JohnHowardReid Not copyrighted. A Lone Star Western, released through Monogram in the U.S.A.: 20 July 1935. No New York opening. U.K. release through Exclusive: November 1936 (sic). 52 minutes. Alternative title: PARADISE RANCH.SYNOPSIS: On the trail of counterfeiters, a government agent joins a medicine show.NOTES: This was Wayne's last official Lone Star. In his next film "Westward Ho" - made for Republic - he continued to play the character "John Wyatt".COMMENT: The last and least interesting of Wayne's Lone Star westerns. True, it has a bit of action but all of it is thoroughly undermined by unimaginative staging and poor direction. A dive by horse and rider over a cliff should have been a highlight, but it is shot from such a pedestrian angle that all the impact of the stunt is lost. There are no running inserts at all, with every chase filmed from uninteresting fixed-angle positions. Even the background scenery is drab and there is no music whatever to generate excitement. The opening chase after the medicine show wagon is ho-hum bland the first time around. But then it is repeated with but a slight variation. The constant cutting between weak sound effects of horses' hooves pounding along and the fuzzy motor roaring is nothing short of irritating. And yet it's given a second run! Incredible!Yakima Canutt has a major role. He's the chief heavy in fact. But good to see him though it is, he doesn't do any stuntwork to speak of. In fact his fist fights with Wayne are among the weakest and phoniest we've ever seen.The real star of the film is not Wayne at all. Here he takes a back seat to the voluble, endlessly verbose, uninterruptedly garrulous Earle Hodgins. No wonder Wayne seems somewhat reticent and even lackluster. Miss Burns is a moderately attractive heroine, but the rest of the players are a write-off, particularly Gino Corrado, a most unconvincing Italian-accented Mexican rurale captain, who sports the most ridiculous prop hat imaginable.I was wrong when I said no music. There are in fact two songs, sung by the Texas Two. It says much for the excitements of the rest of the movie when I say with confidence that these two songs are the most entertaining parts of the whole film. In fact, if Paradise Canyon is fair sample of Mr Pierson's work, he is most definitely a director to avoid at all costs.

Leofwine_draca GUNS ALONG THE TRAIL is another solid early western for John Wayne. These films are short and action-packed, with lots of chase sequences and fist fights to keep them moving merrily along; I love 'em. In this one, Wayne plays an undercover agent on the trail of a counterfeiting gang, and he hooks up with a snake oil salesman for most of the running time. There's romance, danger, and plenty of excitement along the way, building to a relatively large-scale climax. Watch out for Wayne's marksman tricks and the incredible fight scene in which he picks up a guy by his head and throws him over his shoulder - dangerous stuff!

utgard14 John Wayne's final Lone Star cheapie has him playing a government agent with a huge hat trying to bust up a counterfeiting ring. He does so by joining the traveling medicine show of Dr. Carter (Earle Hodges) and his pretty daughter Linda (Marion Burns). They always had a pretty daughter in these things. Anyway, the bad guy's named Curly Joe. He's played by stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt. At least you know the stunts are good. Hodges is fun as the medicine show huckster. There's also quite a bit of comedy and some songs including one about suspenders that needs to be heard.Is it just me or are those the loudest horse clops you ever heard? Also, I'm not sure what era this was supposed to take place in. Lone Star wasn't known for caring about historical accuracy in these cheap B westerns. There were usually shots of telephone poles and the like in the background. Here there are 1930s-era cars and clothes but everything else says Old West. This western, like the other B's made in the '30s, will seem pretty much like kids stuff today. But there is some fun to be had with it. Fans of the Duke might want to check it out. Avoid the version with the bizarre modern electronic score added.

mark.waltz John Wayne is on the trail of a counterfeiting racket, and joins a medicine show in order to trick the bad guys. He falls in love with the daughter (Marion Burns) of the alcoholic owner (Earle Hodgins), and races frantically at the conclusion to prove that the guys always come out first. There's plenty to enjoy in this very short western comedy, and Wayne is at his low-budget best. We've seen him do this before, and some of the low grade westerns he did prior to "Stagecoach" are much better than others. This is one of the better ones. Hodgins proves that alcoholics can be funny (even if it is medicine he claims he is taking, 90 percent alcohol included) and Burns is a sweet, likable heroine.