SYNOPSIS: Loner organizes a vigilante group to hunt for his younger brother who was kidnapped by outlaws twelve years previously.
NOTES: Dedicated to the Vigilantes... builders of the New Empire of the West... stern frontiersmen of the days of '49. Men who gave their lives to purge the new frontier of lawlessness.
Republic's first film. Negative cost: a mere $37,000. However, that is largesse indeed compared to the sixteen Lone Star westerns, which were brought in at no more than $11,000 a-piece. More than three times the Lone Star budget here, and all that extra money is right up there on the screen.
COMMENT: Despite some oddities (Wayne serenading the heroine with a dubbed basso profundo) and technical shortcomings (jerky continuity, tacky indoor sets, primitive sound recording), this is not only one of the best of Wayne's pre-superstar westerns, but a worthwhile addition to any permanent collection in its own right.
The locations are truly breathtaking. Bradbury is a director (and Stout a photographer) who knows how to get both the dramatic and pictorial best out of them. The movie is full of sweeping images (the outlaw band, lined up across the frame, silhouetted vividly against sky and sand; the black-shirted singing riders, all mounted on white horses, encircling the renegades on a boulder-strewn mountainside) and no expense has been spared in staging the many action highlights, with lots of thrilling stuntwork, falls and running inserts.
This is not a movie that saves all its action for the final reel either. In fact, if one has any complaint against the film, it's so full of action, there's little chance for the heroine. Never mind, Wayne acquits himself nobly, and there's an excellent performance from Frank McGlynn Jr as the outlaw brother. The villains, led by Curtis and Canutt are appropriately nasty.
One critic has complained recently that the action scenes are undermined by the lack of background music. I didn't find this a problem. There is music in the film - under montages - plus no less than three songs (including the title number which is rendered no less than three times).
By the humble standards of the "B" western, production values are outstanding.
NOTES: Dedicated to the Vigilantes... builders of the New Empire of the West... stern frontiersmen of the days of '49. Men who gave their lives to purge the new frontier of lawlessness.
Republic's first film. Negative cost: a mere $37,000. However, that is largesse indeed compared to the sixteen Lone Star westerns, which were brought in at no more than $11,000 a-piece. More than three times the Lone Star budget here, and all that extra money is right up there on the screen.
COMMENT: Despite some oddities (Wayne serenading the heroine with a dubbed basso profundo) and technical shortcomings (jerky continuity, tacky indoor sets, primitive sound recording), this is not only one of the best of Wayne's pre-superstar westerns, but a worthwhile addition to any permanent collection in its own right.
The locations are truly breathtaking. Bradbury is a director (and Stout a photographer) who knows how to get both the dramatic and pictorial best out of them. The movie is full of sweeping images (the outlaw band, lined up across the frame, silhouetted vividly against sky and sand; the black-shirted singing riders, all mounted on white horses, encircling the renegades on a boulder-strewn mountainside) and no expense has been spared in staging the many action highlights, with lots of thrilling stuntwork, falls and running inserts.
This is not a movie that saves all its action for the final reel either. In fact, if one has any complaint against the film, it's so full of action, there's little chance for the heroine. Never mind, Wayne acquits himself nobly, and there's an excellent performance from Frank McGlynn Jr as the outlaw brother. The villains, led by Curtis and Canutt are appropriately nasty.
One critic has complained recently that the action scenes are undermined by the lack of background music. I didn't find this a problem. There is music in the film - under montages - plus no less than three songs (including the title number which is rendered no less than three times).
By the humble standards of the "B" western, production values are outstanding.