bkoganbing
MGM put a little more money into this western, unusual for a studio that was not really known for its westerns with shooting out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This is a strictly Wallace Beery vehicle with Beery's scene stealing persona going full blast.Beery is another lovable rapscallion of an outlaw who with sidekick Leo Carrillo has to flee Missouri with the army after him. Arriving in Wyoming, Beery gets himself involved with the struggles of local ranchers against Joseph Calleia playing one of his usual snake oily villains. Calleia's keeping him the army off balance by stirring up the Indians and the army is headed by General Custer. Paul Kelly plays Custer as a courtly gentleman, not as dashing as Errol Flynn. Still one of the few films that does have him as a complete hero.Beery is also given his usual kid to play against with Bobs Watson and Marjorie Main as well. Beery and Main were suited professionally as a team although like 99% of the people whoever knew him, Marjorie despised Beery in real life.A really well staged battle with the Sioux climaxes Wyoming. For some reasons this film is not well known and I think if MGM had sprung for color it would have a better reputation. I think if you see it, if you're a western fan you'll agree.
boblipton
Looking at WYOMING, one might believe it a B version of George Stevens' classic oater, SHANE. Of course, MGM proudly stated that they never produced B movies, but they did produce *ahem* lead features of lesser quality like the Andy Hardy series and those of Wallace Beery, who played amiable cusses in all his movies in this period. Add in familiar faces from other MGM movies of the period like Henry Travers, Bobs Watson, Anne Rutherford, Stanley Fields -- at RKO, Fields was the Beery lookalike -- Marjorie Main and gigantic, beautiful mountains on every vista, even though the ground that everyone stands around is as flat as a pancake -- the high-minded viewer might be tempted to draw invidious comparisons.The fact that SHANE wouldn't be shot for more than a decade also argues against this being a retread, but there are some amazing parallels to this story of a feckless wanderer set in the Johnson County Wars. Well, there is nothing new under the sun and less than that in westerns.Director Richard Thorpe doesn't have to use his patented method of getting cheap performances out of mediocre actors here -- when they flub the line, change the camera angle -- and the whole thing is shot in standard MGM Gloss, with the credited DP, Clyde De Vinna being their Exotic Locale cameraman. In short, there's little that's wrong with this MGM programmer. If you enjoy Wallace Beery's mugging -- and I do -- you will enjoy it. However, you'll have to squint a bit, especially if you have recently seen an Alan Ladd movie.
