Le ranch de la terreur

The Range Feud (1931)

** (out of 4)

Standard "B" Western has Buck Jones playing Sheriff Buck Gordon who finds himself in the middle of rival families battling over land. Soon Clint Turner (John Wayne) is accused of killing the father of the rival family and Buck must race to try and clear his name.

THE RANGE Feud really isn't any different than countless of other Westerns that were made during this era. Heck, even by 1931 standards the film is pretty old-fashioned and using clichéd tricks that went out of style in the silent era. With that said, the film will contain a little interest thanks in large part to Wayne having a small role. While the film is mildly entertaining in its own way, can you really say people would be watching it today if it wasn't for Wayne?

The biggest problem is the fact that this is pretty much like any other cheap Western. The filmmaking is "good" enough to get a decent looking film on the screen. The story is your typical Romero and Juliet type of story dealing with a rivalry and murder. Jones makes for a good lead and I thought Wayne was pretty good in his small role. What else can really be said? If you're a fan of these types of films then it's worth watching.

"Range Feud" comes to us from 1931, when Buck Jones was perhaps the strongest of the B-western heroes and when John Wayne was trying to gain a consistent presence in Hollywood. It is as if Wayne was cast here to test his appeal to B-western audiences as one more top-billed hero, of which at the time there were many. Although John Wayne's character is central to why we are all watching this film, Wayne doesn't actually have a lot to do in this film (he spends considerable time in the jailhouse or laying low), but he does a credible job when asked to contribute to the strong dramatics and pathos in this serious film.

But this is a Buck Jones show and Buck turns in another powerful performance as a determined and stoic lawman faced with choices that are not always merely either good or bad. The story of two camps of good people needing to take a stand on life-impacting issues that clearly are seen differently by them is well developed and told in such a way that the viewer also takes a stand; however, the viewer comes to realize before long that further evaluation may be demanded as the movie's expository process unfolds.

Director Sam Newfield pries some effective performances from the cast in a production that seems to have given him the luxury of time to do so. In the coming decades Newfield would grind out countless more westerns, but time and budget constraints usually limited his movies to lots of action but weak to so-so story development. But here, in this one, story is paramount and action is used to illustrate or even punctuate the story. This is one reason why Buck Jones has such an aura of mythic hero about him to this day... he looks like the perfect Western hero, acts like it, too, and seems to always find himself in powerful situations and stories that befit his persona. It is a shame that more Buck movies from the 1930's are not more readily available.

Young John Wayne appears in support of Buck Jones in Range Feud as a the son and heir of a couple of feuding ranch families. Seems as though the patriarch of the other clan is shot in the back shortly after Wayne came courting on Susan Fleming who is the daughter of the deceased.

There's someone who's mighty interested in keeping a range feud going between the two families, a guy who's been rustling from both families and laying the blame on the other. It's up to the sheriff, played by Buck Jones to figure it out and prevent a miscarriage of justice.

Buck Jones had a strong screen presence and a very good speaking voice for sound. He apparently made the transition to sound with ease. This was the first time I'd ever seen one of his films and I could tell why he was a success as a cowboy hero.

Although there's not much suspense here, you pretty much figure out who's the real villain in the first few moments of the film, still for western fans it's got all the ingredients, riding, fighting, shooting, and the prerequisite ending.

And it's an opportunity to see a very callow John Wayne in support of another cowboy hero.

I love John Wayne's B-movies more than his later work, so this film was just another check-off on the list of movies I'd put on in the background while I'm editing. However, this movie has a more gripping story than many other of the films I've seen, so at the least give this film a chance.

Buck Jones sets the stage from the get go with, "I represent the law of man. The law of God is the law of man, but that law has been abused" He has no less than John Wayne in his sights. And the Duke has gorgeous 'Million Dollar Legs' Ziegfeld Girl, Susan Fleming in his sights. But the big show is between Dad Turner, played by Will Walling and the stately Edward LeSaint in the cattle rustling war. Now the 'all time meanest villain' Harry Woods may have a hand in this, go figure. Buck Jones and John Wayne play great together in this early western that can't be missed.