JOHN WAYNE SET

Nine movies and serials starring the duke, John Wayne!!

SHADOW OF THE EAGLE(1932):

This is quite a long movie compared to the rest
in this set! That's because it's a serial made in
the 30's and had 12 episodes! And it's a pretty
good mystery serial at that! Wayne plays a carney
that gets involved with a plot concerning an
attempted murder, bribery, theft and greed!
A really decent movie and in fairly good shape!
According to the reviewer below, there are
copies of this that are incomplete, but this
seems to be fairly complete! B-

A review from IMDb.com:

While this is not John Wayne's finest movie,
or even his finest serial, for fans of the cliffhanger
it delivers plenty of action and pretty good acting.

The main point of this review is to caution you
about differences in the two DVD releases, both
essentially from the same starting print. Decisions
taken by the two different DVD production
companies make all the difference in whether
you enjoy this film or feel cheated. The two
companies are Marengo Films and Platinum Disc.

I first purchased the Marengo print and was so
wholly unsatisfied with the editing and production
that I went looking for another. I finally found
it from a company named Platinum Discs.

The Marengo release chops 5 seconds off the
end of the film, leaving out completely John
Wayne's closing scene. Also, the text that
Marengo substituted for the studio's "The End"
text is huge, blocky and computer generated.
In short, Marengo has butchered the film for
the sake of reducing the total number of VOBs
needed to hold the DVD film image.

The Platinum Disc release is the entire original
film, not a single frame, more or less. My only
disappointment with this version is they appear to
have made no effort to clean up dust and scratches.

The irony is that the Marengo print does have
slightly more detail and better scratch and dust
cleanup, however not enough, IMHO, to compensate
for altering the original edit.

Review written May 22, 2011 based on latest
available releases from Marengo and Platinum. - MHKfilm

I may be wrong, but I think this has a rather
large piece of the movie chopped out of it!
It seems to jump a couple of times and leave
parts of the movie out! Otherwise, this is
interesting in that John is playing in a
comedy, which is very rare for him! It's
not great, but neither is it terrible! C

A review from IMDb.com:

This would be worth watching if for no
other reason than to watch John Wayne
in a romantic comedy, and it's a decent
movie in its own right. While its not as
funny or as moving as the best films of
this type, the story is good and is usually
at least mildly amusing.

Wayne plays the carefree son of a rich
man. His Father disapproves of him
and his lifestyle, and after giving him one
last chance, rejects him and the woman
he has married (Evalyn Knapp). His wife
decides to take matters into her own hands,
with a creative scheme intended to bring
the cold-hearted father to his senses. It's
a fairly interesting scenario, and most of
the possibilities are realized. The acting
is generally good, and Wayne does well
in a role much different from those he
would later become famous for.

Wayne's fans should enjoy seeing how
he performs in this atypical role, and
fans of old-fashioned romantic comedies
should also find this worth a look. - Snow Leopard

I truly don't believe that John Wayne actually
sang the songs in this! Just doesn't sound like
him at all! Not that it really makes any difference
in the movie, just an observation! Meanwhile,
back at the movie, this is not bad, but the
beginning is very disjointed! It almost appears
that something has been deleted from the first
part, as there's no real explanations on why
what is happening is happening! Anyway, still
a decent flick, just give it time to explain itself! C+

A review from IMDb.com:

Forget the lame opening of Singin' Sandy
(Wayne) warbling a tune that sounds about
as much like Wayne's singing voice as mine
does. This is still a solid Lone Star programmer.
There's not a lot of hard riding or fast shooting,
but there is a strong story-line, along with that
stellar cast of Lone Star regulars-- George
Hayes (before Gabby), Yakima Canutt, Earl
Dwire, and Forrest Taylor, excellent as the
head bad guy.

I expect the plot really resonated with
Dust Bowl audiences of the time. Bad guy
Taylor wants to use water rights to buy up
all the little farmers in the valley. The
effects of water returning to the valley
are quite well done for a programmer.
Also the crowd scenes look like real farmers,
while the 30 seconds of the plain-faced
frontier woman appealing to the crowd
should be studied by A-grade Westerns.

Wayne is quite engaging as the good guy,
looking every inch the part. Also, look for
Al (Fuzzy) St. John, sans whiskers, as one
of the bad guys, no less. One complaint--
there are two really tumbling trip-wire
scenes that send the poor horses head
over hoofs. I hope they survived. That
was one real problem with these 30's
Westerns. Anyway, it's still an entertaining
60 minutes for fans of Wayne and Lone
Star. - dougdoepke

This movie is quite good, with the picture
and audio quality pretty good also! Wayne
plays a good guy who's looking for his roots
with Gabby Hayes! Along the way, he of
course runs into a lady in distress, cattle
thieves, ranch thieves, and money thieves!
(All the same dudes!) Well worth a watch
or two! B-

A review from IMDb.com:

Another John Wayne Monogram Lone Star
Production, in which the cast is almost the
same, the plots variations on evil versus good,
the acting perfunctory and the whole shebang
put together in a time slightly longer than it
takes to read a review of it.

It was filmed in Kernville, some miles north
of Bakersfield, a popular place a day's drive
from Los Angeles. Kernville is accessible
mountainous country often used for Westerns,
ambitious or otherwise. The final race between
the coach and the Indians in John Ford's
"Stagecoach" was shot there.

Like some of Wayne's other inexpensive
and hasty Westerns, this was written and
directed by Robert Bradbury, the father
of one of Wayne's childhood friends, later
known as Bob Steele, from his days in
Lancaster, California.

There isn't much of substance to the movie.
Horses gallop -- Yakima Canut gets prominent
screen credit -- and money is mishandled and
everyone carries a gun and uses it. It's of
interest for fans of John Wayne or the
productions of the Poverty Row studios
like some people I could name. Well -- one
person I could name, anyway, who took the
trouble to track down the original location
of studios like Monogram and PRC and
photograph them as they now are. One
was turned into a fast-food chicken
restaurant.

It's easy enough to criticize these shabby
films but they kept the actors and crew
employed during the difficult times of the
Great Depression. With no fanfaronade,
they filled double-bill slots at the local
theaters too. And one must ask one's self
if, after all, they were more mindless
than some of the crap that now keeps
American audiences glued to the
television set. Are they really worse
than, say, "Oprah", "World's Wildest
Police Videos", or rock videos? Aren't
they all at or near asymptote? - Robert J. Maxwell

John Wayne with Noah Beery Jr. and Sr.
(Jr. noted for having been Jim Rockford's
father in the TV show "The Rockford Files")!
Noah Jr. is framed for murder during a card
game on a train, and John helps him escape
into the wilderness of Canada, with the
Mounties after them! Not a bad show, and
the films in pretty good shape for 1934! B-

A review from IMDb.com:

For me, the movie was (a) poor but (b) fun.

"Poor" because the directing was lame, the
dialogue was hard not to chuckle at, the
fight-scenes were definitely proto, and the
plot meandering.

But still it was "fun" because here was young
John Wayne giving it his all, jumping off cliffs,
diving into every body of water he could find,
and fighting Bad French Guys. And it's fun to
see such a young, naive movie, so endearingly
but sincerely lame, trying hard to do nothing
but entertain. And for me, a lifelong lover
of Mammoth Lakes, it was fun to see Crystal
Crag, and a shot down at Twin Lakes from
below Lake Mamie described as "a bend in
the river."

I just wish it had been color! - Dan Phillips

John plays a sheriff that thinks he's killed
his best friend and quits! He then is hired
by the daughter of his friend to be the
foreman of her newly acquired ranch!
Total misdirection throughout the movie.
Pretty good flick. As an aside here,
it's nice to see such an old movie show
the Indians here in such a great light! C+

A review from IMDb.com:

This entry in Wayne's series of Lone
Star westerns that he made for
Monogram in the 30's is a cut above
the average. It has a good plotline
and plenty of action crammed into its
51 minute running time.

In the early part of the film we see
Wayne depart from his usual clean-cut
hero image when he thinks that he has
killed his best friend. He grows a
beard and has a generally unkempt
appearance almost foreshadowing a
similar appearance at the end of
"Three Godfathers" (1948).

The film is also enhanced by the
appearance of such "B" western
stalwarts as LeRoy Mason as the
villain and a pre-Gabby George Hayes
as the sheriff. There is also an unusually
large cast of extras in the "Indians to
the rescue" sequence which does not
appear to be stock footage. The stunt
work (likely coordinated by Yakima
Canutt) is also superb.

Not a bad way to spend an hour. - bsmith5552@rogers.com

A rather cute movie, with several bouts
of humor, along with a decent enough cast
backing up John here! Not great, but a good
time killer! C+

A review from IMDb.com:

John Wayne is on the trail of a counterfeiting
racket, and joins a medicine show in order to
trick the bad guys. He falls in love with the
daughter (Marion Burns) of the alcoholic owner
(Earle Hodgins), and races frantically at the
conclusion to prove that the guys always come
out first. There's plenty to enjoy in this very
short western comedy, and Wayne is at his
low-budget best. We've seen him do this
before, and some of the low grade westerns
he did prior to "Stagecoach" are much better
than others. This is one of the better ones.
Hodgins proves that alcoholics can be funny
(even if it is medicine he claims he is taking,
90 percent alcohol included) and Burns is
a sweet, likable< heroine. - mark.waltz

Not bad, but again, it seems like some
of it has been cut! The beginning starts
out like it's already 5 minutes into the
show, not explaining how we got were
we are in the movie! Hovever, this is a
fun romp! C+

A review from an IMDb.com customer:

This has a cast of over forty, which
makes it twice as big as the usual
Lonestar production.

Gabby Hayes carries much of the movie
with his usual gruff-old-goat character.
Unfortunatey, he's only in the first fifteen
and last ten minutes of the film.

John Wayne plays a "Special Agent" John
Martin who builds a road to the outlaw
forsaken town of Rainbow Valley. He basically
sleepwalks through the part.

As other reviewers noted, it is a bit irritating
that the female characters are always
dressed in 1930's fashion.

This seems to be about average for a
Lonestar production. It is not one of my
favorites. - Jay Raskin

Another pretty good flick with the Duke!
This one features a stagecoach race that
you know how it has to end, but it keeps
you on the edge of your seat! Film's in
good shape, and the sound is great! This
is definitely one of the better films of
the set! B

A review from IMDb.com:

Former Pony Express Riders John Wayne
and Lane Chandler get some free horses
when the Pony Express disbands and decide
to start a stagecoach line. Easier said than
done when a crooked stagecoach entrepreneur,
Douglas Cosgrove, sells them a worthless
route to a ghost town.

Well not quite a ghost town, there are
two inhabitants there. But through
good old American know how and some
hard work, Wayne and Chandler make a
go of it. The town springs back to life in
the process.

Though this is a poverty row B film with
production values of same, this is one
of the Duke's better B films of his
pre-Stagecoach period. I like the plot
very much and there is an exciting climax
with a stagecoach race to see who wins
the government mail contract.

And why wouldn't it be exciting since
the King of Stuntmen, Yakima Canutt
who did the chariot race in Ben-Hur had
a hand in this one.

Also look for a very nice performance
from character actor Lew Kelly, the
"Mayor" of the ghost town who keeps
having a run in with a persistent
skunk who has taken up residence in
the old stagecoach Wayne and Chandler
buy.

But that's no comment on the picture. - bkoganbing

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