RIDERS OF DESTINY (1933), introduces the youthful John Wayne in his first Lone Star western for Monogram Pictures as written and directed by Robert N. Bradbury. After several years working for major studios as Fox, Columbia, Paramount and Warner Brothers, Wayne ended up working for this poverty-row studio where these old-style westerns would help develop and improve Wayne into a true major star he was to become. It also became Wayne's first of many parings opposite George Hayes, not yet the bearded "Gabby" Hayes of latter-day western in sidekick roles. Based on its opening credits, it lists John Wayne as Singin' Sandy about the title, indicating this was to be the first in a series of "Singin' Sandy" westerns. As it turned out, this became Wayne's initial and final attempt in this character role. That honor of singing cowboys would later go to such legends as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, who, unlike Wayne, obviously had his vocalization dubbed considering the fact that Wayne's singing does not match his pleasing speaking voice.
The story opens with Sandy Saunders (John Wayne) singing while riding on his white horse through the wide open plains of Big Rock Canyon. He soon notices a stumbling man falling to the ground. Sandy assists the man, revealed to be Sheriff Bill Baxter (Lafe McKee), to have been shot in the back. Sandy then treats his wounds and assists him to get medical attention. Later, from a distance, Sandy sees Bert (Al St. John) and Elmer (Heinie Conklin), two stagecoach riders, shooting someone off a horse. With the horse killed, Sandy finds the injured to be Fay Denton (Cecilia Parker), having recently robbed that same stagecoach to acquire money that was to be delivered to her father (George Hayes) before an actual holdup is to take place. Sandy loans Fay his horse as he puts Bert and Elmer through a wild chase after him. Coming to town after hiding inside the stagecoach, Sandy meets with Fay and her father only to learn about Mr. Kincaid (Forrest Taylor), owner of the Kincaid Land and Water Company, wanting to buy up Denton and all the surrounding ranches at low very cost of a dollar an acre. Spotting Saunders horse on the Denton ranch has Kincaid and his henchmen to believe Saunders responsible for the stagecoach holdup, while Fay to believe Sandy to be connected with Kincaid's crooked deals involving her water rights. Co-starring Yakima Canutt, Earl Dwire, Addie Foster and Si Jenks. Al St. John and Heinie Conklin, known for their comical individual comical performance of silent screen comedies, performing similar duties here as bumbling cowboys.
For a western featuring a singing cowboy character, only two songs, "A Cowboy's Song of Fate" and "Song of the Wild," are sung intact. There are some rough cuts at the midway indicating Wayne may have had additional scenes and singing as well. In the manner of Wayne's dubbed singing, with Hayes' character saying, "I can listen to him sing all night," two songs are enough. Clocked at 53 minutes, some home video prints are three minutes shorter. Presented like an early talkie format style from 1929, minus underscoring and long facial expression pausing on Cecilia Parker before shifting to the next scene, RIDERS OF DESTINY also gives indication it was filmed and put together in only a few days. One major flaw involving the plural subject matter in title. Since Wayne happens to be a lone rider with no sidekick to assist him, shouldn't the movie been titled A RIDER OF DESTINY instead?
RIDERS OF DESTINY became one many western titles presented in the hourly format for the Saturday morning weekly series of "Cowboy Heroes" on WOR, Channel 9 in New York City (1977-1980). Availability on video cassette in the 1980s, and later DVD, RIDERS OF DESTINY did have cable television broadcasts, namely on American Movie Classics (1997-2004), and Encore Westerns. Beware of colorization and inappropriate underscoring used in place of opening/closing credits and long silent passages, which doesn't really improve or make the movie any better in its entertainment value. (**)
The story opens with Sandy Saunders (John Wayne) singing while riding on his white horse through the wide open plains of Big Rock Canyon. He soon notices a stumbling man falling to the ground. Sandy assists the man, revealed to be Sheriff Bill Baxter (Lafe McKee), to have been shot in the back. Sandy then treats his wounds and assists him to get medical attention. Later, from a distance, Sandy sees Bert (Al St. John) and Elmer (Heinie Conklin), two stagecoach riders, shooting someone off a horse. With the horse killed, Sandy finds the injured to be Fay Denton (Cecilia Parker), having recently robbed that same stagecoach to acquire money that was to be delivered to her father (George Hayes) before an actual holdup is to take place. Sandy loans Fay his horse as he puts Bert and Elmer through a wild chase after him. Coming to town after hiding inside the stagecoach, Sandy meets with Fay and her father only to learn about Mr. Kincaid (Forrest Taylor), owner of the Kincaid Land and Water Company, wanting to buy up Denton and all the surrounding ranches at low very cost of a dollar an acre. Spotting Saunders horse on the Denton ranch has Kincaid and his henchmen to believe Saunders responsible for the stagecoach holdup, while Fay to believe Sandy to be connected with Kincaid's crooked deals involving her water rights. Co-starring Yakima Canutt, Earl Dwire, Addie Foster and Si Jenks. Al St. John and Heinie Conklin, known for their comical individual comical performance of silent screen comedies, performing similar duties here as bumbling cowboys.
For a western featuring a singing cowboy character, only two songs, "A Cowboy's Song of Fate" and "Song of the Wild," are sung intact. There are some rough cuts at the midway indicating Wayne may have had additional scenes and singing as well. In the manner of Wayne's dubbed singing, with Hayes' character saying, "I can listen to him sing all night," two songs are enough. Clocked at 53 minutes, some home video prints are three minutes shorter. Presented like an early talkie format style from 1929, minus underscoring and long facial expression pausing on Cecilia Parker before shifting to the next scene, RIDERS OF DESTINY also gives indication it was filmed and put together in only a few days. One major flaw involving the plural subject matter in title. Since Wayne happens to be a lone rider with no sidekick to assist him, shouldn't the movie been titled A RIDER OF DESTINY instead?
RIDERS OF DESTINY became one many western titles presented in the hourly format for the Saturday morning weekly series of "Cowboy Heroes" on WOR, Channel 9 in New York City (1977-1980). Availability on video cassette in the 1980s, and later DVD, RIDERS OF DESTINY did have cable television broadcasts, namely on American Movie Classics (1997-2004), and Encore Westerns. Beware of colorization and inappropriate underscoring used in place of opening/closing credits and long silent passages, which doesn't really improve or make the movie any better in its entertainment value. (**)