The Lawless Fontier (1934)

★★★★ · Somewhat satisfying · Dark Moon · 2011-08-23

Unlike the 'true "B" western fashion', the good guys win out in these Paul Malvern/John Wayne films mainly because Wayne's characters outsmart and out-persist the baddies. Malvern hired writers who were often capable of producing sufficiently twisty plot lines and maintaining enough tension to draw in the audience and keep things interesting. When combined with Wayne's acting ability (yes, he could act, and he showed it in these early films where he was young and full of energy, before he took to coasting on his name recognition), and his repertory of maneuvers (both trick riding and…

★★★★ · Missing footage · Boogie350 · 2012-12-24

I've only seen one version of this movie that isn't missing a lot of footage from the point where Yakima Canutt and the other henchman was chasing the girl and Duke saying "someone to take care of you". I figure it must be roughly five minutes or so of film that hit the floor somewhere and was never spliced back together. I'm not sure where I saw that one version. It seems like perhaps it was the Fox/Lorber TV edits (with the cheese music soundtracks) that still had this chase included intact.