Riders of Destiny (1933)

The greatest movie ever!

Better Late Then Never

Absolutely brilliant

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A passable first effort by John Wayne for Lone Star Westerns is undone by odd comic relief and an attempt at strangling the career of Hollywood's greatest cowboy before it began by giving him a guitar.That's right, it's time for the musical stylings in the key of Duke. Ellington, he's not."His eyes were blazing with flames of hate/ And his guns were loaded with poison bait/ As they hung and swung at his side."That's Wayne as "Singin Saunders," known around the Old West as "the most notorious gunman since Billy the Kid," apparently for his ability to mow down hombres acapella. As an offstage singer tunelessly mutters lyrics while caressing a guitar with an oven mitt, Wayne lip-synchs his way into battle.It's the first of three Lone Star singing-cowboy roles for Wayne, and the one that jumps out at you for the way it is doggedly incorporated into the plot, with five separate scenes where Wayne's character breaks into song.When Wayne isn't singing, his quiet strength and easy charm make him a good fit for a low-key oater about a rough boss named Kincaid (Forrest Taylor) using his water rights to starve out a law-abiding town. Cecilia Parker makes for a lovely love interest, and Wayne is partnered for the first time ever by George (not yet Gabby) Hayes as Parker's pa. They make a fine trio.Unfortunately, this film has other issues. Everyone in it operates as if no one has a memory lasting more than five minutes. For example, after Parker's character is saved by Saunders, she comes to believe he is working for Kincaid and confronts him. Saunders shoots Kincaid's chief muscle and then gets offered the vacated job because Kincaid doesn't hold grudges.One sequence involves Saunders' plan to bypass Kincaid's water- rights chokehold by having a stooge ride a water wagon to the town, wait for Kincaid's goons to ride up and shoot said stooge in mid-drive, then ride up behind the goons and board the runaway wagon before it goes off a cliff. It's a good plan because {BRIEF SPOILER} Saunders works for the government and clinging onto the bottom of a runaway wagon restricts his ability to burst into song.The film suffers from a strange decision to save on comic relief by having clowns Al St. John and Heinie Conklin double as Kincaid's main henchmen. They stumble around in pursuit of Sandy in a serious of contrived encounters, one of which winds up with them lassoed together. "You make a fine pair of lovebirds," Kincaid sneers.But the real black mark on this lemon is the singing. Wayne didn't like having to do it, and it shows in a performance suggesting director Robert N. Bradbury had Wayne's family and dog tied up somewhere. It's an uncomfortable start to Wayne's Lone Star era, which did produce some decent results once Wayne left his guitar with Gene and Roy.

The film has a wonderful plot with an exceptionally clever twist where john Wayne's character manages to secure the trust of the towns dark entrepreneur. The theme is almost a superhero comic style composition where the bad guy stops at nothing to protect his wealth, status and greed at the detriment to the town people. All in all this is not a bad film although some of the acting from the supporting cast is a little outdated and poor in contrast to what is presented by the main cast. When watching this film it is quite clear that this is a 1930s film so please do not expect the modern style of production. You should watch this film for what it is, appreciate its ability to stand the test of time and marvel at the chance of watching a less than popular film staring John Wayne.

Not the best of the Lone Star series, but it moves along quickly with good performances. Introduced as "Singin' Sandy" in the main title, John Wayne as a 'singing cowboy' isn't successful-- you never even see a front close-up of him while he's 'singing.' The actual singer is the director's son, Bill Bradley, who warbles away sounding like many popular singers of the day such as Hutch or Joseph Wagstaff. The film features: Cecilia Parker (also seen in "The Lost Jungle" serial, "Tombstone Canyon," and as older sister Marian in the Andy Hardy movies) doing her best Katherine Hepburn-- "Really they mustn't; really I'm not"; Al St. John, before he literally became "Fuzzy" filling all his available screen time with his characteristic business of hat flipping, head and chin scratching, grimacing, and gawky physical gestures and movements; George (pre-Gabby) Hayes as a gentle pipe smoking father; and Forrest Taylor, minor vet of 395 movies and TV shows, playing the oily villain with string bow tie and prop cigar. Fun or odd moments: Yakima Canutt's great 'under the stagecoach' trick; the 'gay' scene when Singin' Sandy ties Bert and Elmer together face to face, drags them roped to his horse, and dumps them at Kincaid's office, where Kincaid says, "You're a fine pair of lovebirds!"; Denton's rapturous comment after an atrocious song and guitar playing performance by 'Sandy,' -- "Ummm. I could listen to that all night!"; Kincaid's reply, We won't go into that," after being told by a rancher "You've got the soul of a snake!"; and, of course, he utters the immortal, "I've made Denton an offer he can't refuse." The plot of the movie is saved by Sandy's tricking Kincaid, and later saying the three magic words in many of these films: "I'm from Washington." FDR has saved us from the Depression! (Is that why the villains are always either bankers or in real estate?) The shootout sequence is taken from the earlier Bradbury film "Man from Hell's Edges" (1932). All of the Lone Star westerns are special because of their unique mixture of interesting characters, the troupe of actors and stunt people, and the spin on the clichés and repetitive back stories and situations. This one ranks a little low, marred by the inappropriate and mis-used "Singing Cowboy" gimmick. I'll give it a 4.

Had the good folks at Lone Star Productions only decided not to dub John Wayne's voice with some forgettable cowboy ballads this would have been a far better western than it turned out to be.Of course Wayne in later years would cringe at the mention of these films. If you want a good idea of how he really sounded listen to him in McLintock singing a favorite ballad of his, The Moon Shines Tonight on Pretty Redwing. The Lone Star people might have even looked for a young band singer working day to day in clubs in New Jersey around this time named Frank Sinatra who over 30 years later actually had his voice come out of Wayne's mouth during a Dean Martin show.If they could have cut out the singing gimmick, Riders of Destiny is not a bad film, in fact a cut above some of the westerns the Duke was doing at the time. Ranchers in the valley are being squeezed out by a greedy villain played by Forrest Taylor. He's built a dam and controls all the water and it's either sell to him outright or pay his exorbitant prices for water. Gabby Hayes and his daughter Cecelia Parker happen to have the only other water around because they dug a well. Taylor especially wants their land.The citizens have written to the federal government in Washington for intervention and they get it in the form of John Wayne. I don't think I have to go any farther. The Duke finds a very clever solution for the water problem which you should see the film to find out.But don't lose your lunch hearing that Nelson Eddy wannabe voice coming out of Mr. Wayne's mouth.