Lure of the Wasteland (1939)
A "special" by Monogram standards, Lure of the Wasteland was lensed in a not inexpensive process called Telco-color. Grant Withers takes a break from his duties in the "Mister Wong" series to play Smitty, a US marshal assigned to track down $250,000 in stolen bonds.
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Purely Joyful Movie!
Just so...so bad
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
"Lure of the Wasteland" is an independently produced "B" western filmed in color, a rarity for such films.Two escaped convicts Smitty (Grant Withers) and Butch (Leroy Mason) are on the run from the law. To evade capture they join up with a cattle ranch owned by Judge Carton (Henry Roquemore) who just happens to have a comely young daughter Jane (Marion Arnold).We learn that Butch was involved in a $250K robbery and has hidden the loot before being sent to prison. The ranch cook "Cookie" (Snub Pollard) turns out to have been a member of Butch's gang. When Smitty and Butch go to dig up the loot, they find that it is gone. Butch gets into a fight with the foreman (Tom London) and is fired. He then looks up the members of his gang led by Parker (Karl Hackett) whom he suspects has taken the money. Not so. Smitty it turns out also has a vested interest in the proceedings.As I pointed out earlier, it was rare to see a "B" western of the 30s running under an hour filmed in color. I don't recall any color series westerns until Republic introduced their "Trucolor" westerns first with their Monte Hale and later with Roy Rogers series.Grant Withers had been appearing in a couple of serials around this time and soon would be part of the cast of the Boris Karloff Mr. Wong series. His costume in this film is, you might say, different from those usually seen in such westerns. In any event he went on to appear in a couple of John Ford westerns and in many "A" and "B" westerns for Republic. Leroy Mason was one of the busiest villains in "B" westerns in the 30s and 40s. Tom London appeared in more "B" westerns than you can count working well into his seventies. Snub Pollard had been a major comedy star in the early silent films.Unfortunately the version of the film I saw was faded and scratched somewhat however, the color photography appears to be quite spectacular. It's worth a look.