L'homme de l'Utah

At the start of this Lone Star cheapie, the Duke strays into Roy Rogers territory as he warbles in a worryingly light voice while trotting along on his trusty steed - and one can only speculate on how foolish he must have felt. Thankfully, our hero quickly becomes too involved with a crooked rodeo gang to 'entertain' us with any more serenades as he 'bulldogs' and 'Roman Rides' and does all the other things an honest cowboy has to do to get in with a gang of crooks.

Subsequent fame has given us a kinder opinion of Wayne than he probably deserves in terms of his potential in these early days. Ford saw something there, but nobody else in Hollywood did, and Wayne spent most of the 30s trudging from one no-budget potboiler to another. He's better than most of the cast in this flick, but there's little to indicate the massive star power he would one day possess - it's only his size that seems to give him a presence (and that, if truth be told, is what Wayne was - a screen presence rather than an accomplished actor).

All these flicks were padded out with interminable shots of cowboys riding very fast on their horses, and this one's no different. But in this one we're also treated to lengthy scenes of rodeo riders - which are actually more interesting than the horse-riding fillers, even though the numerous shots of men twisting steers' necks to near-impossible angles in order to floor them and prove their macho status are not pleasant to watch. And the Indians - who were rarely a feature in the Lone Star flicks - are relegated to the status of rodeo sideshow acts here.

THE MAN FROM UTAH is by no means the worst of the Lone Stars pics (of the ones I've seen, that particular wooden spoon is reserved for RANDY RIDES ALONE) although the superhuman status given to Wayne's character is a bit over the top. Probably the best from this era is THE LUCKY TEXAN, so if, for some bizarre reason, you're in a position to choose between the two, be sure to plump for the Texan.

Forget the guitar-strumming opening. This is Wayne at his youthfully charming best, relaxed and easy-going before the pressures of super-stardom and the booze bottle began to show .This is really a rodeo picture with lots of well-integrated footage of calf-roping, bull-dogging, and more, but no gun-play. (Am I wrong or do some of the pageant paraders look like they just staggered out of a saloon.) The baddies are trying to rip-off the town sponsors of the rodeo and only Wayne and the marshal stand in their way. It's fun watching the cantankerous Gabby character trying to break out from Hayes' serious marshal role. Polly Ann Young (Loretta's sister) with a really big smile makes a fetching love interest-- watch Wayne really plant one on her at fade-out. I don't know, but I thought the girl who played the Mexican Delores had a really phony accent. Then I checked the cast and came to find her movie credits are mostly Spanish language productions! Oh well, maybe she don't speak Spanish so good. Anyway, this is average Lone Star fare, mainly for rodeo fans who like seeing a bull's big neck get stretched or a scrawny little calf get thrown to the ground.

This film essentially begins with a cowboy named "John Weston" (John Wayne) riding into a small town to inquire about a job. While he's talking, however, he notices that the local bank is being robbed by three men. With the local marshal out-gunned, John decides to return their fire, which results in two of them being killed and the other one wounded to the point that he immediately surrenders. Quite impressed, "Marshal George Higgins" (George 'Gabby' Hayes) promptly offers John a job as his new deputy. After accepting the job offer, John is then sent to investigate a fraudulent rodeo circuit in another town, which has already resulted in the deaths of three other cowboys--all by snakebite. However, to get to the bottom of this mystery, John has to volunteer as a participant in the same events as the other three cowboys. What he doesn't realize, however, is the overall level of corruption and the exact number of men who are involved. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I found this to be a rather amusing film due in large part to the antiquated techniques involved in its production--with the recycled background noise during the rodeo scene being especially noticeable. Likewise, having the film start off with John Wayne strumming a guitar and supposedly singing while on horseback was equally entertaining. Admittedly, this film is extremely dated, and certain allowances are almost certainly required as it pales in comparison to modern standards. Be that as it may, while it certainly wasn't a great film by any means, it managed to pass the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This film holds up better than some of the early westerns. John Wayne is a hero in this - all the way. His Weston character is a well drawn two fisted hero who can do it all. Of course you have to watch the film until the ending to find out who his character really is. That is what I mean about the plot being good- it keeps you guessing exactly who Wayne is until the end.

The DVD I saw of this has some very dark sequences. A fight sequence is dark deliberately, but some of the other ones really should be better lit. Think this had to do with the tight shooting sequences of these films. There were times in this era when these films would be shot in the matter of just a few days.

Overall, while the special effects are crude & some of the sequences a loosely tied, if your a fan of the Duke or like these old westerns, this is a pretty good film. It is not on the level of The Searchers, but it was not meant to be. This is one of many early films Wayne did to establish himself as a true cowboy hero of the silver screen.

Oh, brother, this one starts out with John Wayne riding his horse and singing like he's high on wacky tobacky. His singing voice is dubbed but that just makes it more embarrassing, I think. Anyway, this singing cowboy rides into town just as the bank is being robbed. He helps marshal Gabby Hayes stop the robbers and is immediately recruited to do some undercover work with a gang that's fixing rodeos...or something like that.

Polly Ann Young plays the female lead and she wears 1930s clothes even though this is supposed to take place in the Old West. There are also telephone poles throughout the entire movie that they don't even try to shoot around. They use stock footage during the rodeo scenes that clearly have people in 1930s attire in the audience. Historical accuracy was not a concern to the good people at Lone Star. This is one of many B westerns Wayne made in the '30s before he hit it big. The vast majority of these were forgettable but watchable oaters with little or nothing to recommend about them. A select few were better than average and many others were worse than average. This one's kind of crappy but if you have a good sense of humor and like to poke fun at bad movies, you might like it. Beware modern copies that have a terrible electronic score that often just starts at random spots in the movie.