The Man from Utah (1934)

In a horse-riding rodeo contest bad guys want John Weston to lose. When he doesn't go along they add some insurance: a poisoned needle just under his saddle.

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury (as Robert Bradbury)

Writers:

Lindsley Parsons (story), Lindsley Parsons (screenplay)

Stars:

John Wayne, Polly Ann Young, Anita Campillo

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Wayne	...	John Weston
Polly Ann Young	...	Marjorie Carter
Anita Campillo	...	Dolores (as Anita Compillo)
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Spike Barton (as Edward Peil)
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	Marshal George Higgins (as George Hayes)
Yakima Canutt	...	Cheyenne Kent
George Cleveland	...	Nevada Sheriff

Storyline

The Marshal sends John Weston to a rodeo to see if he can find out who is killing the rodeo riders who are about to win the prize money. Barton has organized the rodeo and plans to leave with all the prize money put up by the townspeople. When it appears that Weston will beat Barton's rider, he has his men prepare the same fate for him that befell the other riders.

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | poverty row film | henchman | song | singer | 

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Taglines:

Action on the Range and in the Rodeo (Original-release poster)

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Romance | Sport | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rodeo

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paul Malvern Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min 52 min (Encore-Westerns Library Print)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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Goofs

The background behind the rodeo announcer differs depending upon whether it is a long shot or a close shot.

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Quotes

John Weston: Before I could get either one to spill anything, the whole gang jumped me... and I had to carve myself a fast walking stick.

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Alternate Versions

Fox/Lorber Associates, Inc. and Classics Associates, Inc. copyrighted a version in 1985 with a new original score composed and orchestrated by William Barber. It was distributed by Fox/Lorber and ran 52 minutes.

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Connections

Remade as Frontier Town (1938)

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Soundtracks

Sing Me a Song of the Wild
(uncredited)
Written by Robert N. Bradbury
Sung by John Wayne (dubbed by Jack Kirk) in the opening scene

User Reviews

"What do you want me to do? Get snake bit?"

Oh, brother, this one starts out with John Wayne riding his horse and singing like he's high on wacky tobacky. His singing voice is dubbed but that just makes it more embarrassing, I think. Anyway, this singing cowboy rides into town just as the bank is being robbed. He helps marshal Gabby Hayes stop the robbers and is immediately recruited to do some undercover work with a gang that's fixing rodeos...or something like that.

Polly Ann Young plays the female lead and she wears 1930s clothes even though this is supposed to take place in the Old West. There are also telephone poles throughout the entire movie that they don't even try to shoot around. They use stock footage during the rodeo scenes that clearly have people in 1930s attire in the audience. Historical accuracy was not a concern to the good people at Lone Star. This is one of many B westerns Wayne made in the '30s before he hit it big. The vast majority of these were forgettable but watchable oaters with little or nothing to recommend about them. A select few were better than average and many others were worse than average. This one's kind of crappy but if you have a good sense of humor and like to poke fun at bad movies, you might like it. Beware modern copies that have a terrible electronic score that often just starts at random spots in the movie.