User Reviews

John Wayne appeared in sixteen Westerns for Paul Malvern's Lone Star/Monogram Pictures, and stayed on for eight more films when the group merged with Republic in 1935. "Winds of the Wasteland" was the last one of these, and would be Wayne's final Western for a couple of years while working on six pictures for Universal in 1936/37. It's a lively story that teams The Duke up with Lane Chandler; they only appeared together once before in Lone Star's "Sagebrush Trail". With the dissolution of the Pony Express, the boys decide to form a stage line with the horses they receive in gratitude for their service.

Wayne's character is John Blair, and along with Larry Adams (Chandler), the boys are quickly hoodwinked into buying a stagecoach route from Buchanan to Crescent City. The first sign of trouble comes when the signboard for Crescent City's population reads '2', ever since villain Cal Drake (Douglas Cosgrove) had a falling out with Doc Forsythe (Sam Flint), with the population of the town following him to Buchanan. It's a set up that doesn't make too much sense, but if you stay with it, you'll see that Blair stays one step ahead of Drake at every turn to revitalize Crescent City and win a government subsidy of twenty five thousand dollars.

For those familiar with the work of stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt, you'll recognize what might be considered a very early tryout for the chariot race in "Ben-Hur" some two decades later. The seeds of that epic movie scene might have been planted here with the thrilling stagecoach race to Sacramento between Blair and Drake. Blair outwits the villain's chicanery to win by a little more than a nose, thereby winning the government grant, along with Doc Forsythe's pretty daughter Barbara (Phyllis Fraser). In that respect, Wayne's character kept the streak intact of winning the lady's hand at the end of each of his early Westerns.

Another reviewer for this film commented on Phyllis Fraser's resemblance to Ginger Rogers. Researching her background reveals that in fact, Fraser was a cousin of Rogers. Even more interesting, she was married to publisher Bennett Cerf for nearly thirty one years until his death in 1971, and then to former New York City mayor Robert Wagner until his death in 1991. Born Helen Nichols Brown, she used the name Phyllis Fraser for her entire film career. I'd be curious to know if the name derived from 'B' Western film director Harry Fraser, who did a couple of Wayne's Lone Star yarns.

Anyway, getting back to the film, you should have some fun with this one, as Wayne keeps things upbeat even when he's being railroaded by baddie Drake throughout the story. Lew Kelly adds some comic relief as the mayor/postmaster/treasurer of Crescent City, who maintains a running gag with a skunk (the animal kind, not the human kind). It all comes in at a quick fifty four minute pace, quick enough to grow the population of Crescent from two to over four hundred in a blink. The only thing is, how did they ever come up with that title?

John Wayne's extremely low budget features of the mid 1930's are an entertaining mix of various western themes that are often repetitive, yet never boring. In the case of "Winds of the Wasteland", he is the sucker who buys a stagecoach of the practically vacant ghost town of Crescent City. But when Duke's the hero, he's bound to get revenge in the most clever way, and here, it is the rebuilding of that community and the race to get a government grant to deliver the mail through their stagecoach. Lane Chandler is his "Gabby" Hayes like sidekick who humorously finds an interesting intruder into the stagecoach when they first come across the decrepit vehicle. Of course, there's a young lady involved, and she's Phyllis Fraser, the big-city raised daughter of Crescent City's doctor who has lied to her in the mail over the city's population. Lots of humor (especially the delight of the town's mayor/sheriff/drug store operator at doubling the town's population from 2 to 4!) fills up the short running time as Wayne cleverly goes up against the bad guys who commit a lot of nefarious actions in order to keep Wayne from winning the race. The result is an entertaining programmer that Duke fans will want to watch again and again.

Lane Chandler started out with Gary Cooper - they appeared together in "Legion of the Condemned" (although Cooper was the star) and he even made a film with Clara Bow as well ("Red Hair" (1928) but by the next year his name had started to appear way down the cast lists. By mid 1930 however, he had found his niche - Westerns!!!, sometimes as the star, more often as the amiable side kick!!

Two friends, John Blair (John Wayne) and Larry Addams (Lane Chandler),

who worked for the Pony Express, decide to pitch in and buy a stage coach - but they need a route!! Cal Drake, a crooked coach dealer, has a line that he will sell to them for $3,000 (in 3 easy payments)!!! They decide, on the spur of the moment, to buy it but afterwards learn that it terminates at a ghost town!!! There is a sheriff, Rocky,(a crusty old timer) who also doubles as a postmaster - he tells the boys that if they can win a stage coach race, they will win a mail contract worth $25,000. Drake, who is as crooked as they come, along with his evil henchman, Cherokee Joe (Bob Kortman) is determined that our two heroes will not win that contract.

Blair's first passenger is Barbara Forsyth (Phyllis Fraser) and she is very excited to see the town. Her father has been writing to her - all about the fancy shops and the interesting townsfolk, so she is paying him a surprise visit. She is extremely upset to see it is a ghost town. Soon after her arrival, a wagon pulls up with a sick child - they are looking for a place to settle. Things are looking up for Crescent City. Blair then comes across a group of sick men - they have been drinking poison creek water - someone has removed the sign. He saves their lives and in return they promise to run telegraph wires through Crescent City. Drake offers Blair a job carrying a gold shipment, with a promise to wipe out his debt if he succeeds in delivering the gold. Of course Drake intends to have the shipment held up but Blair has a trick up his sleeve. He sends the henchmen on ahead, then takes the coach on a different route!!!

Meanwhile Larry has been seriously hurt. While driving a coach full of men to work as linesmen, he is ambushed and shot. The old doctor is forced to operate and the success of the operation restores his eroded confidence. The mail race is about to start - but without Blair, who is in jail on a trumped up charge. No big deal, he is released on bail and furiously rides off to help Rocky and eventually save the day.

This is one of John Wayne's best westerns. There is an exciting stage coach race, the story is interesting, the action never lets up and the love interest is kept to a minimum. Bob Kortman is excellent as Cherokee Joe - he always seems to play the "baddies" with much gusto. You will also recognise Jon Hall, as a handsome young pony express rider in the first scene.

Recommended.

Wow, I've watched a ton of John Wayne's B-westerns from the 1930s, but I have never seen one that featured such obscure actors throughout the film. Familiar faces like Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canut are no where to be seen, so it's obvious that this is an even lower budget film than usual for Wayne--an actor who made a bazillion B-westerns. Fortunately, despite the no-name cast, the film itself was pretty dandy--mostly because it was so unlike all the rest of these films.

The film begins with the closing of the Pony Express--a service that actually only operated for about a year. Wayne and another ex-rider decide to go in to the stage coach business--even though they know absolutely NOTHING about it. It's because of this that they are so easily swindled by a jerk who owns many of the stage lines. He sells them a broken-down stage and a route for a ghost town! But, instead of giving up, the two work their butts off and through some ingenuity the business and the dead town start to come to life. However, the evil rich jerk is determined to ruin the partners--even if it means killing one of them! Despite the no-names, the film was entertaining--more than I had expected. With a fresh plot and Wayne's usual effortless performance, it's among the best B-westerns I've seen. Well worth seeing...and within only a few short years, Wayne would go on to A-pictures and stardom.

I much prefer the alternative title of "Stagecoach Run", even better "The Great Stagecoach Race", as several reviewers titled their reviews. This is an early John Wayne Republic western. After this film, Wayne would move to Universal for a series of films in late '36 and '37, returning to Republic in '38....... It doesn't take long to figure out who the chief villain is: Douglas Cosgrove, as Cal Drake, who owns the stage line headquartered at the fictional town of Buchanan City, presumably in California. Wayne and his buddy Larry(Lane Chandler) are recently retired Pony Express riders, after the new telegraph line from the eastern US knocked them out of work. (Besides, they were way too heavy to make it as such riders!). Wayne decided they should save their collective 4 Pony Express ponies given them as a retirement present to pull a stage in a proposed new stage line. They can't guess what all tricks Drake will try to ensure that their stage line, if it gets off the ground, will fail. He offers to sell them the franchise for his Buchanan City to Crescent City run for $3000.,$1000 due immediately. He showed them some literature that said Crescent City had a population in excess of 3000. They decided to buy it, without first checking out Crescent City, a bad mistake! They found that the population had shrunk to 2: an eccentric old man, called Rocky, and another older man: Dr. Forsythe. Wayne finds a skunk residing in the mothballed coach. This skunk or its lingering smell would surface several additional times, including the last frames.........They did a trial run from Crescent City to Buchanan. Drake's henchmen weren't very friendly, and Wayne had to fight one. However, he did get his first passenger: Dr. Forsythe's daughter, Barbara(Phyllis Fraser): a knockout blond, looking much like Ginger Rogers, who was her cousin. She smelled skunk inside the coach, so requested to ride up front with Wayne. Thus, they got to introduce themselves. Boy, was she horrified when she saw Crescent City! She tried to talk her father into leaving, with no luck..... Somehow, Rocky found a flier announcing a race contest between stagecoaches to carry the mail between Buchanan City and Sacramento. The winner would get $25,000. plus the contract. It turned out that the only 2 contestants were Drake and the Crescent City line. You can bet that Drake and his henchmen did everything they could think of to knock Wayne and his coach out of the race. When these didn't work, they tried a variety of tricks during the race, to little avail. Of course, Wayne wins, by a head, and ends up with Barbara in his arms. I won't detail the various tricks Darby's men tried. See the movie to find out. It's available at YouTube. Wayne, himself, had a trick up his sleeve to induce more people to locate in Crescent City. He did a good deed for the telegraph linemen, and talked the supervisor into stringing the line through Crescent City, rather than Buchanan.......I'm surprised that Barbara's father wasn't killed before the ending, thus symbolically transferring Barbara's affection from him to Wayne.

For those who have watched John Wayne's 16 'Lone Star' westerns (1933-1935) (so cheaply available everywhere on DVD), this film is a major change in many ways. First, 'Lone Star' (Paul Malvern) has now become a part of the new Republic Pictures. Second, we now have a full length music sound track mostly timed to the on screen activity. Third, we get rear projection, so we don't always see John Wayne and the other players actually on the stagecoaches they are supposed to be handling. Fourth, we get an improved budget and new script writers, with the plot encompassing a far greater scope than any of the previous 'Lone Star' films. As the opening titles declare, this is a historical western with its theme the development of the West. It's an early Republic "American Spirit" film. Fifth, by this point in time the technology of film making, including sound reproduction, had significantly improved. The only thing that remains the same is the disconnect between the title of the film and what it is actually about.

In this case, John Wayne (John Blair) and his Pony Express buddy Lane Chandler (Larry Adams) get tricked into buying a ghost town, Crescent City, which they magically transform into a thriving one in only a few days! Apparently, the same day Blair gets workers to go to Crescent City to help build the telegraph, it also suddenly becomes a rebuilt town complete with restored store fronts, new homes, and a Chinese laundry (with racist stereotypes and music).

Forget the shootouts, chases, fights and the spectacular stunts of the Mighty Yak (Yakima Canutt) that were the core of so many of the 'Lone Star' films. This one is now like a real motion picture complete with characters and a bigger theme. Unfortunately, despite the other comments posted, this one is too pedestrian.

There's not enough interplay between Blair and 'the girl' (here played by Ginger Roger's look alike cousin, Phyllis Cerf -- Bennett Cerf's wife). See, by contrast, 'Texas Terror' (1935) with its love triangle, or 'The Desert Trail' (1935) with a horny John Wayne, or even 'The Dawn Rider' (1935).

Frankly, the stagecoach race isn't all that edge of your seat. Most of it is cutting between shots of single coaches not next to each other. You can find a more exciting chase sequence in 'Blue Steel' (1934).

The comic old timer / low comic sidekick part (later played in other westerns by Al. St John, Fuzzy Knight, Max Terhune among countless others)adds idiotic contrast to the main action, and in fact, as another indication of what is to come in junk westerns, ends the film. (Let's not put Gabby Hayes, Andy Clyde, Smiley Burnett, Andy Devine and Leo Carillo in the former group, since they were more highly skilled performers and were the top sidekicks.)

Some character building interplay is off stage. Lane Chandler's getting shot, being attended to and his surviving successful life saving surgery are played entirely off stage, and thus too quickly and glibly treated to be believable. A longer film would have really developed John Wayne's relationship with him (i.e., actually showing these scenes), as in their equal screen time pairing in the best 'Lone Star' western 'Sagebrush Trail' (1933). Poor Lane Chandler and his sky rocketing decline from silent movie hero to sidekick to bit player to uncredited. He was in over 400 TV shows, movies and serials (including appearances in all three 'Flash Gordon' serials)! Apparently, he was laughing all the way to the bank, as he became rich.

The best part is John Wayne himself. Huskier, older, and even more charming than in his earlier films. What a fast draw on the villain!

But finally we have to say that even though movies have transitioned from the pre-code any thing goes early thirties to more sophisticated techniques and technology in film making, this one disappoints. It doesn't stand out. It's in the category of post-1934 'streamlining' of the western. I'd give it a 4 and a half. If you want a real movie, watch 'Stagecoach' (1939) to see John Wayne in a full blown Movie Type Movie.

WINDS OF THE WASTELAND is a B-movie western feature for the stalwart star of that genre, the one and only John Wayne. He was already a veteran of the genre even at this stage of his career and WINDS OF THE WASTELAND is another perfectly acceptable slice of action and courage. This film's story is set in the dying days of the Pony Express and features Wayne and his buddy going into the stagecoach business, only to find their plans thwarted by a ruthless rival. There's a little action, a little romance, plenty of sunshine, and a decent climactic stagecoach chase which isn't quite up there with the ending of BEN HUR but which still does the job well.

"Winds Of The Wasteland" was originally released back in 1936.

Anyway - As the story goes - Two former Pony Express riders buy a stagecoach line in hopes of turning it into a successful business. Finding out that their line travels to a ghost town, the two men learn that a $25,000 government contract is available for handling mail delivery to the territory.

An end of the era is coming. The Pony Express is nearing an end as the telegraph line is about to be put up, making the way the mail was delivered for years obsolete.

Two Pony Express riders (John Wayne, Lane Chandler) decide to go into the stagecoach business, with the Pony Express horses that were given to them and other riders as a gift of thanks for their service. The two ask the owner of the local stagecoach service (Douglas Cosgrove) if they could purchase one of his older stagecoaches. However, he offers them their own franchise to a city almost an hour away, Crescent City.

The two travel to the small city, only to realize they were tricked. Turns out that the city is rundown, and has only two residents.

"John Blair" (Wayne) decides it's not worth accepting the offer for the franchise, but the mayor of the city (Lew Kelly), who has a lot of other jobs in the city, informs him that the United States government is offering a contract to deliver the mail in the area via stage coach. As long as they win a race with other stage coach services in the area.

At one point, "Blair" comes across the team putting up the telegraph wires for the area, and gets them to agree to bring the telegraph to Crescent City, and a much needed boost to the population.

Word gets to "Cal Drake" (Cosgrove), who makes plans to sabotage the Crescent City line's chances in winning that contract.

Now, "Blair" has to win the contract -- and try to keep the new residence of Crescent City there.

The first problem with this movie is the length. It's almost 56 minutes long, and doesn't feel like a movie at all. However, it's got some pretty good performances that make it interesting enough to keep your attention.

I can't remember how many early Wayne movies I've seen lately, but, as with all the previous ones, I think Wayne has the strongest performance in the film. The others are pretty memorable as well, with Phyllis Fraser with the weakest performance as the daughter of one of the original two Crescent City residents.

One of the biggest problems this movie has, most likely due to the length of it, is character development. Many supporting characters had very little development. You get to meet them, and how they play in the story, but not much more. The movie basically focuses on Wayne's character, which doesn't give the supporting cast any screen time to advance any subplots they are a part of.

One of those subplots that was completely missed was the romantic subplot between "Barbara Forsythe" (Fraser) and both of the lead actors. There is no story that describes how she appears to go after one of them, but ends up with the other.

The soundtrack to the movie sounded to me like a early TV Western. Nothing when it came to music stood out at all. Even the music during the only fist fight in the entire film was pretty bad. This soundtrack will not go down as one of the greatest scores in movie history.

Due to the time this film was made, the special effects are not done by a computer, and are, at best, OK. In scenes where the two characters are riding on the stagecoach, it is obvious that they are in front of a movie screen. But, this simplistic effect works real well.

The movie is mainly shot outdoors. But, none of the scenes are memorable. There are a few horse chases, and the stage coach race that are shot fairly nicely. And the shots during the race where they go from the race to close-ups on stagecoach mock ups in front of a movie screen are edited together smoothly.

Despite the flaws of this movie, this is not a bad movie. I would not put it in your must-see list, but you should check it out if you see it on Encore Westerns, and there is nothing better to do. In fact, it's currently on Hulu right now, which is how I watched it.

I would also check it out if you are a fan of John Wayne. It will show you that he was destined for his legendary status in Hollywood.

John Wayne (John Blair), Lane Chandler (Larry Adams), Phyllis Fraser (Barbara Forsythe), Douglas Cosgrove (Cal Drake), Sam Flint (Dr Forsythe), Lew Kelly (Rocky), Bob Kortman (Cherokee Joe), Jon Hall (Jim, a Pony Express rider), Yakima Canutt (Smokey), W. Merrill McCormick (Pete), Ed Cassidy (Dodge, the Pony Express manager), Chris Franke (Grahame, boss of the telegraph crew), Bud McClure, Jack Ingram (guards), Joe Yrigoyen (Pike), Jack Rockwell (marshal), Arthur Millett (postmaster), Tracy Layne (Reed), Art Mix (Ed, a Pony Express rider), Horace B. Carpenter (man with sick child), Herman Hack, Henry Hall, Murdock MacQuarrie, Clyde McClary, George Morrell, Francis Walker (townsmen), Bud Pope (henchman), Lloyd Ingraham (helpful old man), Cliff Lyons (Pony Express rider).

Director: MACK V. WRIGHT. Original story and screenplay: Joseph Poland. Film editor: Robert Jahns. Supervising film editor: Murray Seldeen. Photography: William Nobles. Music supervisor: Harry Grey. Title music composed by Louis De Francesco. Stock background music by Heinz Roemheld, Arthur Kay, Paul Van Loan. Production supervisor: Paul Malvern. Sound recording: Terry Kellum. RCA Sound System. Producer: Nat Levine.

Copyright 6 July 1936 by Republic Pictures Corporation. U.S. release: 15 June 1936. No recorded New York opening. U.K. release: June 1937. 6 reels. 58 minutes.

COMMENT: One of the best of Wayne's pre-Stagecoach westerns, thanks to a superior screenplay by Joseph Poland, stylish direction by Mack V. Wright, an able group of support players, deft camera-work — and plenty of action.

Wayne plays with a casually charming ease and is smoothly partnered by Lane Chandler, while Phyllis Fraser makes a convincing heroine and Lew Kelly a passable comedian.

The villains are headed by a nicely confident Douglas Cosgrove, with Bob Kortman trailing along as a splendidly sneering henchman and Yakima Canutt in there pitching (and obviously doubling for Kortman in a lively punch-up with Wayne in which our hero does all his own fighting).

The climactic stagecoach race is every bit as thrilling as the script promises with heaps of hard riding (excitingly filmed in running inserts), plus some really spectacular stunt-work.