John Wayne 4-fer
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/06/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"LONE COWBOY stars John Wayne in three of his early hour-length cowboy movies, plus a "modern" non-western about trouble on the tracks.
THE HURRICANE EXPRESS is a Tully Marshall 12 chapter serial that was whittled down to 80 minutes for television. The Duke as third banana is out to revenge the death of his railroading father. An intense search for "The Wrecker" is complicated by his foe's ability to disguise himself as almost anyone.
THE LAWLESS FRONTIER teams Wayne and 'Gabby' Hayes in a pursuit of Mexican outlaw Pandro Zanti, who both killed Duke's parents and wounded Gabby.
In THE STAR PACKER Sheriff John Travers (Wayne) battles "The Shadow" and his gang of terrorists.
THE TRAIL BEYOND has Rod Drew (Wayne) searching for a missing miner and his daughter. After Drew locates a map to a goldmine, he has a dangerous gang to deal with as well.
For more great old westerns, you can't beat the ULTIMATE JOHN WAYNE COLLECTION, from MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT. It features 24 movies and 3 serials, plus a 1971 TV documentary on John Ford, hosted by Duke.
Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
6.3) The Hurricane Express (1932) - Tully Marshall/Conway Tearle/John Wayne/Shirley Grey/Glenn Strange/Yakima Canutt
(5.1) The Lawless Frontier (1934) - John Wayne/George 'Gabby' Hayes/Sheila Terry/Jack Rockwell/Yakima Canutt/Earl Dwire
(5.5) The Star Packer (1934) - John Wayne/George 'Gabby' Hayes/Verna Hille/Yakima Canutt/Billy Franey/Earl Dwire
(5.4) The Trail Beyond (1934) - John Wayne/Verna Hillie/Noah Beery/Noah Beery Jr./Robert Frazer/Iris Lancaster/Earl Dwire"