Runtime: 57 minutes
Directed by: Mack V.
Wright
Starring: John Wayne,
Sheila Tracy, Harry Woods, Blue Washington, Duke (Wayne's horse
receives a credit)
From: Leon Schlesinger
Studios
John Wayne in a B-movie horror/western? Why not? Admittedly, it's
more western than horror but as we never got Wayne in an straight-up
horror film and this played on Turner Classic movies this afternoon...
As expected in a low budget 30's oater (which Old John did plenty of before he became a star for good with Stagecoach), this wasn't even an hour long and the plot is not what you'd call convoluted. Wayne was John Mason, owner of a ranch who discovers he inherited a gold mine... a young blonde also inherited this mine and naturally, a mustached man and his henchmen wish to reap those rewards instead. Oh, and there's also a mysterious figure only known as The Phantom and various spooky imagery is seen, such as a bat in the opening titles, a cemetery, an ancient house, shadowy figures, etc.
Is it a spoiler to say that the supernatural hints are not at all what they seem? There are some fine stunts but overall this is average in every way. Also, Mason is accompanied by a ranch hand, Clarence... who is black. As this is 1932, of course he speaks in a certain dialect and is a complete ineffectual idiot; I don't even want to repeat some of the things said to and about Clarence. Wayne's horse (named Duke!) is shown to be a better and more intelligent sidekick. As long as you can get past the overt racism, this was OK.
As expected in a low budget 30's oater (which Old John did plenty of before he became a star for good with Stagecoach), this wasn't even an hour long and the plot is not what you'd call convoluted. Wayne was John Mason, owner of a ranch who discovers he inherited a gold mine... a young blonde also inherited this mine and naturally, a mustached man and his henchmen wish to reap those rewards instead. Oh, and there's also a mysterious figure only known as The Phantom and various spooky imagery is seen, such as a bat in the opening titles, a cemetery, an ancient house, shadowy figures, etc.
Is it a spoiler to say that the supernatural hints are not at all what they seem? There are some fine stunts but overall this is average in every way. Also, Mason is accompanied by a ranch hand, Clarence... who is black. As this is 1932, of course he speaks in a certain dialect and is a complete ineffectual idiot; I don't even want to repeat some of the things said to and about Clarence. Wayne's horse (named Duke!) is shown to be a better and more intelligent sidekick. As long as you can get past the overt racism, this was OK.
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