Watch Born to the West For Free

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Awesome Movie

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

. . . once novelist Zane Grey saw this flick allegedly based upon one of his stories, he demanded that they reissue the movie as "Satan's Saloon," "The Devil's Dare," or "Hell Town." "HELL TOWN it is," responded the honchos in charge of Favorite Films Corp. This cautionary tale features John Wayne as slacker "Dare Rudd," a would-be cowboy with no sense of Situational Awareness. Dare enters the picture unable to tell good guys (cowboys) from bad ones (rustlers). As a Chuckwagon cook (complete with frilly white apron), he cannot differentiate rocks from biscuits. When it comes to a brawl, he's always running into some guy's fist. When a lady falls head over heels for him, he chalks it up to a snake. At the poker table, he's too busy smirking over two pair to notice that he's being "cold-decked." He gets his brainy community pillar of a cousin shot, than swipes his cousin's fiancée. Dare's all hat, no brains, as they say Out West. But Today's Red Staters are mostly descended from the shallow gene pool of Yesteryear's Dares, NOT from the level-headed guys such as Cousin Tom. It's not hard to see why any of their communities could be dubbed as HELL TOWN.

This is a great little western from Favourite Films. Dare Rudd (John Wayne) and his side-kick accidentally get caught up in some cattle rustling. The herd belongs to Tom Filmore (Johnny Mack Brown), Dare's brother. Dare has been the black sheep of the family but Tom gives him a job to try to keep him on the straight and narrow. Judy (Marsha Hunt) is one reason Dare decides to stay around.There is a spy in the cowboy ranks. One of them is giving important information to Bart Hammond (Monte Blue). James Craig plays a crooked card sharp who trys to fleece Dare of the cattle money.Everybody who pops out from behind a rock was a star either on their way up or down. Johnny Mack Brown had been popular in the late 20s and early 30s and this film provided a shot in the arm for his career at the time. He seemed to alternate between Johnny or John (this was a John time). Monte Blue had been a star in the silents. A couple of his films were "Main Street" (1923)and "White Shadows in the South Seas"(1928). Marsha Hunt was definitely on the verge of better things as was James Craig. Jim Thorpe,that marvelous native American athlete is also supposed to have an uncredited part. Lucian Littlefield, one of the screen's great character actors (he was in "The Cat and the Canary" (1927)) played John, a cattle buyer.

I am giving this film ten stars, not because it is a great film (although it is one of the best of its type), but because it is a remarkably important transitional film for one of the real originals of American cinema, John Wayne.This is one of the last of the many 'Saturday matinée' potboilers Wayne acted in for a half-dozen marginal studios during the 1930s; two years later, Ford would give him the big break of his career in "Stagecoach".Unlike the other potboilers he appeared in, "Hell Town" (aka "Born to the West", although I have never seen a print with that title on it) is well-written, well-directed, nicely photographed, and well-acted by all involved (but especially Johnny 'Mack' Brown) - surprising quality for a cheapie, but I suppose the fact the story it derived from had been written by Zane Grey - already a legendary Western writer - probably impressed cast and crew to make a best-effort presentation here. At any rate, the film, under 55 minutes long, has the look and feel of a feature-length Western of the time, and it survives far better than any other of the Western shorts of the period.The story is solid, with relatively serious overtones concerning the possibility of redemption. Wayne's character, a gambling addict, is rightly transformed when he discovers that his cousin is a better gambler than he is, but just prefers not to gamble.Wayne himself is in top-form for the period. All the little gimmicks and gestures we associate with him are here in a way never seen in any film of his before this - his cautious smile, his frown, his ability to strike a pose leaning his weight on one leg, his soft but firm voice of warning, his ability to face a tough situation with grace and even, one must admit, an oddly noble humility. This is no longer the "Singing Mesquiteer" of the earlier potboilders, this is finally the Duke, who would star in "Stagecoach" and lead an army of fans (including myself) through film after film for four more decades.This is where the filmography of John 'Duke' Wayne rightfully begins - a film that has survived well, and may yet survive a few decades more.(Note: in another film made the previous year, Winds of the Wasteland, Wayne can also be seen coming into his own as an actor; but this is the better film.)

While it has a story that is not bad in itself, "Born to the West" (or "Hell Town") is mostly carried by John Wayne's screen presence, with some help from Johnny Mack Brown and the rest of a pretty good cast.Wayne plays a gambling-addicted cowboy who runs into his respected and influential cousin (Brown) while passing through Montana. The two become rivals for the affections of Brown's girlfriend (Marsha Hunt) while at the same time they must join up to deal with cattle rustlers and crooked card players. A lot of the story is routine, but there are some interesting features, and it moves at a good pace. The scenery is also pretty good at times.The film is a decent Western in its own right, and is also worth watching to see Wayne's performance as a man who has to combine action with some careful thinking about his future. It's not hard to see why soon after this movie he started to get the big roles and the attention due to a star.