To be sure, it's easy to look at all the flaws in construction in the 'Lone Star' westerns (or any other films), but some are saved by editing and lots of action. This one is.
It has an interesting premise and plot twists. Chris Morell (John Wayne), while on the trail of little 'half-breed' Nina's father, a 'squaw man' (that is, someone married to a full blooded Indian woman) who is described as 'a good for nothing white man,' is being chased by two groups of villains, seeking to kidnap the girl for her inheritance from oil wells on Indian land.
Basically a chase movie, most of it is on horseback, with lots of chases, fights, escapes and shoot outs. It's 52 minutes that really build and move along, with crisp editing towards the end. Yakima Canutt (The Great Yak) gets to play the head villain, Sam Black, and he's bad. Earl Dwire gets to be a repentant Dad who plays with his newly found daughter. Gabby Hayes is uncredited, but his delivery and presence sparkle in his brief appearances.
What more do you want? Character development? It's not there. The sub plot with Clara's brother, while promising, as noted by others, goes nowhere. Chris's "I've got an idea..." solution while being trapped in a cabin near the end doesn't really seem like much of an idea, and the final battle with Sam Black is fought in the water, and not up to the denouement we expect in Chris's defeating such a bad villain. But so what? We get well edited fast action and lots of it.
Notes: This is a remake of the previous year's 'Circle Canyon,'(1933) and is probably much better. Shirley Jean Rickert can be seen in 'Fly My Kite' (1931) and other Little Rascal shorts; as an adult she had a 'career' as an uncredited dancer in films like 'Singin' in the Rain' (1951). And we get to see Sheila Terry in another undistinguished role in Lone Star's 'The Lawless Frontier' (1934).
It has an interesting premise and plot twists. Chris Morell (John Wayne), while on the trail of little 'half-breed' Nina's father, a 'squaw man' (that is, someone married to a full blooded Indian woman) who is described as 'a good for nothing white man,' is being chased by two groups of villains, seeking to kidnap the girl for her inheritance from oil wells on Indian land.
Basically a chase movie, most of it is on horseback, with lots of chases, fights, escapes and shoot outs. It's 52 minutes that really build and move along, with crisp editing towards the end. Yakima Canutt (The Great Yak) gets to play the head villain, Sam Black, and he's bad. Earl Dwire gets to be a repentant Dad who plays with his newly found daughter. Gabby Hayes is uncredited, but his delivery and presence sparkle in his brief appearances.
What more do you want? Character development? It's not there. The sub plot with Clara's brother, while promising, as noted by others, goes nowhere. Chris's "I've got an idea..." solution while being trapped in a cabin near the end doesn't really seem like much of an idea, and the final battle with Sam Black is fought in the water, and not up to the denouement we expect in Chris's defeating such a bad villain. But so what? We get well edited fast action and lots of it.
Notes: This is a remake of the previous year's 'Circle Canyon,'(1933) and is probably much better. Shirley Jean Rickert can be seen in 'Fly My Kite' (1931) and other Little Rascal shorts; as an adult she had a 'career' as an uncredited dancer in films like 'Singin' in the Rain' (1951). And we get to see Sheila Terry in another undistinguished role in Lone Star's 'The Lawless Frontier' (1934).