California Straight Ahead!

I have accomplished something very difficult...I have seen nearly all of John Wayne's films. However, one which eluded me was "California Straight Ahead!"...as I simply couldn't find it anywhere. Fortunately, my friend Angelo found it on YouTube and alerted me...as he knows about my obsession with seeing all of Wayne's films. The copy isn't great but considering its rarity, I certainly can't complain!

While Wayne is most often associated with Republic Pictures, he made this and a few others for Universal. It also was made while Wayne was still a B-movie star...before he broke out with such classics as "Stagecoach" and "Dark Command".

When the story begins, Biff (Wayne) is a school bus driver. However, his girlfriend pushes him to do something with his life...to push for something more. So, he decides to start a trucking company...but he finds it hard going because some of the big competitors, not just trucking companies but railroads, are willing to do ANYTHING to keep small outfits from making it.

In so many ways, this is a pretty typical B-movie. It's 67 minute length, its budget, its plot...all very typical. And, while Wayne is good in the picture, it's also the sort of role many actors of the day could play...especially the likes of Pat O'Brian or Jimmy Cagney or a long string of B-actors. Overall, very watchable and well done for a B, but apart from this and Wayne's appearance, it's nothing special.

California Straight Ahead finds John Wayne as a school bus driver turned truck driver. The film was one of a series of six films that John Wayne made for Universal Pictures that was an attempt to broaden his acting horizons. Not one of these films that he did for Universal was a western.

Though this one does have some western like elements. The final climax has Wayne leading a wagon train like caravan of big rigs trying to beat the railroad to the Pacific Coast before a longshoreman's strike commences is definitely western like in its presentation for the screen.

California Straight Ahead also bears no small resemblance to the working stiff pictures that were more popular at Warner Brothers. Wayne's in a part that Pat O'Brien normally would have played. If the film had been done at MGM, Spencer Tracy would have been cast.

The Duke does not do badly as the happy go lucky Biff Smith who's a lazy fellow with little ambition, content to be a school bus driver. He's got a thing for Louise Latimer, but his lack of ambition distresses her mother, Grace Goodall, to no end. He actually gets himself canned from that job when he helps Latimer's brother, Emerson Treacy, get his cargo to Chicago after villain LeRoy Mason disables Treacy's truck. Wayne and Treacy form a partnership that later includes Harry Allen.

Mason was no stranger to John Wayne films, he appeared in several of Wayne's films as a western villain right up to and including some Three Mesquiteers series. Allen has a nice part, he plays cockney- accented James McCorkle, though there's no explanation as to how he landed from Piccadilly in the American mid-west.

California Straight Ahead, despite some big holes in the plot, is not a bad film for John Wayne. Considering some of the hard driving parts he mostly played, those early scenes in this film were something I had never witnessed from him before, even though he does eventually grow into the usual Duke character. That opening with him driving the school bus and the kids singing almost looks like the setting of a number from a Bing Crosby film.

The film's not great, but it's an interesting part for the Duke.

An American action adventure; A story about a bus driver who started up a small trucking firm with his girlfriend's brother, who begins to steal business from a rival trucker, leading to reprisals. This supporting feature is a second remake of a silent film made in 1927. Its main theme is about imagination being the best way to beat a dishonest criminal. It is a predictable story apart from one unexpected plot turn. There is only slender character development, but John Wayne, portraying a man of scruples, adds a compelling element. Louise Latimer brings sparkle to their romance. Robert McWade is amusing as the crusty boss of a large trucking company. The plot becomes convoluted when Wayne goes against the rival for his affections, though the action in the form of a cross-country race gives the final third a shot in the arm. All in all, it is watchable for its running time, but it lacks subtlety in direction and film craft.

John Wayne goes from a no ambition bus man to a hard driving trucker. That's what the love of Tinsel Town beauty Mary Porter (Louise Latimer) will do to a man. Of course being framed for the death of his partner and Mary's brother Charlie (Emerson Treacy) gives much added incentive. Duke is hired by the most lovable grouch Robert McWade who needs some extra aspirin due to all of Wayne's antics. 'Fish' McCorkle is now Wayne's side man, perfectly played by Aussie Harry Allen but never count out Padula played by the great western "heavy" LeRoy Mason. Great silent and character actors, Theodore von Eltz, Tully Marshall, and Grace Goodall brilliantly play supporting roles to make California Straight Ahead a most enjoyable experience.

Trucker Emerson Treacy is killed transporting dynamite. His sister, Louise Latimer, goes to work for Theodore von Eltz at the railroad. His partner, John Wayne, goes to work for truck owner Robert McWade. Some time later, there is about to be a strike, so the rail road and McWade's company compete to get some airplane parts to Los Angeles first. McWade doesn't want in, but Wayne is a ready-for-aught sort of fellow.

There are some good shots here of trains breaking through huge barriers of snow and ice, and the performances are good. Where I have issue with this Paul Malvern produced B feature is in the plotting. It alll seems a bit ramshackle, connecting the people through diners and happenstance. Still, if you've a hankering to see all the John Wayne -- or Tully Marshall -- movies you can, here's one to add to your list.