Sagebrush Trail ** (1933, John Wayne, Nancy Shubert, Lane Chandler, Yakima Canutt) – Classic Movie Review 7118

‘Romance rides in a drama of thundering hoofs and blazing guns!’ Director Armand Schaefer’s 1933 Western Sagebrush Trail stars the young John Wayne (aged 26) as John Brant, who  is sent to prison for a murder he did not commit, but breaks out to clear his name. He makes friends, unwittingly, with the killer and, before the final credits, there is a shoot-out and of course all’s well that ends well.

Schaefer directs this above average, low-budget support Western competently and entertainingly, and drives it along briskly in under an hour.

Sagebrush Trail is one of more than a dozen poverty row action programmers Wayne made in 1933, and his second for the Monogram Pictures studio after leaving Warner Bros, following Riders of Destiny (1933).

Also in the cast are Nancy Shubert as Sally Blake, Lane Chandler as Joseph Conlon, Yakima Canutt, Henry Hall, Wally Wales [Hal Taliaferro] as Deputy Sheriff, Bob Burns as Sheriff Parker and Art Mix as Henchman. Canutt plays the leader of the outlaw gang and was also Wayne’s stunt double.

Uncredited members of the cast are Ted Adams as Taggart, Silver Tip Baker as Townsman, Hank Bell as Henchman, William Dyer as Blind Pete, Wally Howe as Store Customer, Julie Kingdon as Town Girl,Tex Palmer as Posse Rider, Tex Phelps as Henchman, Hal Price as Train Engineer Bud, Archie Ricks as Stage Driver, Robert Walker as Henchman, Blackjack Ward as Henchman, and Slim Whitaker as Henchman Dick.

Sagebrush Trail is directed by Armand Schaefer, runs 54 minutes, is made by Lone Star Pictures, is released by Monogram Pictures, is written by Lindsley Parsons, is shot in black and white by Archie J Stout and produced by Paul Malvern.

Locations are shot at Bronson Canyon, a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, popular with film-makers.

Sagebrush Trail is in the public domain. It is a remake of Partners of the Trail, directed by Wallace Fox in 1931.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7118

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