JohnHowardReid John Wayne (John Scott), Mary Kornman (Anne), Eddy Chandler (Kansas Charlie), Paul Fix (Jim), Carmen Laroux (Juanita LaRoux), Lafe McKee (Sheriff Barker), Al Ferguson (Pete), Henry Hall (Farnsworth), Archie Ricks (stage driver), Theodore Lorch (robbed stage passenger), Gordon De Main (stage passenger), Silver Tip Baker, Frank Ellis, Wally West (poker players), Frank Ball (banker), Frank Brownlee (Rattlesnake Gulch sheriff), Tommy Coats, Artie Ortego, Tex Palmer (deputies), Dick Dickinson (man watching poker game), Jack Evans, Ray Henderson (townsmen), Lew Meehan (posse rider), Fred Parker (doctor).Director: LEWIS D. COLLINS. Original screenplay: Lindsley Parsons. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Carl Pierson. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Music director: Lee Zahler. Sound recording: John A. Stransky, junior. Producer: Paul Malvern.A Lone Star Western, not copyrighted by Monogram Pictures Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 22 April 1935. U.K. release through Pathé: 18 November 1935. 54 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Difficult to summarize the plot of this unusual western, concerning the adventures of a rodeo rider and his card-sharp sparring partner, who object to the champ being paid off with two bits on the dollar. So they force the promoter to pay out the full amount of the champ's winnings at the point of a gun. Almost immediately afterwards, the pay office is cleaned out by a pair of bandits who point their fingers at our hero and his sidekick. The scene switches to the hacienda of a vampish senorita. It turns out that this siren has vamped not only our hero and his sidekick, but one of the bandits as well. After a series of complications with the bandit hiding in the closet, the story really gets under way in a different town altogether when our hero rescues a runaway stagecoach after the driver has been shot by the very same badmen who robbed the rodeo office. Hero and his unlikely off-sider now vie for the attentions of a pretty storekeeper, whose brother turns out to be one of the bandits who really robbed the stage and the rodeo! This, of course, is where the story really starts. But, never mind: Most of these elements are cleverly tied together at the finish in which the heroine (that's right, the heroine!) rides to the rescue in a buckboard! COMMENT: I don't know why director Lewis D. Collins opted to hide his contribution under the pseudonym "Cullen Lewis". Aside from obvious stock footage in the rodeo sequences, this rates as an unusually well-produced and smartly directed entry in the Lone Star series. Wayne turns on the virile charm and makes a most ingratiating lead. We love the sparks that constantly fly between him and his unlikely (but fascinating) off-sider, Eddy Chandler. We also enjoyed the performances of both Mary Kornman (as the icy storekeeper who tries to put Wayne in his place) and Carmen Laroux (who turns on the heat as a Mexican vamp). Despite some familiar plot elements, the script is both cleverly out-of-the-rut and highly entertaining. The dialogue is especially deft. At the same time, the plot incorporates more than enough action to satisfy the fans.

utgard14 John Wayne plays a rodeo star who, along with his gambler sidekick, is accused of murder. The two bicker their way to finding the real murderers. Another of John Wayne's cheapie westerns made for Lone Star in the '30s. He's saddled with Eddy Chandler as a sidekick this time. Chandler's completely out of place. He even refers to women as dames at one point. Where's Gabby Hayes when you need him? A lot of humor in this one. Wayne's given some nice banter as well as cute flirting with pretty Mary Kornman. Nice stunt work in this otherwise ordinary oater. Stock footage is used from another Wayne cheapie, The Man from Utah. Beware versions with annoying modern score added.

Bill Slocum Give the producers at Monogram Pictures (a. k. a. Lone Star) some credit: They gave John Wayne here a chance to try some comedy, and the Duke delivers. It's a shame the result is buried in another lame C- western with a poor script and below-par acting.Rodeo rider John Scott (Wayne) and his gambler companion Kansas Charlie (Eddy Chandler) get mixed up in a case of mistaken identity when they are blamed for stealing money from a crooked rodeo and murdering its promoter. Lying low in another town under assumed names, they find themselves on the wrong side of the law again, thanks to the machinations of the promoter's real killers.Watching Wayne cut up here with Chandler is kind of fun, especially early on. Director Cullen Lewis starts us off with a scene where the two are playing cards, and a tight close-up shows Kansas Charlie dealing himself an ace from the bottom of the deck. Scott catches him, though he's not angry at the duplicity so much as disgusted by the awkwardness of the move."You're terrible!" Scott exclaims. "Try any of those phony tricks at Rattlesnake Gulch, they'll run you out quicker than they did at the last place!"Watching Scott and Kansas Charlie bicker is fun for a while. Unfortunately, that's about all "The Desert Trail" has to offer. The conflict with the killers is awkwardly presented and left unresolved, even after one of them returns to steal Scott's money and Kansas Charlie's watch. Instead of trying to clear their names or catch the thief, Scott and K. C. hightail it to another town, where they meet pretty storekeeper Anne (Mary Kornman) and develop a new line of bickering over her. Seeing Wayne play a rather crooked character is kind of interesting; unfortunately this Scott guy and his pal are pretty dumb, too.Wayne enthusiasts may find his performance as noteworthy as I did; they may also like seeing Paul Fix, a regular in many Wayne movies, playing one of the killers who's also Anne's brother. Fix is terrible in this movie, perhaps because he was a busy guy (he appeared in 14 other movies in 1935 alone) and the character is so badly written. He doesn't want to kill and steal, but his nasty partner Pete (Al Ferguson) keeps threatening to turn him in if he doesn't go along. How would Pete do this without incriminating himself? Scott and Kansas aren't the only two characters in "Desert Trail" not long on brains.The film ambles along fretfully, with odd shoot-outs (odd because Wayne is often shooting at good guys) and cruel horse stunts (they tripped the horses in full gallop with wire, and a couple of the stunts here appear to have been fatal) breaking up largely comic interludes involving Scott, Kansas, and Anne. Kornman, a fetching woman with skills honed from her childhood career in silent "Our Gang" comedies, plays well off Wayne, especially when he tries to schmooze her by making her climb a ladder for some "nerve tonic." She points out nerve tonic is something he doesn't seem to need.With some better scripting, either in the way of a coherent cowboy actioner or a more focused comedy, "Desert Trail" might have risen above the batch of cheapo films Wayne starred in in his own desert years, after "The Big Trail" and before "Stagecoach." But it just doesn't gel enough, or go anywhere interesting beyond the occasional funniness.

counterrevolutionary Pretty good B-Western of the venerable "bickering buddies" formula benefits from Duke Morrison's increasing confidence as an actor and comfort with the "John Wayne" persona, as well as from the increasing willingness to let Wayne play characters with a bit of an edge, rather than the Roy-Rogers-type goodie-goodies of his earlier films.Definitely worth a look for fans of the Duke.7/10