ThiefHott Too much of everything

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

morrison-dylan-fan Having enjoyed watching a few of John Waynes previous Lone Star production's,I was very much looking forward to viewing the movie.After having seen the film,I feel that it has a very good plot and some unexpectedly impressive stunts.The plot: Secret Agent Slingin Sandy Saunders is sent from Washington to go undercover in a small town.When Sandy arrives to the town,he discoverers that the town is in big trouble due to a major businessman,declaring that he is to own all of the towns water supply by buying out all of the contracts. View on the film:Though screenwriter/director Robert N. Bradbury sadly does not film most of the excellent stunts (including a stunt that John Ford would use later on for the classic film Stagecoach) in close up.His screenplay makes up for it,by being surprisingly very ahead of its times with looking at the subject of small landowners getting crushed by huge corporations.With the performances,John Wayne gives a very good cunning performance as Sandy,especially in the scenes that he shares with the beautiful Cecilia Earler. Final view on the film: A well-written, surprisingly modern story with great stunts and fun performances from Wayne and Earler.

MartinHafer During the 1930s, John Wayne was NOT the huge star many would have thought, but just one of many minor stars playing in B-westerns to eke out a living. His westerns were made for many so-called 'poverty row' studios in that they had minuscule budgets and limited resources--and very modest pretenses. If you are the critical sort, you can find a ton of problems with these films, though if you are a more charitable sort, you'll see that they are entertaining...provided you understand they are just B-movies...and not particularly distinguished ones at that.Here in 1933, Wayne was in some of his earliest Bs, so his persona wasn't yet established. Some knuckle-heads thought he'd be great as "Singin' Sandy"--a singing cowboy much in the mold of Gene Autry. The only problem was that Wayne sang about as well as Andy Devine--so they had to dub this singing--and it's painfully obvious it ain't Wayne doing any of this! Seen today, it's laughable as the movie begins and Wayne is crooning a very maudlin tune--especially as he begins to sing each time he's about to have a shootout! You just HAVE to see and hear these scenes to believe them!! In addition to Wayne, the film has a few other familiar faces. Gabby Hayes is here--like he would be in most of Wayne's Bs. Al St. John is also here for comic relief along with Heinie Conklin. It's not surprising the pair would be included as comics, as both had extensive silent comedy experience. St. John was Fatty Arbuckle's nephew and nemesis in many of his films...and later a very familiar western sidekick in the 1940s. Conklin had worked for Mack Sennett as one of the Keystone Kops. Unfortunately, too often the pair just seemed way, way too dumb to be bad guys--no gang leader is THAT desperate for henchmen!! Plus, they never are nearly as funny as Sandy's singing!! Like just about all of Wayne's films, here he is a lawman investigating an evil gang leader. In this case, the gang's fighting over water rights. Their scum-bag leader owns the water for the valley and now that his contract is about to expire with the nearby ranchers, he's planning on charging ridiculous prices for the use of the water in order to destroy them. However, he is willing to buy them out--for only $1 and acre! Nice guy, huh? Can Wayne sort all this out before the ranchers either give up or an all-out range war take place? While this film is diverting, I have to say that compared to the westerns made for this same penny-ante studio in the next couple years (Lone Star), this one is clearly inferior. Most of this is due to the stupid singing gimmick, though St. John and Conklin didn't help matters any.

writers_reign Clearly once again I watched a different film to the majority of the people who have reviewed it here. Frankly it's BEYOND dire and God alone knows how any of the cast survived to actually have careers in movies. Arguably the most distinguished is Celia Parker, the Canadian actress playing the daughter of George (the 'Gabby' came later) Hayes and who, some four years later, played for the first time the elder sister of Andy Hardy, a role she reprised throughout the series. John Wayne is risible in the opening sequence which sees him riding a horse with no hands, the hands being engaged in holding and strumming a guitar as he warbles a song that is even worse than Elton John could aspire to. The plot - and it had to be ancient even in 1933 - is the old chestnut about the local 'businessman' holding the settlers to ransom because he owns all the water for miles around. If you're wondering how come I watched this piece of cheese at all it's because I bought a DVD containing Three movies, two half decent titles starring respectively Jimmy Stewart and Jimmy Cagney and then this turkey to make up the numbers. For masochists only.

alan-morton At the risk of sounding like a complete anorak, I have to confess to a deep affection for John Wayne's Lone Star westerns. Every one has a mighty fine title, usually nothing much to do with the story being told. They have that addictive quality that other people find in today's soap operas. In both types, the plots are familiar and preposterous, the characters are off-the-peg, the acting is poor, the heroines are pretty, and the leading man looks good (especially on a horse in J.W.'s case).Of all J.W.'s Lone Star films, this one is my favourite. It has all the virtues listed above, maybe not as developed as in some of the later films, but there nevertheless. I particularly enjoy the way a character is introduced in the first reel, made to disappear for most of the film, and reintroduced at the end. The heroine is delightful in jodhpurs, and the bad guy simply looks dastardly in them. Then there are the pistols that seemingly are deadly at several hundred yards. And an important prop is what I take to be a genuine stagecoach.But this film has notable extras: "interesting" singing, some truly exciting stunt work, and a remarkably lyrical climax that I don't think Robert N Banbury ever came close to emulating again. It's so good that you'd almost believe that Ingmar Bergman had seen this film and been inspired by it as he started on Virgin Spring.Note to students of film: it's probably a bad idea to try that suggestion on your teacher!