Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
JohnHowardReid
Copyright 22 January 1934 by Monogram Pictures Corp. Presented by Lone Star Productions. No New York opening. U.S. release: 10 October 1933 (sic). U.K. release through Pathe: 16 July 1934. 6 reels. 58 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Undercover government agent helps ranchers get their rightful water rights.NOTES: Wayne's first of sixteen Lone Star westerns. Negative costs rarely exceeded $12,000 on an incredibly rapid shooting schedule of less than a week.COMMENT: The first of the Lone Stars starts off on a distinctly wrong track by attempting to pass John Wayne off as a singing troubadour. Mouthing to the somewhat inappropriate voice of Smith Ballew, Wayne "sings" two songs. We like the one about "There'll be blood a-runnin' in town before night. There'll be guns a-blazin; and singin' with lead. Tonight you'll be drinkin' your drinks with the dead." Wayne seems definitely uncomfortable in this warbling role, but fortunately is obviously much more at ease in the action spots, especially when doubled by Yakima Canutt. In addition to doubling Wayne and general stunting (he performs a fine quota of spectacular falls and leaps), Canutt has a minor genuine on-screen role as one of the villain's henchmen, though he disappears from view at an early stage. G."G". Hayes, on the other hand, has a major part, doing a variant on his famous "Gabby" characterization. Heroine Cecilia Parker is a lovely girl, but though appealingly photographed, her acting is so amateurish it's a miracle she survived to be re-born as Andy Hardy's sister. Normally respectable Forrest Taylor has an off-beat role as the heavy, with Heinie Conklin of all people as a pratfalling henchman. Wayne himself is reasonably personable. There's enough action to satisfy the fans ("Make it fast, Slippery. This is your last draw!"), and for once the background locations are not drably uninteresting. Bradbury's direction is competent, though his fondness for whip pans as a scene-changing device will make the movie seem even more dated and old-hat to current viewers.
kai ringler
not a bad little western.. once again the "Duke" is teamed up with George Gabby Hayes.. this time,, the good people are being harassed by a villain who is sucking the town dry.. literally,, he built a dam to hog up all the water in town,, so it's either pay up to the man,, to get the water , or you ain't getting any water,,, a man and his daughter however have the only other water in town,, course they were smart enough to dig a well, therefore don't need mr. businessman's precious water,, when he finds out about this he tries to go and root them out of their land and get their water as well.. the local townspeople decide they have had enough and write the federal government,, and the town get's the "Duke" just in time so save the day.
John W Chance
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.
bsmith5552
"Riders of Destiny" was the first of several westerns Wayne made for the Lone Star arm of Monogram Pictures between 1933 and 1935. In this entry, the producers try to make the Duke into a singing cowboy called "Singin' Sandy Saunders with hilarious results. Any Wayne fan knows that the Duke couldn't have carried a tune if his life had depended on it. His voice was apparently dubbed by Smith Ballew whose deep baritone sounds nothing like Wayne. Wayne looks awkward and uncomfortable in "performing" the musical numbers. Thank heavens the singing cowboy experiment soon ended.As for the movie itself, it contains a standard "B" western plot of the fight over water rights between the villain (Forrest Taylor) and the local ranchers. Duke, of course plays the hero. He had not yet developed his on screen character and still looked like a poverty row cowboy.Also cast in the film were George (pre-Gabby) Hayes as the heroine's father, Cecilia Parker as the heroine and Yakima Canutt as "one of the boys" who performs his "falling from the racing horses under the wagon" stunt while doubling Wayne. Both Canutt and Hayes would go on to appear with Wayne in most of the other entries in the series. Canutt, in particular would have a profound effect on Wayne's future development teaching him, among other things, how to move, fight and look comfortable on a horse.As "B" westerns go this one isn't too bad, however, I have to give it a failing grade because of the "singing".
