The Telegraph Trail (1933)

Director:

Tenny Wright

Writers:

Kurt Kempler (adaptation)
Kurt Kempler (story)

Release Date:

18 March 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A greedy businessman-turned-renegade foments an Indian uprising against the coming telegraph to perpetuate his economic stranglehold on the territory.

Plot Keywords:

Telegraph | Cavalry | Native American Attack | Wagon Train | Handwriting

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

John Wayne	...	John Trent
Duke	...	Duke, John's horse
Frank McHugh	...	Corporal Tippy
Marceline Day	...	Alice Keller
Otis Harlan	...	Uncle Zeke Keller
Albert J. Smith	...	Gus Lynch
Yakima Canutt	...	High Wolf
Lafe McKee	...	Lafe

Runtime:

54 min | USA:60 min (original release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:A (1933)

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Trivia:

This is the film that James Cagney is shown as an example of talking pictures (and the reason for his impending unemployment) in Footlight Parade (1933).

Quotes:

Gus Lynch: You are wise, High Wolf. Them singin' wires would call the soldiers and that would mean the finish for your braves.
High Wolf: Good. Gus Lynch good friend to Red Man.
Gus Lynch: I tell you only what is good for High Wolf and his people.
High Wolf: Ugh!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Mandy Lee

Who Says Trigger's the Smartest Horse in the West

At this point in his career John Wayne was doing B films for Warner Brothers and it was decided to give him a smart horse like Roy Rogers's Trigger. And what do they name the horse? Duke. That's something Wayne must have had a hand in.

Here John Wayne is an army scout and he gets Frank McHugh as an army corporal/telegrapher as sidekick. When a good friend of their's is killed while sending a message for help by wire during an Indian attack, these two are sent to take personal charge of the construction of the last leg of the telegraph.

There's a nasty villain played by Frank Hagney who runs a shipping outfit and with his Indian friends wants to keep the telegraph out. How the telegraph would affect his business is never quite made clear, but this is a B western so plot holes back then were a pretty common occurrence.

Wayne and McHugh are very effective together, too bad they never got to work together again.

For those who've never seen the entire film, the last minute of The Telegraph Trail are seen in Footlight Parade in a scene where James Cagney is in a movie theater observing his competition as he's a director of stage musicals. Ironically enough Frank McHugh is also in the cast of Footlight Parade which makes one wonder how the Warner Brothers slipped up there.

By the way, for the only time I can recall in any of his films, John Wayne sports a two gun holster. Butts reversed in the manner of Wild Bill Elliott. If anyone can recall another film he did like that, I'll correct this review.

I would recommend The Telegraph Trail for Wayne fans to see how well he and Frank McHugh connect. Another twist in his career and Frank McHugh could have had a grand career as western sidekicks.