Review of Westward Ho

Republic's first film(61 min.) is said to be dedicated to the Vigilantes: "builders of the new empire of the West". That's a mighty strong statement in favor of vigilantes, who are usually regarded as usurpers of the law, usually because they feel that working through the legal system is too slow, expensive and unsure, or too sparsely present, too corrupt, or too prejudiced. I'll return to this subject later........The prelude has a very small wagon train crossing a desert. They are driving a cattle herd, which is the object of desire for an outlaw gang that descends upon them, killing all except two half-grown brothers: John and Jim Wyatt. Jim(Frank McGlynn) is kidnapped, while John(John Wayne) inexplicably is missed in the burning of the wagons. .....We then skip about 10 years to when John is a full grown man, as should be his brother, if he is alive. John has a burning desire to find the gang that killed his parents and extract revenge, and to find his brother, who may still be with this gang. Toward this end, John proposes to a committee of territorial brass, that a group of vigilantes be established to aid in the extermination of outlaws and outlaw gangs. They approve the idea, but plead there is no money to finance such. John says he will find a way to finance the establishment of such. He rides around to various cabins, asking for volunteers, collecting a substantial group(played by the Singing Riders) who supply their own firearms, a white horse, a black shirt, and a white kerchief, as their 'uniform'. These are all single men, since their mission is dangerous. How they supported themselves is not considered. They make some progress in destroying several gangs(not shown), presumably by engaging them in combat and capturing those not killed, to be turned over to legal authorities. Next, they engage Ballard's(Jack Curtis) gang. Ballard is a plump middle-aged man, who is mostly desk-bound. Eventually, they find out that he was the likely leader of the gang that killed John's parents. In fact, later, Ballard realizes that vigilante John and the Jim in his band are the two brothers from that attack. Mary Gordon, who has gotten friendly with John, overhears this when she is locked in Ballard's closet. I will leave the story of how the brothers met, and the nature of Ballard's demise for your viewing(A good copy is available at YouTube). The film includes some singing. The theme song "Westward Ho" is sung 3 times by The Singing Riders. Fortunately, It's quite a nice song. They also sing "The Vigilantes". Glenn Strange dubbed Wayne's supposed singing of "The Girl I Loved Long Ago" to Mary.......This was mostly a location shoot, in and around the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine, in Owens Valley. The High Sierras, just to the west, are often seen in the background. .......Returning to the subject of vigilantism or something closely resembling it which is present in many westerns, yet is generally frowned upon by the legal establishment. However, there are cases, such as the one in this film, where the legal establishment approves of the actions of a vigilante group or person. A famous historical example is the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance, active at times during the early years of the gold rush, when crime was rampant and the population exploding so fast that official law enforcement couldn't keep up with it. Vigilantism may or may not include some summary executions or other punishments of captured villains, or may involve property destruction as a form of vengeance. In summary, depending on the particulars of the situation and the scope of the handling of the captured, vigilantism may sometimes be the best way to deal with a crime situation.