The chief reason for seeing this unremarkable oater is John Wayne after he left El Cheapo Studios behind him but before he became an icon. It's 1944, and Wayne was young -- well, his mid-30s -- and handsome and hadn't yet mastered the art of acting, only re-acting. This is a minimalist Wayne, his performance trundling along like a narrow-gage freight train, sometimes leaning this way -- an amused grin -- and sometimes creaking over to the other side -- a pair of raised eyebrows signalling disapproval.
The plot has something to do with Wayne showing up as a stranger in town, looking for work, but secretly being the new owner of the Iron Buckaroo Ranch or whatever it is. When we parody John Wayne, this is the persona we're making fun of, not the later Wayne who was able to turn in some fine performances. This is a taciturn Wayne. He smiles a lot. He's polite but firm in his principles. He has a sense of humor although he never descends into laughter when a simple but earnest grin will do.
You want to know how reserved he is? I'll tell you how reserved he is. He's at a table playing cards. There's a big pot. The callow youth across from him -- all youths are callow -- initiates an argument and grabs the pot illegally, or at any rate unethically. Wayne doesn't protest. He looks a little grim, stands away from the table and strides upstairs to his room. He comes down a minute later, wearing his pistol. At the table, he says serenely, "I came for my money." He gets it.
The sidekick is George "Gabby" Hayes in excelsis. The girl is the smoothly beautiful Ella Raines with her mane of dark hair and her blue eyes. She can ride a horse too. That's an attractive trait in a woman. And she's a good shot with a pistol. That's not such a good trait in a woman.
There are other characters in the movie, including a more than usually articulate Ward Bond as a slick scalawag, but, like the plot, they're not worth really going on about.
The plot has something to do with Wayne showing up as a stranger in town, looking for work, but secretly being the new owner of the Iron Buckaroo Ranch or whatever it is. When we parody John Wayne, this is the persona we're making fun of, not the later Wayne who was able to turn in some fine performances. This is a taciturn Wayne. He smiles a lot. He's polite but firm in his principles. He has a sense of humor although he never descends into laughter when a simple but earnest grin will do.
You want to know how reserved he is? I'll tell you how reserved he is. He's at a table playing cards. There's a big pot. The callow youth across from him -- all youths are callow -- initiates an argument and grabs the pot illegally, or at any rate unethically. Wayne doesn't protest. He looks a little grim, stands away from the table and strides upstairs to his room. He comes down a minute later, wearing his pistol. At the table, he says serenely, "I came for my money." He gets it.
The sidekick is George "Gabby" Hayes in excelsis. The girl is the smoothly beautiful Ella Raines with her mane of dark hair and her blue eyes. She can ride a horse too. That's an attractive trait in a woman. And she's a good shot with a pistol. That's not such a good trait in a woman.
There are other characters in the movie, including a more than usually articulate Ward Bond as a slick scalawag, but, like the plot, they're not worth really going on about.