yer boots!

It was in these films that Wayne and actor/stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt developed the draw-back punch that's become the standard in film fights ever since.

The Lonely Trail, an early Republic feature from it's first year, 1936, is involving and action-packed and loaded with classic early western character actors of the era, such as Cy Kendall, Sam Flint and the legendary Canutt. It was directed by the king of '30s B westerns, Joe Kane and also featured a young Ann Rutherford "Snowflake." These are not up there with the great films of the era, not even close. However, for fans of the genre, they are a most entertaining way to spend an hour.

Reading the 10 reviews that were posted before this one, I wonder why some people don't watch the movie before writing. There are too many errors, along with some other reviews that are great.

John Ashley, played by John Wayne, betrayed his neighbors, including his intended, played by the adorable Ann Rutherford, and rode off to join the invading Yankees.

Ashley innocently returns to his ranch in Texas, not expecting the anger and hatred the victims of Northern aggression feel. But being an essentially decent person, he rather quickly learns the occupation forces are thieves and even, when given the opportunity, murderers They are led by General Holden, the excellent Cy Kendall, and it's Holden who makes and keeps most of the profit from the jacked-up taxes and other acts of theft..

Among the occupying forces is "Bull," the great Yakima Canutt, who beautifully and understatedly is hesitant when told to raise his right hand to be sworn in.

A sentry is portrayed by the favorite of so many of us, Charles King, looking svelte and youthful.

Ashley's sidekick is played by a relative unknown, Jim T.oney. Even IMDb has next to no information about him. But anyone watching "The Lonely Trail," a rather blah and generic title, will realize Mr. Toney should have had a long and busy career.

Among the others is Fred Toones, usually billed as and playing a character named "Snowflake." Toones ran the shoeshine stand at Republic Studios and it must be a really interesting story how he became an actor. He had a presence any seasoned actor could envy, and Toones did eventually play in about 225 movies!

Etta McDaniel, a wonderful actress, has a small bit here. Look for her in a scene-stealing role, again with John Wayne, in "The Lawless Nineties." She is marvelous!

John Wayne didn't have a lot to do here. The movie was not about him or his character, but has an involved plot, lots of characters, good production values, and it's a nice bit of Hollywood history: What did John Wayne do in his early appearances?

I recommend "The Lonely Trail," and you can find a copy at YouTube.

Although I am a John Wayne fan, this film was painful to watch. Which begs the question, did John Ford bring something to John Wayne's career that he didn't possess before they worked together? I would say that they both needed each other. The John Ford films without John Wayne weren't that good, and the westerns that John Wayne appeared in like this one (which were not directed by John Ford) were just as bad. So what exactly did John Wayne lack in this film? I think the non-John Ford directed John Wayne westerns lacked a story, emotional depth, colour, scenery and a bit of spectacle. Before the John Ford/Wayne collaboration, westerns were just some B picture, but what John Ford did was to give it spectacle like the Cecil B. DeMille films.

John Wayne is indeed traveling The Lonely Trail in this film. He's a Texan who enlisted with the Yankee army and has now returned home after the war to the scorn of his neighbors. They've been given less reason than ever to like the color blue. Reconstruction has come to Texas in the position of profiteering carpetbagger Cy Kendall who had a specialty in roles showing corpulent corruption.

The more Wayne sees, the more he doesn't like, the trick now is to convince his neighbors he's really on their side.

Sad, but this is one of John Wayne's worst films. It abounds in racial stereotyping. East Texas back in the day was not too different from the culture of the Deep South, it had its share of cotton plantations and slaves. Looking at the blacks in this film you would think those Yankees were their enemies as well. Seeing Etta McDaniel and Fred Toone and the other plantation hands singing because of the 'death' of the young master Dennis Moore is one of the worst examples of racism I've ever seen in any film.

Only the most devoted fans of the Duke will find anything good in this film.