User reviews

West of the Divide finds the Duke as a man searching for his younger brother and at the same time the people who kidnapped him and murdered their father.

The film opens with a piece of good luck coming their way in the person of the dying gunman Gatt Ganns who's been hired by Lloyd Whitlock to kill rancher Lafe McKee. Of course Whitlock is once again a villain in the Snidely Whiplash tradition who not only wants the ranch, but also has evil designs on McKee's daughter Virginia Brown Faire.

In reviewing B westerns, sometimes I have a tendency to reach back to those 19th century morality plays so popular in that era. Whitlock in fact even laughs like a villain in one of those plays. For reference you should see the Irene Dunne-Allan Jones version of Showboat to see just the kind of drama they used to put on then. It survived in the B western, John Wayne's as well as other's.

Wayne of course by the end solves all the problems concerned and the villain gets his just desserts. We can't say how though.

The Duke pretends to be the recently deceased Mr. Ganns to get the goods on the bad guys along with sidekick Gabby Hayes. He discovers a young kid being raised by one of the outlaws. Interesting in this B western set firmly in the 19th century morality play tradition, we also have a topic so very gingerly touched on as child abuse. A rather adult theme for a western or any kind of picture at that time.

Wayne was just beginning his stay at Monogram Pictures Lone Star westerns, this was his third. Monogram had a stock company to rival the much better one of John Ford. Note how for the next three or four years, the casts are just about the same in every Wayne western at that studio. It gets hard to keep these in chronological order, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these weren't shot simultaneously.

The best you can say about the Monogram films is that they kept John Wayne employed, not something easily said during the Depression. And they beat those serials he did for Mascot. West of the Divide will never be on any John Wayne fans top 10 list.

WEST OF THE DIVIDE (1933/34), a Lone Star Production released by Monogram Pictures, with story and direction by Robert N. Bradbury, stars John Wayne in his third low-budget western for the studio. Though not as classic as his latter westerns as STAGECOACH (1939) or THE SEARCHERS (1956), this minor production clocked at 54 minutes, which could have been an episode to an hourly western television series in later years, is actually not that bad. As with all his Lone Star productions (1933-1935), all resembling early talkies of the late 1920s, and lacking underscoring, the plot and action sequences along with the youthful presence of John Wayne, still learning the ropes as a movie cowboy, somehow make up for it.

Rather than having a five-minute prologue to the situation involving the central character as a 12-year-old boy, production values save time and cost by opening the story revolving the now adult Ted Hayden (John Wayne) accompanied by his friend, "Dusty" Rhodes (George "Gabby" Hayes, minus his beard that would later make him famous) resting out in the wilderness discussing the murder of Hayden's father when he was a boy. Left for dead, Ted is said to be found and taken in by Dusty, who, after two years under his care, has brought him back to heath. Ted also has a little brother whose mother died at the time of his birth, and wants to find him. During this reminiscing of the past leading to both men returning to the scene of the crime, Ted and Dusty notice a man stumbling to the ground, dying after drinking poisoned water. Finding an envelope on his person, they find the deceased to be Gat Ganns, a wanted killer with a $5,000 reward for his capture. Convinced of Ganns association with Jeffrey Gentry (Lloyd Whitlock), the man who bought his father's ranch, to be responsible for his father's death and brother's abduction, Ted, who bears a close resemblance to the deceased, poses Ganns to work under Gentry to see if his hunch is correct. In the meantime, Gentry, losing his bid to buy the ranch belonging to Fred Winters (Lafe McKee) and his daughter, Fay (Virginia Browne-Faire), schemes to get that ranch regardless. He has two of his henchmen to follow and rob Fay of the $3,000 for bank deposit to ruin for father financially. Accidentally shot while hiding in an abandoned barn, Fay is later found unconscious by Ted, who takes her to Doctor Silsby (Philip Kieffer) for treatment. Having found her money, Ted deposits it for her in secret at the bank. Now working for Gentry to do away with Winters, Ted later saves Spud (Billy O'Brien), a 12-year-old boy from a runaway coach and from the brutal whipping by his brutal father, Butch (Blackie Whitford. The closer Ted gets to his father's murder, the more his life is in danger. Other supporting players include Yakima Canutt, Earl Dwire and Horace B. Carpenter.

As with many of Wayne's early westerns, he bonds well with his co-stars, Virginia Browne-Faire, and youngster, played by Billy (billed Billie) O'Brien, another good reason the film works so well. Even with lack of production values, it still has charm. Chances are the plot summary had been used earlier or later with other western actors, but it's John Wayne, better known as "The Duke," who's the reason this and other his early westerns have remained watchable long after its theatrical releases.

Distributed on video cassette in the 1980s, the decade where this and other of Wayne's Lone Star westerns frequently played for a while on public television, WEST OF THE DIVIDE, also available on DVD, has had its cable television presentations, namely American Movie Classics (1996-2000) and Encore Westerns. Beware of prints with new and poorly constructed underscoring used during opening and closing credits, along with scoreless scenes that would be rough sledding for viewers to stop watching long before the movie comes to a close. (**1/2)

I bought this film because a book I read stated that it was the first

film that was important in the development of the "Gabby" (George)

Hayes character who was so enjoyable in the Hopalong Cassidy &

Roy Rogers (& others) films of the 1930s & 1940s. Hayes here

plays a character named "Dusty." He has a scruffy, grizzled look,

but doesn't yet have the beard that came later. Hayes has the

same voice & intonation as he used later, but engages in none of

the comedic antics that where such a big part of his "Gabby"

character. Is it a coincidence that John Wayne rides a white horse,

wears a big 10 gallon black hat & black shirt, & has the same

sidekick as Hopalong Cassidy did, all two years before Hoppy got

started in the movies? The Hopalong Cassidy movie character

seems to bear more resemblance to John Wayne in this movie

than he does to the Hoppy character as portrayed in the Clarence

Mulford books! Blooper: John Wayne's kid brother calls him "Dad"

in one scene! This is an enjoyable film, especially if you like Gabby

Hayes. What ruined it for me was a new soundtrack (basically,

swirling organ music) that was unnecessary & detracted from the

movie. I have the SONY release, copyrighted 1985 by Fox/Lorber,

so beware of that version if you like your old movies to be

unadulterated, as I do.

This was the fourth of the sixteen Wayne Lone Star series. I must respectfully disagree with those on IMDb who rate it highly. I thought it was one of the worse in the series. It has all the bad elements of the series, bad acting, convoluted and dull plot,anachronisms (telephones, automobiles and women in 1930's clothes). Only the stunt work is excellent, providing the five or six interesting moments.

At one point, Wayne turns to the bad guy and says that he's acting like a character out of a dime novel. He's exactly right. The bad guy and the story are stereotypes even for 1933.

The series seems to move between films that basically follow straight stereotypical Western stories and films that provide funny and clever twists on the stereotypical stories. This one is played straight and thus only has interest for cinema or Western historians. The other type ("Riders of Destiny" and "the Star Packer," for example) are still quite entertaining 75 years later.

I was a TV addict at a very early age. I lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather and I used to fight over what to watch on his television. He loved westerns; we watched "Cheyenne," and "Wyatt Earp," and "Rifleman," and numerous others during the fifties. I didn't quite share his enthusiasm for these shows, but it was a way to pass the time with him. But after seeing "The West Divide," I know why he loved westerns so. Some may refer to it as a B movie, but I think the B stands for basic. There's something thrilling about its lack of artifice. The sound of fists connecting to flesh doesn't have that ungodly amplification that later, more technically sophisticated examples of the genre had. The sentiment is rarefied like the open air. When the heroine is shot, it's played out plainly and purely; sometimes you can get a stronger emotional effect without a musical score. And the sequence with the runaway team is bracing; I figure the legendary Yakima Canutt stunted in this scene.

And then there is the young John Wayne. I think it is during this period in his career that he proved himself to be the giant star he became. When he dons white buckskin in "The Telegraph Trail," he becomes almost otherworldly. Here he plays a man posing as an outlaw to find the killer of his father. By the time he has set things right, lying supine in his long-lost brother's arms, you understand why so many moviegoers couldn't get enough of him. His entire body in that moment gives way to the scene, and you cherish how tenderly and passionately he's willing to play his part. This movie taps into that well of memories some of us have with family and loved ones, and as Father's Day is tomorrow, it helps remind me what deep, elemental emotion men often feel that these days goes unacknowledged. I certainly wasn't aware of it in those days with my grandfather; but I've gained a new consciousness that has come with my being about his age at the time and watching things I know he'd have loved. Like "The West Divide." It makes you wish they made more westerns like this one.

Along with the usual cast of characters , that the Duke usually performs with this movie attracted my attention more so than some of his other "b" westerns save for a few,, maybe because in the beginning of this one he plays or rather I should say pretends to be a killer to get deep inside of a gang to find out who killed his dad and kidnapped his brother,, he is very good at this and has the criminals totally convinced well except for one,, and eventually they find out he is not who he says that he really is... Yakima Cannut , and George "Gabby" Hayes also star with John Wayne,, rather enjoyable western LoneStar. I would definitely recommend this to anyone being a fan of the early John Wayne movies before he became a star.

An average Lone Star film -- built on convenient coincidences (Gat Gann just happens to walk into the scene and dies, and, as luck would have it, just happens to bear a letter of introduction to the man, "Gantry" who, as fate would have it, just happens to have killed John "Ted" Wayne's father and for whom Ted goes to work because Ted just happens to look just like Gannon in his "Wanted" poster, etc., etc.) and clichés.

Interesting for: 1) the stunt work of Yakima Cannutt-- riding a buckboard hitch with a boy on his back,and later diving through a window from a horse; 2) the child abuse theme that culminates in John Wayne's heartfelt hugging of young "Spud" at the end.

Other than that, not much here, even by Lone Star standards. No real character development, except for John Wayne's passionate presence; George Hayes just chews tobacco.

John Wayne stars as Ted Hayden in this one, lithe young companion of grizzled old George 'Gabby' Hayes, who was just starting to develop into the character now so familiar to Hopalong Cassidy fans. Ted is an orphan, left for dead by the varmints who done fer his paw, and saved from beneath his father's dead body by Hayes' Dusty Rhodes. All this – and much more – is related to the viewer in the opening scene, a conversation between the pair that is nothing but a huge chunk of exposition that is as lacking in subtlety as it is replete with information. Hayden has returned to his hometown to catch the man with the mad laugh who killed his father, and poses as Gat Ganns, all-round bad egg, who bears more than a passing physical resemblance to our hero.

This is a fairly acceptable entry in John Wayne's Lone Star series of films made in the early to mid-thirties. There is quite a diverting storyline, even though the acting is as creaky as usual for these flicks. It's the stunts that stand out in all of the low budget efforts Wayne made in those days, and their success is thanks to stuntman extraordinaire Yakima Canutt. You get the impression as you watch that some real hair-raising risks were taken to capture these scenes – and you sometimes wonder whether it was worth it considering the poor quality of most other aspects of the films. Watch out for Canutt standing in for bad guy Lloyd Whitlock, who sports a full head of greying hair, in the fight with Wayne near the end of the film. Canutt had dark hair and a noticeable bald patch, but hack director R. N. Bradbury obviously didn't believe in going to the expense of making even a perfunctory effort to disguise the actors' physical differences. Oddly enough, it's this kind of lack of attention to detail that make the Lone Star films so curiously endearing.

John Wayne and George Hayes come back to the place where Wayne spent his childhood in order to find out who killed his father and what became of his baby brother twelve years earlier. Wayne and Hayes then go undercover to stop a group of ranch thieves.

There's a few good scenes and a decent climax in this entry in Wayne's Lone Star western series but mostly this is middle of the road entertainment with a bit too much talking and not enough action this time around.

However, this does have some better-than-usual acting for the series. Duke and Gabby's performances are also quite likable, as is the actor that played Wayne's young friend.

It doesn't get any better than John Wayne in shootouts, fisticuffs, a runaway stage coach and chase scenes. Gabby Hayes is clean-shaven but as feisty as ever. Who better to play John Wayne's love interest then silent screen leading lady Virginia Brown Faire. Lafe McGee, Earle Dwire, and Yak round out a wonderful cast with Robert Bradbury directing. In the poverty row era, Lone Star put out some great action-packed westerns.

This early John Wayne western sees Wayne playing Ted Hayden, a man who was left for dead as a boy when he father was killed. In the opening scene he discusses this with the man who looked after him. As they talk a man staggers towards then; he lives just long enough to hell them he has drunk water from a poisoned well. He is carrying papers that identify him as Gat Ganns, a wanted killer who was hoping to work for a certain Mr Gentry; the man who now owns the Hayden farm. As Hayden looks rather like Ganns he takes his place and sees Gentry about the job. It turns out Gentry is trying to acquire a neighbouring ranch and wants 'Ganns' to kill the owner... he also has designs on the owner's attractive daughter. Hayden is determined to find a way to save them. He also learns the truth about who killed his father.

While this isn't exactly a great western it is rather fun. The plot may be fairly predictable but it provides some decent action; this includes fist fights and some solid horse stunts. In most films of this sort the attractive leading lady quickly falls for the handsome hero but here she doesn't even meet him till quite a way into the film... he finds her earlier but she is unconscious. There are some fairly weak points; the opening involves quite a coincidence and Hayden doesn't look particularly like Ganns; certainly not enough that anybody shown the photograph on the wanted poster, as Gentry was, would believe he was Ganns. The acting is decent enough; John Wayne is solid as Hayden and Virginia Brown Faire is suitably sparky as Fay Winters, daughter of the ranch owner Gentry had feelings for. Lloyd Whitlock was a solid bad guy although the character was almost a pantomime villain. Overall this isn't a must see but it is fun if you enjoy westerns and have an hour to kill.

An American Western; A story about a frontiersman who poses as an outlaw to infiltrate a band of outlaws in order to get close to their ringleader, who murdered his father. This film is a remake of Partners of the Trail (1931). John Wayne has authority but labours through as a cowboy on a mission. The film fails to create enough atmosphere, despite the robust support from George "Gabby" Hayes as a sidekick. The plot is too convoluted, and the chase scenes and shootouts feel lifeless because the characters are not allowed to develop fully.

I have recently seen a colourised version of this Lone Star effort, and it's quite an enjoyable outing for the duo of John Wayne ("Tom") and his lively, dependable sidekick "Gabby" Hayes, Sure, the story is a variation on a well-known theme - Duke's father is killed when he is young and years later he encounters the killer when he infiltrates his gang. This time "Gentry" (Lloyd Whitlock) is trying to force old man "Winters" (Lafe McKee) from his ranch, but luckily for the latter the Duke is on hand to thwart this evil plan, and he has a beautiful young daughter "Fay" (Virginia Faire) who has caught the star's eye too. There is plenty of action packed into just under an hour before and ending that, though I thought really rather poor, still just about holds up. One of many, this one, but still fun for JW fans.

West of the Divide (1934) is a movie that I recently watched on Prime. The storyline follows a young man who was orphaned as a kid and wants to get into a gang to earn a living. The young man pretends to be a wanted outlaw so the gang takes him in. As he works with the gang, he discovers the gang leader was responsible for him becoming an orphan. He decides to leave the game and protect a family that may be the gang leader's next victims. The young man may fall in love and discover even more about his history and family in the process.

This movie is directed by Robert N. Bradbury (The Lucky Texan) and stars John Wayne (True Grit), George 'Gabby' Hayes (Randy Rides Alone), Lafe McKee (Queen of the Jungle), Virginia Brown Faire (Broadway Billy) and Virginia Brown Faire (The Lawless Frontier).

The storyline is fairly cliche and straightforward but still fun to watch unfold. The dialogue and acting are a bit rigid, but John Wayne was a great main character and an easy character to root for. The special effects are a lot of fun - both the Stagecoach stunts, shootouts and fight sequences. The villain was entertaining but an awful shot.

Overall, this is a fairly average addition to the western genre that is still worth a watch. I would score this as a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

There's a short list of films where John Wayne's character dies. I don't think "West Of The Divide" is on that list, but look again.

In the opening five minutes, we watch a man collapse after drinking from a poison water hole. A close up reveals him to be none other than John Wayne. Less than a minute later, he's dead.

Don't worry: That's not a spoiler. John Wayne is playing two characters in this movie. One, Gatt Gans, is a deadly outlaw who, as mentioned, winds up just dead. The other, Ted Hayden, happens to look like Gans, which Hayden discovers after lifting a wanted poster off Gans's corpse. It turns out Gans was en route to perform a hired killing, and it just so happens Hayden has some unfinished business with the hombre behind it.

"Maybe fate's kinda taken a hand in this deal," Hayden observes, before telling his pal Dusty (George "not yet Gabby" Hayes) that he'll pretend to be this bozo with the identical kisser.

Fate indeed takes a hand in "West Of The Divide," a mighty heavy one, too. "West Of The Divide" is practically nothing but fate taking a hand.

A couple of scenes on, a young woman rides away from two bandits. She falls off her horse and hides in a barn. A few moments later, the bandits ride by and happen to get into a fight over losing her. One pulls out a gun, and in the scuffle unknowingly wings her with a bullet. Minutes later, while she's bleeding dangerously close to death, Hayden and Dusty just happen to decide to bunk down in the same barn. Dusty discovers some blood, and well...

That's not even mentioning the little boy who happens to have his own connection to Hayden's past, and happens to be associated with the group of baddies who happen to be after the woman and her money, and happens to pick just the right moment to lift some bullets from someone's gun...

As much as it happens to reek of plot convenience, "West Of The Divide" also offers some memorably weak acting. The father, the chief villain, the woman, all play their roles with wooden stiffness. Even Hayes lacks his typical elan.

Wayne by contrast is terrific, whether making friends with the boy or delivering some long and pointless exposition to Dusty about how Dusty saved him when he was a boy ("Anyway, it won't do you no good, livin' this all over again," says Dusty after stringing out Hayden's tale for five long minutes.) Wayne also grimaces with believable anger when he catches up with someone he's been after for a long time. Given the material, it would have been understandable if Wayne had just gone through the motions, but he really inhabits the part. It's a foretaste of what he would do with better roles in the not-so-distant future, though he didn't always perform as well as this in his B-picture days.

The stunts here are solid, too. One involves a man standing on a runaway buckboard as it disintegrates around him, maybe the coolest stunt in the whole Wayne run of Lone Star pictures.

When I wasn't watching Wayne, I was mostly just bored with this. Director Robert N. Bradbury maintains his characteristically slow pace, making all the silly fate twists he throws at you easier to notice. The Lone Star pictures were meant for casual viewing, and by younger viewers, but even with the bar lowered so it seems somehow not quite low enough for this dull oater.

For Wayne completists only who want to see him in a rare double role, and playing a bad guy, too. Just don't go anywhere for the first five minutes. After that, though, there's little point sticking around.

Frequently used story gets a good presentation here in "West of the Divide," and the excellent cast helps ensure high quality.

Young John Wayne and grizzled George Hayes start with what I learned in college theater-history classes was called a "feather-duster" scene, where characters -- such as a maid, with a feather-duster -- tell the background of the story, today called "the back story."

It's kinda corny, but isn't too damaging.

Probably even in 1934 what was about to happen was predictable, but, before that predictable ending, enough happens in between it should hold the viewer's interest. It held mine.

When the hero meets the leading lady, there is no poor-writing instant romance. In fact, there is no real contact. It's an unusual boy-meets-girl.

That girl is Virginia Faire Brown, who is shown with 74 credits, although she never rose to be a major player and certainly not a star. But she is very attractive, even elegant, with an unusual dark-haired beauty.

Her character's father is played by the veteran Lafe McKee. The sheriff is by that veteran, and very talented actor, who didn't, alas, often enough get to show just how good an actor he was, Earl Dwire.

Chief bad guy is played by "Loyd Whitlock," who is usually known as Lloyd Whitlock, a very busy man with more than 200 credits!

OK, good story, great cast ably performing, lots of riding scenes, and a no-music-track realism that should keep you pinned to your seat. And if you want to see it, there's a good print at YouTube.

I'm a big fan of John Wayne and his films. I watch his movies all of the time. However, I am not a fan of his post-"The Big Trail" pre-"Stagecoach" low budget westerns. They all seem like the same movie to me. "West of the Divide" seems like more of the same. If I was a little boy in 1934, I would have really enjoyed this movie. Watching it all these later, it's okay at best. Duke does an okay job, I guess, with very little material. The supporting cast is passable. I did find Virginia Brown Faire strangely intriguing but I wouldn't want that to get around. "West of the Divide" is only worth watching if you're trying to see all of John Wayne's movies. If that what you're trying to do, go for it.

Ted Hayden (John Wayne) and his pal Dusty (Gabby Hayes) find wanted outlaw Gat Ganns dying. Hayden decides to impersonate Ganns in order to get a job as a hired gun for evil rancher Gentry (Lloyd Whitlock). He hopes to find out who killed his father and what happened to his brother. He also meets a girl who was shot in the head (!) by some of Gentry's men. Romance surely must follow.

Another John Wayne cheapie western made early in his career. As with most of his other cheapies, this one also features Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt. Yakima's stunts are the best part. It's a watchable oater but nothing to get worked up over. Try to catch the version without the irritating electronic score.

Ted Hayden's father, a sheriff, is killed by a gang of outlaws. Ted becomes determined to seek revenge and bring the killers to justice. He tracks down the gang to a nearby town, where he meets a young woman named Fay (Virginia Brown Faire), who is being forced to marry the gang leader, Jim (Lloyd Whitlock).

Ted poses as a wanted outlaw to get closer to the gang and gain their trust. He also tries to protect Fay from Jim's abusive behavior. Along the way, Ted learns that one of the gang members, Mort is actually his long-lost brother. The two brothers reunite and work together to take down the rest of the gang.

West of the Divide has an interesting story, a serviceable plot and some really good stunts. It's not the most action-packed John Wayne western (it's a bit talky) but it still can keep one interested. Strangely, for the era, child abuse is touched upon. Then again, this western is pre-code or on the borderline.