West of the Divide (1934)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury

Writer:

Robert N. Bradbury (story)
(more)

Release Date:

15 February 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

A Two Gun Son Of The West Takes The Law Into His Own Hands! (1940 reissue poster)

Plot:

Ted Hayden impersonates a wanted man and joins Gentry's gang only to learn later that Gentry was the one who killed his father...

Plot Keywords:

Ranch | Rescue | Gang | Gun | Sidekick

Cast

John Wayne	...	Ted Hayden, posing as Gat Ganns
Virginia Brown Faire	...	Fay Winters (as Virginia Faire Brown)
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	'Dusty' Rhodes (as George Hayes)
Lloyd Whitlock	...	Mr. Gentry (as Loyd Whitlock)
Yakima Canutt	...	Hank (Gentry Henchman)
Lafe McKee	...	Mr. Winters
Billy O'Brien	...	Spuds (later Jim Hayden) (as Billie O'Brien)
Dick Dickinson	...	Henchman Joe
Earl Dwire	...	Sheriff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Horace B. Carpenter	...	Cattle Buyer Hornsby (uncredited)
Philip Kieffer	...	Doctor Silsby (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Tex Palmer	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Archie Ricks	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Hal Taliaferro	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Henchman Butch (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert N. Bradbury

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert N. Bradbury		story and screenplay
Oliver Drake		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Paul Malvern	....	producer

Cinematography by
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson

Sound Department
Dave Stoner	....	sound recordist
John Stransky Jr.	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunt double: John Wayne (uncredited)
Jack Jones	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunts (uncredited)

Other crew
E.R. Hickson	....	technical director

Production Companies

• Lone Star Productions (I)

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Pathé Pictures International (1935) (UK) (theatrical)
• Empire Films Ltd. (1934) (Canada) (theatrical) (as Empire Films Ltd.)
• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Monogram Pictures Corporation (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Fox Lorber (1985) (USA) (VHS) (changed version)
• United American Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Timeless Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Foothill Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Better Television Distribution (2006) (worldwide) (TV)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Balsley and Phillips  sound recording

Runtime:

54 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Kernville, California, USA

Company:

Lone Star Productions (I)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ted fights Spud's dad to stop whipping him, he starts the fight with his gun-belt on but ends without it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Bad Lone Star

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.