The Desert Trail (1935)

Director:

Lewis D. Collins

Writers:

Lindsley Parsons (story)
Lindsley Parsons (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 April 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

Rodeo star John Scott and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie are wrongly accused of armed robbery. They...

Plot Keywords:

Rodeo | Cowboy Hat | Hero | Brother Sister Relationship | Marriage

Cast

John Wayne	...	John Scott / John Jones
Mary Kornman	...	Anne
Paul Fix	...	Jim
Eddy Chandler	...	Kansas Charlie / Rev. Harry Smith
Carmen Laroux	...	Juanita (as Carmen LaRoux)
Lafe McKee	...	Poker City Sheriff
Al Ferguson	...	Pete
Henry Hall	...	Farnsworth (Rodeo Promoter)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Silver Tip Baker	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Frank Ball	...	Jake (Banker) (uncredited)
Frank Brownlee	...	Sheriff of Rattlesnake Gulch (uncredited)
Tommy Coats	...	Deputy Tommy (uncredited)
Dick Dickinson	...	Observer at Poker Game (uncredited)
Bert Dillard	...	Deputy in Checked Shirt (uncredited)
Frank Ellis	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Jack Evans	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Olin Francis	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Herman Hack	...	Posse Rider (uncredited)
Jack Hendricks	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Theodore Lorch	...	Robbed Stage Passenger (uncredited)
Lew Meehan	...	Posse Rider (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Tex Palmer	...	Deputy (uncredited)
Fred Parker	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Archie Ricks	...	Stage Driver (uncredited)
Wally West	...	Poker Player (uncredited)

Directed by
Lewis D. Collins		(as Cullen Lewis)

Writing credits
Lindsley Parsons		(story)
Lindsley Parsons		(screenplay)

Produced by
Paul Malvern	....	producer

Original Music by
Billy Barber		(1985) (as William Barber)

Cinematography by
Archie Stout		(photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson

Art Direction by
E.R. Hickson		(uncredited)

Sound Department
John Stransky Jr.	....	sound recordist (as J.A. Stransky Jr.)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jack Jones	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wally West	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Billy Barber	....	conductor (1985 revisionist video version) (as William Barber)
Jean de la Roche	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
E.R. Hickson	....	technical director

Production Companies

• Lone Star Productions (I)
• Monogram Pictures

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Pathé Pictures International (1935) (UK) (theatrical)
• Monogram Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Western Adventures Pictures Inc. (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United American Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Simitar Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS) (revisionist version)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• BFS Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Foothill Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Grapevine Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Films Around the World (II) (2002) (USA) (TV) (re-syndication with added music and sound effects)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video) (revisionist version)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV) (revisionist version)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Heavenly Videos (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (VHS) (colorized)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

54 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (colorized)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Walker Ranch - 19152 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

Lone Star Productions (I)

Trivia:

The rodeo shots are the same as the ones used in The Man from Utah (1934).

Goofs:

Continuity: When dressing to see Juanita, Scott changes hats. However the hat is on a hook on the wall when he arrives, but when he leaves he picks it up from the dresser near the door.

Quotes:

Sheriff of Rattlesnake Gulch:Maybe we can try him this afternoon and hang him right away and save the county the expense of feeding him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Last Lap

Not So Much Second Rate, As Third Or Fourth Rate

"The Desert Trail" is one of many B-movies which John Wayne made in the late twenties and early thirties before he became a major star. Most of these were Westerns, and many of them were made for Lone Star, a production company specialising in that particular genre. In 1935 alone Wayne starred in eight such films; in each of them he played a character with the Christian name John. This was presumably a deliberate move by Lone Star and their successors Republic Pictures to create a distinctive identity for their leading man.

The title "The Desert Trail" might suggest either a hunt through the desert for a fugitive or a group of pioneers making their way to a new life in California, but in fact the film deals with neither of those subjects. It was probably just a generic Western title which could be applied to virtually any plot. The film concerns John Scott, a rodeo star, and his gambler friend Kansas Charlie, who are wrongly accused of murdering a man in the course of an armed robbery, and their attempts to expose the real villains.

The acting is almost universally poor; Wayne is the only well-known name here, but he shows little of the talent and charisma which were later to make him one of Hollywood's biggest names. The action sequences are unconvincing, including a badly choreographed fist-fight with obviously pulled punches. The story is often difficult to follow. The film-makers even seemed to lack much of a budget for costumes. Although the action presumably takes place in the late nineteenth century, Mary Kornman as Wayne's love-interest Anne appears throughout dressed in the fashions of 1935 rather than 1870 or 1880.

By modern standards, at just under an hour, the film is absurdly short, but this was a normal length for B-movies in this period. What struck me most, however, was not the film's length but how cheap it seemed, having evidently been made on a minuscule budget. It reminded my forcibly of just why studios like Monogram (Lone Star's parent company) specialising in B-movies earned the nickname "Poverty Row". It might be more accurately categorised as a C- or D-movie, as everything about it shouts out "not so much second rate as third or fourth rate". If it had starred anyone other than Wayne, that future American cultural icon, it would doubtless have long since been forgotten. 3/10