Cinema Revisited: Born to the West (1937), a John Wayne B-western

Born to the West

Directed by Charles Barton. Cast: John Wayne, Marsha Hunt, Johnny Mack Brown, Syd Saylor, James Craig, Lucien Littlefield, Monte Blue. Running time: 59 minutes. Released December 10, 1937.

Once he appeared in John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1939), John Wayne soon established himself as the quintessential western star who commanded every frame of film in which he appeared. Examining his pre-Stagecoach career of B westerns shows this charisma already emerging. Low budget westerns are usually quite compact, developing the characters quickly, presenting a fairly simple narrative, and presenting a lot of action. "Born To The West" is no exception.

“Born to the West” is one of Wayne's better B-westerns, having been made for Paramount’s B unit and boasting a cast of cowboy veterans like Johnny Mack Brown and Monte Blue. Syd Saylor, whose career dates back to the Snookums silent comedies, acts as the comic sidekick. Marsha Hunt is the female lead (still living at 103!)

Wayne plays Dare Rudd, a cowhand from Montana who travels into Wyoming with his sidekick Dinky Hooley (Saylor), where they meet up with Dare's cousin Tom Filmore, a successful cattleman. Dare is hired by Tom as a ranch foreman, replacing the crooked current worker who is connected to cattle rustler Bart Hammond (Monte Blue). While there is a familial admiration between Dare and Tom, it is presented early that there has always been something of a rivalry. This is heightened by the conflict that arises when both men have designs on pretty Judy (Marsha Hunt). A young James Craig plays Buck Brady, who convinces the gambling Dare into a poker game, where he loses almost everything until Tom shows up and reveals that Brady, also mixed up with Hammond, is switching decks.

Charles Barton was a studio director, the type that would helm movies in every conceivable genre. While he directed many westerns, his style was best suited for comedy, working with Joe E.Brown, Bob Hope, and Abbott and Costello. Perhaps he is best known today for directing Bud and Lou’s masterpiece, “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” He remained active in television into the 1970s.

For this film, Barton is most impressive with the outdoor scenes, such as when rustlers attempt to raid the cattle as Dare is driving them to their destination. The climatic shootout is another action highlight. But the best scene is when Judy is trapped on a runaway horse, and both Dare and Tom ride to her rescue. Naturally it is Dare who stops her horse, while Tom is thrown from his.

Paramount sold the rights to this B movie in 1950 to Festival Films, a low budget distributor. Festival added a few establishing shots of cattle drives to lengthen the running time, and changed the film’s title to “Hell Town,” which is how it is known on some DVD packages. Since the copyright was never renewed, the film is in the public domain.

Although it is a low budget production, the fact that Paramount is behind it allows for nicer sets and better overall production than the Gower Gulch studios could provide. Wayne’s good natured manner that slips into cockiness in certain situations, a well as his consistent toughness, are all elements of the screen character that would later become iconic. Another interesting aspect to “Born of the West” is that it is the only film in which Wayne and Johnny Mack appear together.

One trivial note. Alan Ladd does not appear in this movie. Period reviews list him in the credits, and when the movie was re-released in 1950, his subsequent stardom resulted in his getting billing alongside Wayne on the publicity material. Nevertheless, he is nowhere in the film.

The western genre is central to the development of narrative cinema, and John Wayne is a truly iconic figure within that genre. Exploring his early work, especially one of the better examples like this film, is well worth it.

This film can be seen on YouTube, under the “Hell Town” title, by clicking this link: Born To The West/Hell Town