weezeralfalfa The plot of this1935 Lone Star John Wayne oater makes no sense to me! Supposedly, the road from ? to Rainbow Valley was washed out by a flash flood, and the local criminal element wants it to remain that way, to aid in their criminal activities, and induce the gold miners to abandon their diggings for the criminals to take over. But, in the beginning ,Wayne rides over the 'trail' from ? to Rainbow Valley, and meets Gabby Hayes, stuck with his primitive car needing radiator water. Wayne empties his canteen and the two resume their journeys to Rainbow Springs, along a wide 'road'. Wayne foils an attack on the auto, and Gabby continues on toward Rainbow Valley, delivering the mail to the P.O. Obviously, the existing road is good enough for an auto to traverse, so what's the problem??!!........Also, things get confusing for me near the end. Supposedly, there is a road work gang ,the criminal gang, and a citizen mob converging on the road work site. But, it looks like the mob confronts the work gang, which looks like it is the criminal gang! The whole bandit gang is blown up as they scramble to get out the way, right to where the dynamite is buried. The head criminal has a fight with Wayne, and somehow accidently pushes the plunger for this dynamite. Wayne then uses the remainder of a dynamite, which he had fenagled from the gang, to finish building the road. See it at YouTube.

Uriah43 Filmed in 1935 this movie stars John Wayne as a cowboy named "John Martin" who is on his way to the small, isolated town of "Rainbow Valley". While riding his horse he happens to come across an old man by the name of "George Hale" (George Hayes) who tells him he needs water desperately for "Nellie". Figuring that he needs it for his horse, John gives him his canteen only to discover that "Nellie" is an automobile and George is the mailman for Rainbow Valley. Having added the water to his car's radiator George thanks John and tells him he will probably see him again in Rainbow Valley. Since both are headed that way John decides to follow George from a distance. It's at this time that he hears gunshots and notices that some outlaws on horseback are chasing after George. Naturally, John rides to the rescue and after taking on the crooks one by one escorts the now-wounded George to the doctor in Rainbow Valley. Once he gets to town he is informed that Rainbow Valley has been plagued by crooks and that the residents are in desperate need of someone who can fend off the outlaws trying to stop the workers from restoring the only road connecting Rainbow Valley with the nearest town 60 miles away. At any rate, rather than detailing the entire story I will just say that this was a decent Western B-movie all things considered. Besides being quite old it is also a bit short (about 52 minutes). But the acting was adequate enough and the movie turned out to be somewhat entertaining all the same. That said, I suppose it merits an average rating.

John W Chance Now we're on the weak end of the 'Lone Star' westerns. Unless you've never seen any of them, this is a retread of several tropes from earlier films in the series. If this is your first, the surprises at the end (which is well edited) will be new. Sorry to have to spoil your fun.We get that dynamite is needed to clear the trail; dynamite is used to get water flowing in the superior first film 'Riders of Destiny' (1933). We get that John Wayne has really been sent by the government to work undercover and infiltrate the gang of outlaws; as also seen in 'Riders of Destiny,' and countless other early thirties westerns such as 'The Man From Hell's Edges' (1932) with Bob Steele, etc.We get Lucille Brown as the "Prairie Flower," and Leroy Mason as the head villain, also from the better 'Texas Terror' (1935) in which Lucille gets more screen time than the villain, and when finding out that John Wayne is indeed a good guy at the end, rushes to his cabin to spend two hours alone with him! Unfortunately, she's wasted here with little to do. We get the Tin Lizzie driven by George Hayes, also featured in 'Texas Terror.' Note: In this film he sings a song! Now, if you don't think he's acting trying to walk and talk like an old geezer, watch him as the nasty, dastardly villain in the awful serial 'The Lost City'( 1935) ! We get shots of Yakima Canutt jumping on a horse, and plunging off a cliff into a river, among many shots repeated from earlier films in the series.So what does it all mean? A weak Lone Star. When you have two extensive shootouts between the road workers and the villain's gang of henchmen behind rocks in a canyon, nobody, not even the camera, is moving. Surprise, that means that the film isn't moving either! It's better to spend your time on the 'Lone Stars' with either better character development or better action such as 'Sagebrush Trail' (1933),'The Star Packer' (1934), 'The Trail Beyond' (1934), 'The Dawn Rider' (1935) or 'Texas Terror' (1935). Despite the well paced ending, this one gets a 3.

Kenneth Eagle Spirit And with John Wayne and Gabby Hayes, what else could it be? For the time, and given that this IS one of those B movies churned out constantly by the various production companies, this thing is a hoot. Its fun for fans of the Duke, seeing him in such an early role. It has its elements of excitement and plot twists. It has its style of humor, fitting for the day. Its honestly well put together for the time. None of the other players are bad actors, and several are very good. The villains, Buffalo Bill Jr. ( aka Butch Galt ) and LeRoy Mason in particular, were both very fine actors and come across quite well in their roles. The plot? Its not complicated, but it makes for a good story. Fight scenes? Several. Just keep in mind that choreography was not then what it is now. When I watch something like this I try to put myself in the time during which the flick was made. That seems to put it into perspective and helps make it a lot more entertaining. If you can wrap your head around the era, recognize that churning out B movies doesn't necessarily mean poor quality as a standard, and be thankful that Wayne doesn't sing in this one ... Rainbow Valley? Well, pilgrim, it ain't a big valley, but it is a fun one.