Lawless Range

An early b/w "two reeler" John Wayne western. It is a fun shoot 'em up, that is pure escapism. Don't look for a deep meaning. The stunt work in these early John Wayne/Yakima Canutt films is the equal of any, including those films being made today.

What's unusual here for the period is the construction of the villain's identity. Most 'big boss' bad guys were openly introduced on screen and given excessive, cartoonish proportions. Here, the boss is playing a double role, one blending within the group of good guys/victims, the other unseen and disguised until the climax. The effect is enforced by the lack of close-up face images.

Aside from that, most of this is ordinary - Wayne as the irony-free hero who gets the girl. His voice is overdubbed by a professional baritone (a tenor would have been more convincing) in the obligatory musical segment, which pushed audio splicing technology to its limits.

The gunfight scenes are nothing special. But there are two key action sequences, the first being a dive into a lake and the ensuing escape. Also, Wayne jumps from horseback to horseback to unmount the opposing rider - a scene that appears to be a rough template for Lucas' speeder chase in "Return of the Jedi".

John Wayne sets out to aid an old friend of his father, who disappeared amid a series of attacks by bandits and a bit of mysterious business involving the local bank. Along the way, he's deputized and leads a revolt against Yakima Cannutt's villainous gang of outlaws.

One of a few Paul Malvern produced John Wayne vehicles, released by Republic Pictures before his becoming a full-fledged Republic contract star, it's nothing you haven't seen before, though it's easygoing enough entertainment, with a few nice location shots, a few rousing action sequences and and some good songs.

Speaking of songs, there's a few ludicrously dubbed cowboy tunes, featuring a deep-voiced singer, lip-synced by Wayne, while strumming an old guitar. Didn't they learn their lesson with the Duke's previous turn as "Singing Sandy"?

"I've made a lot of changes in my life but this is the first time I went from a jail bird to a star packer". Is he John Middleton coming to the rescue or notorious bank robber John Allen? I loved this very action packed Duke movie with a great group of supporting actors. Directed by the one and only Robert N. Bradbury and featuring stuntman extrodanaire Yakima Canutt. The Wranglers and Glenn Strange provide great songs in between the action. Great to see western favorite Sheila Bromley who for some reason kept changing her surname and great charactor actor Earl Dwire.

An American Western; A story about a rodeo man who teams up with a local sheriff to begin investigating a gang of cattle rustlers who could be connected to the disappearance of his friend and someone who has plans to take over the town. For a B-movie it lacks the production values to satify the promise of its title of big open country and sweeping vistas. As a singing cowboy, John Wayne is not so convincing, but as a man-of-action he is just the ticket. It has good pacing and a few good stunts. On the downside, there is not enough to grip on to in the way of character development. The tale is straightforward with only a modicum of mystery; the story is resolved neatly but abruptly at the end.