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:

WHIRLING ROPES AND SNARLING GUNS IN THE GALLOPING GRIP OF A GLAMOROUS DRAMA! (original-release poster - all caps)

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Romance | Sport | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial telecasts in Syracuse Sunday 1 May 1949 on WHEN (Channel 8), in Detroit Tuesday 17 May 1949 on WXYZ (Channel 7), in Los Angeles Sunday 31 July 1949 on KTSL (Channel 2) and Saturday 4 March 1950 on KECA (Channel 7), in Cincinnati Monday 5 September 1949 on WCPO (Channel 7), and in Philadelphia Monday 5 December 1949 on WFIL (Channel 6); in New York City its earliest documented telecast occurred Monday 21 August 1950 on WOR (Channel 9).

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Goofs

The film is set in a time when horses and stagecoaches were the means of transportation, but a sign in the background when Weston prevents the bank robbery announces a rodeo on May 1st, 1932. The clothing of the women is also consistent with the thirties.

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Quotes

Marshal George Higgins: It seems mighty funny to me that every time this gang organizes a rodeo, their own men win all the first prizes. When it begins to look like an outsider is going to win, he gets sick. Two or three has even died from it.
John Weston: Well, you can't arrest them for that, Marshal.
Marshal George Higgins: No, maybe not. But it's might peculiar that when these outsides fall off them top broncs, they're suffering from snakebite. I tell ya, it just ain't natural.
John Weston: What do you want me to do? Get snake bit?

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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

References West of the Divide (1934)

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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

Headed Nowhere At The Moment

Here's another of the cheap B westerns that John Wayne starred in between THE BIG TRAIL and STAGECOACH. He's singing - voice provided by Jack Kirk - on a slow horse with his last dollar. Marshall Gabby Hayes gets him to look into some baddies. Wayne romances Polly Ann Young and gets into a fixed rodeo.

The copy I looked at was pretty good, with some nice camerawork by Archie Stout, one of twelve he was DP on that year. This being a Paul Malvern production, little money was spent on anything, and the soundtrack was so odd, atypically filled with romantic violas and blaring brass, that I concluded it was added decades later, along with the Foley work.

It's directed at a good clip by Robert Bradbury, but no one was getting a fat contract with a major studio off this one. John Ford would rescue Wayne in 1939, and Stout, who had been DP on Demille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, a few years later.

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