Sagebrush Trail (1933)

. . . riddle SAGEBRUSH TRAIL. First off, this flick is set in the 1900s. Its precipitating incident is a "murder" at a "love nest" in which a cuckolded husband guns down his wife's paramour. No American jury convicted guys for such "justifiable homicides" in the previous century, as the O.J. verdict proved. But somehow this Baltimore murder rap is hung on a random by-stander bozo, played by John Wayne, for reasons never even hinted at. So Wayne breaks prison and hops on a West-bound train "to look for the Real Killer." Unlike O.J.'s fruitless search of America's golf courses, Wayne is spooked off the train at a random hamlet and steals a horse, galloping off in a random direction closely pursued by a couple lawmen. As these "star packers" close in, Wayne dives into a pond and eventually is pulled out of the water by the Real Killer! Since both of these Baltimore strangers are somehow expert rodeo stunt riders, they're hired by the local outlaw gang, where Wayne dons an apron to fry breakfast eggs. At this point, a few minutes into SAGEBRUSH TRAIL, the movie starts to get implausible. Proceed at your own risk.

This film has not aged like some films of this genre from the 1930s. The plot to this films would give many modern western plot developers a run for their money. Would advise that this film should be watched when you have the odd hour to spare and are interested in watching a john Wayne classic. The plot is based around John Brant who has been sentenced for a murder he did not commit. After a wonderful chase scene introduction John Brant meets up with "Jones". Looking at this film I have now observed two versions. Once version contains a rather overdubbed and irritating slapstick music during the egg scene. Luckily the version that I have rated 8/10 contains no slapstick music and can be found on the internet.

Imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, John Brant escapes and ends up out west.After giving the local lawmen the slip, he joins up with an outlaw gang. Brant finds out that 'Jones', one of the outlaws he has become friends with, committed the murder that Brant was sent up for, but has no knowledge that anyone was ever put in jail for his crime. Willing to forgive and forget, Brant doesn't realize that 'Jones' has not only fallen for the same pretty shop girl Brant has, but begins to suspect that Brant is not truly an outlaw.Some decent fight scenes.But let's be honest, this is a B picture. Better than a lot of westerns made for no money and not just because Wayne is in it.

In the 1930s, before he was a Hollywood star, John Wayne made a long string of rather ordinary B-westerns. Now these were not necessarily bad movies (well, aside from his stint as "Singing Sandy"), but they certainly were not great works of art. Like other B-westerns, they filled a niche--a cheap second film for a double feature--the sort of film that kids loved. In many ways, these films are a lot like Gene Autry films with a little bit more realism.This film finds Wayne playing John Brant--a guy who has escaped from prison and is trying to prove his innocence. With practically no evidence to support this, his instincts tell him to make for a group of crooks out West--even though the murder occurred in Baltimore. And, in a case of coincidence only possible in movies, he just happens to find the guy who really committed the crime!! While silly, I did like that at least there was the twist that Brant found he liked the guy!Overall, about what you'd expect from such a film. The acting, at times, was suspect but the film went by at such a fast clip that it was basically harmless entertainment.By the way, I saw this film again on the Encore Channel and noticed right away that someone 'clever' at Fox Lorber Pictures added an annoying modern electronic musical track to this film. Avoid this version at all costs and just download the public domain version from IMDb--you'll be doing yourself a favor.