The opening credits proclaim this film a Four Star Western, but in actuality it was a Warner Brothers unit that John Wayne made six movies for in 1932/1933 before moving on to B Studio Lone Star Productions. These pictures aren't easy to come by so it was a pleasant surprise to catch it the other day on the Encore Western Channel, just recently revamped with new logos and screen graphics.
The biggest kick I got out of this picture had to do with the captioning, and I have the feeling that someone at the service might have had some larceny in their heart when they worked the scene when bad guy Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) confronts John Trent (John Wayne) and his sidekick Tippy (Frank McHugh) for the first time at Zeke Keller's Trading Post. Lynch pinches Tippy's nose hard and puts him down to the ground before going after Trent. When Tippy gets up, he says what sounded to me like, "He got my nose". However the captioning had "This f...in' nose" and it caught me off guard so completely that I replayed the scene four times to see if I had it right (I had the picture DVR'd). My immediate thought was that the captioner might have been inspired by a scene in both versions of "The Longest Yard". Anyway, chances are this goof, if it was a goof, will be corrected soon enough, but folks, believe me when I tell you, it was there!
Well with that out of the way, let's get to the story. I was somewhat surprised to see Frank McHugh in the picture as John Wayne's sidekick. Generally he'll show up in more than a handful of Jimmy Cagney flicks, which brings up an interesting trivia note. In Cagney's "Footlight Parade", also released in 1933, his character watches this film as a theater marquee announces "Silent Pictures are Finished". As one would expect, McHugh's Corporal Tippy provides the picture's comic relief, a running gag of his having to do with the gals he left behind stretching all the way from Topeka to Nogales and several points in between.
As in most of John Wayne's early Westerns there's a pretty gal on hand. In this case it's Marceline Day as Alice Keller, who concocts a story about being engaged to Wayne's character based on a picture she sees of him, in order to thwart a marriage proposal from bad guy Lynch. The story line has some fun with the misunderstanding, particularly with Corporal Tippy's grievance over his buddy having a secret girlfriend. This all plays out to a conclusion that would happen again and again with Wayne's early Westerns, in as much he closes out the picture giving his gal a kiss.
The action scenes in the film consist mostly of an Indian attack instigated by Lynch who's in cahoots with Indian White Wolf (Yakima Canutt). With Trent attempting to complete a telegraph line in the territory, Lynch incites White Wolf with the idea that a completed line will bring in more settlers who will kill off the Indians. In reality, Lynch means to preserve his strangle hold on commerce in the area by disrupting any competing supply sources while gouging settlers with his prices.
Before closing I really need to mention Wayne's horse. In this, as in all six of his Warner pictures, Wayne rode a light colored horse listed in the opening credits as 'Duke'. Duke was quite resourceful during the Indian attack, lining himself up to dispatch a couple of renegades through a tent while protecting Miss Alice. Earlier he had some comical scenes with Tippy as well. I'd really like to catch a few more of these Warner Westerns starring Wayne, because in the only other one I've seen, "Haunted Gold", Duke had even more screen time going to bat for the film's hero. Catch that one if you can along with "The Telegraph Trail".
The biggest kick I got out of this picture had to do with the captioning, and I have the feeling that someone at the service might have had some larceny in their heart when they worked the scene when bad guy Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) confronts John Trent (John Wayne) and his sidekick Tippy (Frank McHugh) for the first time at Zeke Keller's Trading Post. Lynch pinches Tippy's nose hard and puts him down to the ground before going after Trent. When Tippy gets up, he says what sounded to me like, "He got my nose". However the captioning had "This f...in' nose" and it caught me off guard so completely that I replayed the scene four times to see if I had it right (I had the picture DVR'd). My immediate thought was that the captioner might have been inspired by a scene in both versions of "The Longest Yard". Anyway, chances are this goof, if it was a goof, will be corrected soon enough, but folks, believe me when I tell you, it was there!
Well with that out of the way, let's get to the story. I was somewhat surprised to see Frank McHugh in the picture as John Wayne's sidekick. Generally he'll show up in more than a handful of Jimmy Cagney flicks, which brings up an interesting trivia note. In Cagney's "Footlight Parade", also released in 1933, his character watches this film as a theater marquee announces "Silent Pictures are Finished". As one would expect, McHugh's Corporal Tippy provides the picture's comic relief, a running gag of his having to do with the gals he left behind stretching all the way from Topeka to Nogales and several points in between.
As in most of John Wayne's early Westerns there's a pretty gal on hand. In this case it's Marceline Day as Alice Keller, who concocts a story about being engaged to Wayne's character based on a picture she sees of him, in order to thwart a marriage proposal from bad guy Lynch. The story line has some fun with the misunderstanding, particularly with Corporal Tippy's grievance over his buddy having a secret girlfriend. This all plays out to a conclusion that would happen again and again with Wayne's early Westerns, in as much he closes out the picture giving his gal a kiss.
The action scenes in the film consist mostly of an Indian attack instigated by Lynch who's in cahoots with Indian White Wolf (Yakima Canutt). With Trent attempting to complete a telegraph line in the territory, Lynch incites White Wolf with the idea that a completed line will bring in more settlers who will kill off the Indians. In reality, Lynch means to preserve his strangle hold on commerce in the area by disrupting any competing supply sources while gouging settlers with his prices.
Before closing I really need to mention Wayne's horse. In this, as in all six of his Warner pictures, Wayne rode a light colored horse listed in the opening credits as 'Duke'. Duke was quite resourceful during the Indian attack, lining himself up to dispatch a couple of renegades through a tent while protecting Miss Alice. Earlier he had some comical scenes with Tippy as well. I'd really like to catch a few more of these Warner Westerns starring Wayne, because in the only other one I've seen, "Haunted Gold", Duke had even more screen time going to bat for the film's hero. Catch that one if you can along with "The Telegraph Trail".