Watch Sagebrush Trail For Free

Touches You

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

John Wayne (John Brant), Nancy Shubert (Sally Blake), Lane Chandler (Bob Jones), Yakima Canutt (Ed Walsh, and stunt double for John Wayne), Bob Burns (Robert E. Burns) (Sheriff Parker), Wally Wales (deputy sheriff), Art Mix (henchman), Hank Bell (outlaw with chair), Earl Dwire (Blind Pete), Henry Hall (Blake), Slim Whitaker, Robert Walker, Tex Phelps, Blackjack Ward (henchmen), Ted Adams (Taggart), Silver Tip Baker (townsman), Hal Price (train driver), William Dyer (Blind Pete), Julie Kingdon (town girl), Archie Ricks (stage driver). Director: ARMAND SCHAEFER. Screenplay: Lindsley Parsons. Story: Lindsley Parsons and Will Beale. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Carl Pierson. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Sound recording: John A. Stransky, Jr. Balsley & Phillips Sound System. Producer: Paul Malvern. Executive producer: Trem Carr. A Lone Star Western, copyright 1 December 1933 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 15 December 1933. U.K. release: 4 March 1935 (sic). 6 reels. 54 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Unjustly convicted murderer escapes from prison to hunt down vital missing witness.NOTES: The second of Wayne's 16 Lone Star Westerns. Negative cost: a measly $10,900, comprising only 3 days of location work and but a single day of studio interiors.COMMENT: Although it doesn't hold a candle to Wayne's Republic westerns in any department, this is still a most entertaining Lone Star Western. Nice to see Lane Chandler in a featured role, for once, and acquitting himself with honor too. Wayne is great as always, even here showing the sort of charisma and star power that would later delight so many millions of fans. The rest of the players are not much, though Yakima Canutt has a sizable on-camera role as leader of the outlaw band. Despite limited production values and obvious technical deficiencies, plus some clichéd and rather clumsily delivered dialogue, one can still enjoy the reasonably picturesque locations and the action spots, complete with stunt-work and fast panning, which are nothing if not most enthusiastically staged.

SAGEBRUSH TRAIL is one of the many B-movie westerns that a young and strapping John Wayne made at the outset of his career. In this one he plays a wronged man (hence the UK re-titling of AN INNOCENT MAN) forced to hide out and take up with a gang of outlaws in order to avoid capture by the authorities. Problems arise when Wayne's generally kind nature sees him stepping in to prevent the outlaws committing various crimes, and they soon become suspicious of this good-natured interloper. This film is a B-flick through and through, but it has a nice, fast-moving plot, some good fist fights, and a great little stagecoach chase with some fine stunt action. Wayne makes for a warm and charismatic figure even at this stage of his career.

If my count is correct, this is the eleventh Lone Star Film starring John Wayne that I've seen, and it may be the best of the bunch. Not that it doesn't have it's share of gaffs, but it was entertaining and had some humor to lighten the load. Perhaps it was Armand Schaefer's directing hand that accounts for my preference over the ones done by Robert North Bradbury and Harry Fraser. With no pun intended, this could have been an episode of "Alias Smith and Jones". Wayne's character is John Brant, escaped from prison for a murder he didn't commit; while making his getaway from the sheriff, he uses the old breathe through a reed trick to remain underwater. When he surfaces to find an outlaw waiting, he hesitates giving his name, whereby "Bob Jones" begins calling him "John Smith". Lane Chandler shares virtually equal screen time with Wayne in this oater, as the outlaw who committed the crime for which Wayne's character is being hunted. Yakima Canutt is on hand as the outlaw gang leader, and his stunt work in the film is interesting to watch. The most daring one (as Brant) is when he's covered by a pile of brush and is positioned to grab the underside of a stagecoach to get on board, while the horses have to carefully straddle him in his prone position. For me, that was a sit up and take notice scene, one that cries out for a "how they made this movie" follow up.Other scenes weren't half as daring, in fact there were two flying horse mounts that almost missed, but with a low budget production that didn't believe in do-overs, they stayed in the film. However there's a great sequence when (again as Brant) Yak jumps a hitching post and one horse to land on another horse. It's a good thing the horses cooperated.Since I mentioned the use of humor earlier, I'll note a particular scene when Smith and Jones go shopping at the general store, where they both eye up the pretty Sally Blake (Nancy Shubert) for the first time. With a handful of packages each, they manage to break each other's sack of eggs creating a mess. I guess that's why they came up with egg cartons.If you're paying attention, you'll note that when "Smith" gets dressed up to pay a visit to Sally, he removes his old shirt to put on a new one. In the story line, he was shot some two weeks earlier in the left shoulder, but that area shows no sign of damage at all. Could Wayne have been that quick a healer? In the same scene, and the only time I've ever seen it done, Wayne's character dabs his fingers into the grease of a frying pan to slick back his hair - where's the Vitalis when you need it!For anyone who's a fan and seen a handful of Wayne's Lone Star films, you'll know how this one ends. Not so much that Smith's name is cleared and the outlaws are brought to justice, but in the fact that John Wayne's character gets the girl. It happens virtually every time, and this one fades on Smith/Brant and Sally in a smooch behind his ten gallon hat.

While it is rather slow at times, and not always plausible, in general this is not bad at all for a B-Western. It's interesting to see John Wayne in one of his earlier roles, and while he's hardly yet become "The Duke" in this one, he's likable and worth seeing. The setup is interesting, and while the movie does not get everything it could have out of the possibilities, it still has enough going on to hold your attention.Wayne plays a character who was unjustly convicted of murder, and who has broken out of prison in order to look for the real killer. He runs across a gang of outlaws, and when he begins to realize that things are different than he thought they were, he is faced with some real dilemmas. Later on in his career, Wayne could have done much more with this kind of role, but here he is at least always sympathetic. Although it misses some opportunities to make things more interesting, there should be enough story and action to make this one worthwhile if you enjoy older Westerns.