User Reviews

By now I've seen most of John Wayne's Westerns for Lone Star Productions, and this one so far ranks just above "The Lawless Frontier" as the poorest of the bunch. Interestingly they were made back to back in 1934 in about the middle of the run, both directed by Robert North Bradbury. Plot points and continuity didn't seem to mean much back then, but you know what, they're still pretty much fun to take a look at every now and then.

The story has a Canadian setting for a change, featuring place names like Fort Minnetaki and Wabinosh, along with the prerequisite French accents of the villains. The two main heavies are LaRocque (Robert Frazer) and Benoit (Earl Dwire), and they even have a nasty female accomplice named Marie (Iris Lancaster), who might have been a red herring in Rod Drew's (Wayne) quest to find the missing daughter of a man who died years ago. In the movie's opening scene, the man who sets Drew on his mission surmised that his long lost niece might have been named Marie after her mother.

Missing from the credits this time around are Gabby and Yak, so Noah Beery Jr. fills in as Rod Drew's buddy from college, teaming up with each other after Wabi (Beery) is framed for a murder aboard a train. Once on the run, the pair have everything they can do to remain on dry ground. Wayne's character winds up jumping into a river no less than three times including once on horseback.

This is the only time I've seen Noah Beery Jr. and Sr. together in a film, though it happened a few times in their careers. The elder Beery runs a trading post in the story, along with his adopted daughter Felice (Verna Hillie). It made me wonder why Newsome (Beery Sr.) offered Marie LaFleur a job to straighten out his books instead of having Felice do it. Just one of those story points that wasn't thought out too well.

Another was when Drew and Wabi find the cave with the gold from the map they found in a deserted cabin (complete with skeletons of two former partners who killed each other - nice touch!). One of the dead men from the cabin was Felice's real father, brother of the man who asked Drew to look for his niece. Along with a small sack of gold the men find, there's a photo of an adult Felice just as she appears in the story. How would her father have gotten that picture if he died before she grew up???

Keep an eye on the canoe scene when Drew and Wabi leave the cabin with the rescued Mountie. When the Mountie is shot by one of the villains, he falls backwards toward Wabi, but in the very next scene he's lying in the other direction toward Drew.

By the time the good guy and bad guy posses head for the finale, I wound up scratching my head as to where all those riders came from. Most of the time LaRocque had only Benoit and another henchman around, but during the shootout he had at least a half dozen. While the Mountie outpost in the middle of the Canadian wilderness only had a handful of men on hand, by the time they rode off with Drew in the lead there were probably a couple dozen riders on the chase.

Well I guess that's why it's such a blast watching these early John Wayne oaters, it's fun just to catch all the goofy stuff going on, in addition to the often exciting chase scenes and horse dives off a cliff. This one also boasted some pretty impressive scenery, most notably that mountain valley view when Wabi points out the way to Wabinosh. If you stay alert, you'll also catch some pretty interesting product placement for Buffalo Lager Beer and industrial size Karo Syrup - I wonder if they had to pay for those?

Copyright 15 September 1934 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 22 October 1934. U.K. release through Pathé: 27 May 1935. 55 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Cowboy journeys to Canada to track down a missing heiress. His quest is complicated when a young friend accidentally kills a card sharp and the two are forced to flee across country.

COMMENT: Hard to believe this is a "Lone Star Western". Even the music is different and the budget is pretty close to borderline "A". True, director Bradbury is up to his usual editing tricks, including disconcerting whip pans that don't quite work and odd wipes, but otherwise technical credits, including music scoring and sound recording, are of a much higher standard than usual.

The Canadian locations are also mighty impressive, especially as an action background. There are plenty of chases both on horse and canoe, with running inserts and some truly spectacular stunts, leading up to an action-packed double climax in which the thrills are crosscut between the Mounties cleaning up the renegades and our hero pursuing the chief villain.

Although heavy on co-incidence, the fast-moving plot holds the attention. Wayne is doubtless doubled for the high diving shots, but he does an impressive amount of swimming. Miss Hillie makes an attractive heroine, and it's good to see both Noahs, father and son. (Is this their only film together?) On the other hand, Frazer makes a somewhat lackluster villain. This must be one of the few westerns in which the heavies are well and truly outclassed in charisma by the good guys. Admittedly the baddies are hampered by some pretty ridiculous dialogue and dopey accents.

Despite these examples of amateurish acting, The Trail Beyond all told is a superior western. In fact one of the best of Wayne's early "B"-hero career.

In this "Lone Star" entry, John Wayne is looking for his father's best friend's niece, in "Canada." What makes it stand out is the amazing location photography of Mammoth Lakes and beautiful California! It's watchable just for the scenery! Unfortunately, more time is spent on canoing, chases and fighting than on character development: the heroine is a cypher, and there's no love scene with John Wayne, even though they paddle off into the sunset together.

Noah Beery Sr.'s part could have been enlarged; poor Robert Frazer, veteran of over 200 movies and serials, was his usual wooden self, with that phony movie French accent-- his non talents are best displayed in his meaty role as Charles Beaumont in the bizarre "White Zombie" (1931). Earl Dwyer stretches his thespian skills with a matching phony French accent of his own.

The story is merely a trifle to fill in the lulls before, between and after the fantastic outdoor sequences. Not the best "Lone Star," but unique in its way as a non-Western Western, and definitely watchable.

Like the other John Wayne B-westerns I recently saw on the Encore Channel, this one had a very modern and inappropriate music track added to it by some idiots at Fox Lorber Pictures. Why they would do this is beyond me, as the electronic instruments and how invasive the music was seriously detracted from the film. My advice is to download the public domain copy linked to IMDb instead.

In the 1930s-50s, some of the series B-westerns played very fast and loose with anachronisms and continuity. Early on, you see this is the case with "Trail Beyond" because although it begins in the old West, soon you see John Wayne dressed in stylish 1930s clothes and he's riding on a contemporary train car. Considering how often Gene Autry and others also had such silly anachronisms in their films, I guess I can cut this one a little slack.

Wayne is sent to Canada by a friend. It seems that long ago, this friend and his brother became estranged. Now that he's an old man he wants to patch things up with his niece--who he's never seen. Due to his age, he needs Wayne to make this trip for him. However, on the way there, Wayne meets up with another friend (a college buddy?!) who is set up for murder and he helps the guy make a getaway. That Wayne--such a helpful and swell guy!

The choice of the friend and the guy who played Mr. Newsome is pretty interesting, by the way. Newsome is played by Noah Beery and the young guy set up for a killing he didn't do is Noah Beery, Jr.--who you may recognize from his stint on "The Rockford Files" in the 1970s.

Once in Canada, Wayne and his friend find a cabin with skeletons inside. In addition, there is a map showing the location of a gold mine. Naturally, there is an evil gang looking for the gold as well. I say naturally because just about every Wayne B-western involves an evil gang! Soon Wayne and Jr. get involved in rescuing a pretty lady from the gang. Surprise, surprise...the woman eventually turns out to be the missing niece---one of the least surprising twists in movie history! This is so predictable and contrived--especially when just as Wayne is about to tell this pretty lady about the Uncle and his desire to make her his heir, he's interrupted! Sheesh! In the meantime, an evil lady has decided to try to assume the role of his niece.

In the midst of all this gang activity and deceit, there still is a killing attributed to Beery, Jr. and the Mounties are looking for him. Unfortunately, when a Mountie does catch the pair, he turns out to be one of the gang...and a faux Mountie! But, since it's a B-movie at well under an hour in length, very soon they manage to escape along with a real Mountie. Can they find the real niece AND the gold mine AND can Beery, Jr. prove his innocence?

Aside from saying that the film was set in Canada, the Mountie and a couple guys with outrageous French-Canadian accents, this is pretty much like any other Wayne B-western. However, at least the crew filmed this in a location that at least looks reasonably Canadian (at Big Bear lake in California). This is pretty surprising, as this area is about 40 miles due east of Los Angeles--and not anywhere close to the wild North! The film is decent watchable B-western entertainment. Nothing deep or sophisticated here--just a very direct film made in a quick but exciting manner. This is not one to rush out to see and it has its obvious plot deficiencies, but it is worth seeing if you enjoy films of the genre.

By the way, my favorite moment in the film was near the end. When the baddie was shot, he falls down near the edge of a cliff--dead. Yet, oddly, in the next cut, he's shown falling off the cliff--as if someone ha

Now this one is a great use of the great outdoors, showing Wayne in some dangerous watery situations that involves diving into lakes and a lengthy sequence of rushing rivers that reach a waterfall. Wayne is helping a friend find his long-lost daughter, and ends up involved in the typical Western plot line involving fight over a gold mine. This film features to to Noah Beery's, senior and Junior, and not at all related. Beery Jr is an old friend of Wayne's, and Sr. is the owner of a trading post and the father of pretty Verna Hillie whom Jr. loves. Frankly, the gold mine plot line isn't all that interesting, but the location footage and action sequences are. Obviously some creativity was put into the atmosphere which doesn't seem to be the same old outdoor locations, aided by the river sequence that is thrilling as well as pretty. If only more of these Lonestar westerns had sequences shot in woodsy areas, they would have been better known for their visuals, but that really does add a plus to this film's rating.

This early northern is certainly the most charming, engrossing and lovable action movie I have seen in a while; here, the aquatic element becomes the setting of a few thrilling action scenes, Wayne and his pal often jump in the water: from a train, or mounted, and travel with a canoe, the landscape is rightly dwelt upon. Very good action movie, genuinely enthralling and delightful, it has many distinctions: its genre (being a northern, and a genuine one), its landscape, its main actress, and its intrinsic quality (therefore having its fans), it also has the quirky scene: here, when the two youngsters discover the remains of the gold prospectors; I liked it as a suspenseful action movie, as a northern, and for its style, or what else to call the charm its storytelling exerts. 'The Trail …' offers us one of Verna Hillie's performances, which is a thing to celebrate and indulge in, yet one has a good thing to think about Iris Lancaster, intriguing in a bit part as a scheming girl. Eddie Parker made a good role as the trooper Ryan, and Earl Dwire gave an unassuming but dependable performance (from an age when Wayne and Dwire met often on the sets; in '34, the two made eight movies, of which six were directed by Bradbury, and two by Fraser, then they met again in '35). Wayne takes an obvious pride in his cool pentagram spurs. On the other hand, Beery the younger, one from the famous acting clan Beery, was more expressive, and given a slightly more interesting role, dramatically, as the rejected backwoodsman.

Some highlights of this northern would be: the already mentioned remains of the missing Newsome, Wayne breaks a bottle with his fancy spurs, the galloping troopers lift up a running outlaw. 'The Trail Beyond' is very likable, a very good northern, made with zest.

One received idea has it that widespread lawlessness is missing from the northern; this is surely not so with the ones I have seen.

And another one claims that only the movies that glamorize troopers are true northern movies; this would likely make the northern the twin of the cavalrymen movies.

Throughout the '30s, a rising Wayne pioneered some sub-genres: the musical western, the northern, and thus helped bringing them into fashion. (In '33, '34, '35 he pretended singing in his movies.) In this movie, he is billed first.

The canoe overtakes the horse and the Mounties become the cavalry as the Canadian West is the setting for this rather different but still weak Lone Star oater starring a young John Wayne.

Rod Drew (Wayne) journeys to the wilds of western Canada to seek out the niece of a man named John Ball. On the train ride over he reacquaints himself with a college chum, Wabi (Noah Beery, Jr.) who quickly finds himself on the wrong end of a bad poker game. With Drew's help, the two make a daring escape by jumping off the train while it crosses a river, the first of many big splashes in this splash-happy film.

Give director Robert N. Bradbury credit for shaking up the usual Lone Star formula. The stunts this time are better than usual, and more smoothly integrated into an unusual story, adapted from the novel "The Wolf Hunters" by James Oliver Carwood, a noted writer in his day. Noah Beery, Jr. makes for an interesting foil, playing a decent fellow but one with a hidden agenda where a woman named Felice (Verna Hillie) is concerned. Several reviews here mention the scenic vistas, which are indeed impressive, California playing Canada nicely.

The problem with "The Trail Beyond" is it's a cheapo Lone Star film with jerky cutting, repetitive situations, and weak acting. Normally Wayne is pretty good in these films, but he's actually very wooden here. Just as bad is another Lone Star vet I have come to like, Earl Dwire, who is stuck with another of those bad-accented villain characters he can't pull off, this time as a French-Canadian who is two-timing his boss and plots to steal Rob and Wabi's gold-mine map.

Wayne just can't get out of his own way delivering bad dialogue like "Well, this is your little game, is it?" An opening exposition scene is painful for the way Wayne nods amateurishly at the wooden lines of some unnamed fellow for whom he is undertaking this expedition. In case you wonder about that, the script has Drew exclaim at one point: "I haven't forgotten that you were Dad's best friend," an awkward bit of excessive fat-chewing made worse by Duke's sheepish grin when delivering it.

Beery is better, but he's got problems, too, as the dialogue really pushes his character to dopey depths.

"I owe him my life but I'm not going to let him come between us!" he tells Felice.

"Why, Wabi, I never realized you felt that way, about me," she replies.

This whole jealous-Wabi thing could have been a more worthwhile plot point, but it's never developed. Wabi acts a bit squirrelly for a while, until he fesses up about misleading Drew. For his part, Drew just pats the guy on the shoulder and the story continues like nothing happened.

There are good moments in the film. I like Wayne's line after he and Wabi take their jump off the train: "Nice day for ducks." It's a classic Wayne one-liner for those of us who like to keep score.

The film does move quickly in the standard Lone Star way, and there is a nice subplot where we learn the fate of John Ball. The fact is a good story could have been told in the short running time afforded, which Bradbury shows us by nearly pulling it off. Watching Lone Star Wayne movies is usually a case of seeing a classy performance in search of a vehicle; here Wayne never finds the right handle and proves this film's most surprising disappointment.