The Trail Beyond (1934)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury

Writers:

James Oliver Curwood (novel)
Lindsley Parsons (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 October 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

WHERE LIFE WAS RAW AND MIGHT WAS LAW! (1939 reissue poster - all caps)

Plot:

Rod Drew hunts for a missing girl and finds himself in a fight over a goldmine as well.

Plot Keywords:

Map | Skeleton | Murder | Rescue | Missing Girl

Cast

John Wayne	...	Rod Drew
Verna Hillie	...	Felice Newsome
Noah Beery	...	George Newsome (as Noah Beery Sr.)
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Wabi
Robert Frazer	...	Jules LaRocque
Iris Lancaster	...	Marie LaFleur
James A. Marcus	...	Brother of Felice's real father (as James Marcus)
Eddie Parker	...	Ryan, the Mountie
Earl Dwire	...	Henchman Benoit
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Artie Ortego	...	Henchman Towanga (uncredited)
Tex Palmer	...	R.C . Mounted Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert N. Bradbury		(as Robert Bradbury)

Writing credits
James Oliver Curwood		(novel "The Wolf Hunters")
Lindsley Parsons		(screenplay)

Produced by
Paul Malvern	....	producer

Original Music by
Lee Zahler		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Charles R. Hunt		(as Charles Hunt)

Art Direction by
E.R. Hickson

Sound Department
Ralph Shugart	....	sound recordist

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Lee Zahler	....	music supervisor
Sam Perry	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Lone Star Productions (I)
• Monogram Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Pathé Pictures International (1935) (UK) (theatrical)
• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Fox/Lorber Video (1985) (USA) (video) (with added electronic music track)
• United American Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Foothill Video (1994) (USA) (video)
• Madacy Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Runtime:

55 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (colorized)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U (cut) | UK:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:S (1946) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Lone Star Productions (I)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Drew and Wabi find the cave with the gold from the map they found in a deserted cabin. One of the dead men from the cabin was Felice's real father, brother of the man who asked Drew to look for his niece. Along with a small sack of gold the men find, there's a photo of an adult Felice just as she appears in the story. However, her father could not have have gotten that picture if he died before she grew up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007) (TV)

The Duke versus the trappers.

Rod Drew is sent by a friend to locate his long lost daughter Marie, who he believes is in Northwest Canada. En route by train, Drew meets his old friend, a half breed named Wabi, who immediately becomes involved in a murder frame up and the two jump from the train wanted men. Tracking down clues to Marie's whereabouts, Drew and Wabi make their way to an abandoned cabin and find a map that Drew's friend and a partner made, showing the location of a treasure. Wabi takes Drew to a trading post run by Newsome and assisted by his daughter Felice (whom Wabi loves). Benoit, who works as a clerk in Newsome's store, tries to grab the map so he can get the treasure for LaRocque, a trapper and the film's bad man. Noting that Drew and Wabi are wanted men, LaRocque has one of his men kidnap and impersonate a Mountie, and get the map when they arrive back at the cabin, however Drew gives them a fake map, and he, Wabi, and Ryan (the Mountie) go after the treasure, while LaRocque and his men close in on Newsome's cabin to get the map. A very enjoyable B film with what seems like better directing and production values than seen in previous Bradbury films, which probably due to the fact that its based on the Curwood novel, rather than being an original Bradbury story. Nice cinematography highlight the film and overshadow the wooden acting by the entire cast, especially by Frazer and Dwire as the villains. Much of the start of the movie has character introduction which gets the film off on a wrong foot, but the film settles in and becomes enjoyable. Rating, based on B westerns, 7.