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Winds of the Wasteland ()


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The arrival of the telegraph put Pony Express riders like John Blair and his pal Smoky out of work. A race will decide whether they or Stageline owner Drake get the government mail contract.

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John Blair
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Barbara Forsythe
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Rocky O'Brien
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Cal Drake
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Larry Adams
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Dr. William Forsythe
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Cherokee Joe - Henchman (as Robert Kortman)
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Mr. Dodge
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Jim - Pony Express Rider (as Charles Locher)
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Pete - Henchman (as W.M. McCormick)
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Telegraph Crew Chief (as Chris Franke)
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Buchanan City Marshal
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Buchanan City Postmaster
Tracy Layne ...
Green
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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Townsman (uncredited)
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Smokey - Henchman (uncredited)
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Settler with Sick Child (uncredited)
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Settler's Wife (uncredited)
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Townsman (uncredited)
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Townsman (uncredited)
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Man Showing Stage to Barbara (uncredited)
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Guard (uncredited)
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Express Rider (uncredited)
Clyde McClary ...
Townsman (uncredited)
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Ed - Pony Express Rider (uncredited)
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Townsman (uncredited)
Bud Pope ...
Henchman (uncredited)
Arthur Thalasso ...
Race Starter (uncredited)
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Townsman (uncredited)
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Drake's Stage Driver (uncredited)

Directed by

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Mack V. Wright

Written by

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Joseph F. Poland ... (screen play)
Joseph F. Poland ... (original story)

Produced by

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Nat Levine ... producer

Cinematography by

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William Nobles ... (photography)

Editing by

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Robert Jahns ... film editor

Editorial Department

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Murray Seldeen ... supervising editor

Sound Department

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Terry Kellum ... sound engineer

Stunts

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Yakima Canutt ... stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons ... stunts (uncredited)
Joe Yrigoyen ... stunts (uncredited)

Music Department

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Harry Grey ... musical supervision
James Branson ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Arthur Kay ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leon Rosebrook ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Paul Van Loan ... composer: stock music (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Paul Malvern ... supervised by
Crew verified as complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

The Pony Express days are coming to an end, with riders John Blair (John Wayne) and his friend Larry Adams (Lane Chandler), both about 75 pounds too heavy for the original job description, out of a job. They pay Cal Drake (Douglas Cosgrove) of Buchanan City a big price for the Crescent City line and equipment, and arrive there to find it is a ghost mining town and has only two residents: eccentric, self-proclaimed Mayor "Rocky" O'Brien (Lew Kelly) and Dr. William Forsythe (Sam Flint). With the arrival from back east of Barbara Forsythe (Phyllis Fraser), the doctor's daughter and Ginger Rogers lookalike, O'Brien happily changes the blackboard population sign from two to five. John determines to get even and operate the line anyway, after vacating a resident skunk from the stagecoach. On his first run into Buchanan City John learns of a coach race to be staged (fastest team to win a $25,000 government mail contract) and he signs up. A telegraph crew, drinking unknowingly of a poisoned well, are saved by John's timely arrival on the scene,and agree to run their line through Crescent City if John can get laborers.He takes them from Buchanan City, leaving it nearly deserted and O'Brien wearing out his chalk changing the population sign upwardly in Crescent City.Drake decides to get rid of John by hiring him, for $1,000, to drive a gold shipment to Sacramento, and ambushing him. John evades the ambush by taking another route and returns to collect his thousand dollars at gunpoint. As the race for the mail contract starts, Drake and his henchmen throw many obstacles in John's way. Written by Les Adams

Plot Keywords
Taglines A six-shooter writes the law as war flames on the range! Adventure---as bullets blaze the pioneer trail! (original three-sheet poster) See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Stagecoach Run (United States)
  • La Ville fantôme (France)
  • Stürme im Wilden Westen (Germany)
  • Winde der Wildnis (Germany)
  • Vientos del yermo (Spain)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 55 min
Country
Language
Color
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Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Did You Know?

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Trivia Phyllis Fraser was Ginger Rogers' cousin. See more »
Goofs In the final stage of the race, the long shots of the Crescent City coach show a driver with a light coloured vest wielding a whip in his right hand. The close shots show John Blair (John Wayne) wearing a dark coloured vest and with both hands holding reins. See more »
Movie Connections Edited into Winds of the Wasteland (2021). See more »

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