BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

JohnHowardReid John Wayne (John Scott), Mary Kornman (Anne), Eddy Chandler (Kansas Charlie), Paul Fix (Jim), Carmen Laroux (Juanita LaRoux), Lafe McKee (Sheriff Barker), Al Ferguson (Pete), Henry Hall (Farnsworth), Archie Ricks (stage driver), Theodore Lorch (robbed stage passenger), Gordon De Main (stage passenger), Silver Tip Baker, Frank Ellis, Wally West (poker players), Frank Ball (banker), Frank Brownlee (Rattlesnake Gulch sheriff), Tommy Coats, Artie Ortego, Tex Palmer (deputies), Dick Dickinson (man watching poker game), Jack Evans, Ray Henderson (townsmen), Lew Meehan (posse rider), Fred Parker (doctor).Director: LEWIS D. COLLINS. Original screenplay: Lindsley Parsons. Photography: Archie Stout. Film editor: Carl Pierson. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Music director: Lee Zahler. Sound recording: John A. Stransky, junior. Producer: Paul Malvern.A Lone Star Western, not copyrighted by Monogram Pictures Corporation. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 22 April 1935. U.K. release through Pathé: 18 November 1935. 54 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Difficult to summarize the plot of this unusual western, concerning the adventures of a rodeo rider and his card-sharp sparring partner, who object to the champ being paid off with two bits on the dollar. So they force the promoter to pay out the full amount of the champ's winnings at the point of a gun. Almost immediately afterwards, the pay office is cleaned out by a pair of bandits who point their fingers at our hero and his sidekick. The scene switches to the hacienda of a vampish senorita. It turns out that this siren has vamped not only our hero and his sidekick, but one of the bandits as well. After a series of complications with the bandit hiding in the closet, the story really gets under way in a different town altogether when our hero rescues a runaway stagecoach after the driver has been shot by the very same badmen who robbed the rodeo office. Hero and his unlikely off-sider now vie for the attentions of a pretty storekeeper, whose brother turns out to be one of the bandits who really robbed the stage and the rodeo! This, of course, is where the story really starts. But, never mind: Most of these elements are cleverly tied together at the finish in which the heroine (that's right, the heroine!) rides to the rescue in a buckboard! COMMENT: I don't know why director Lewis D. Collins opted to hide his contribution under the pseudonym "Cullen Lewis". Aside from obvious stock footage in the rodeo sequences, this rates as an unusually well-produced and smartly directed entry in the Lone Star series. Wayne turns on the virile charm and makes a most ingratiating lead. We love the sparks that constantly fly between him and his unlikely (but fascinating) off-sider, Eddy Chandler. We also enjoyed the performances of both Mary Kornman (as the icy storekeeper who tries to put Wayne in his place) and Carmen Laroux (who turns on the heat as a Mexican vamp). Despite some familiar plot elements, the script is both cleverly out-of-the-rut and highly entertaining. The dialogue is especially deft. At the same time, the plot incorporates more than enough action to satisfy the fans.

tavm Well, this is the first I've seen one of John Wayne's B-westerns, pre-Stagecoach, and I watched for one reason only: It's the only one that features a grown-up Mary Kornman, formerly of the silent "Our Gang" series. Her charms are still ample here as when she was a pre-teen but her part mainly calls for her to react to the "arguments" between Wayne and his conman cohort, Eddy Chandler. There's a funny scene in the beginning where Wayne manages to woo Carmen Laroux while Chandler has to sit silently because earlier the latter promised to act "dumb" so he wouldn't get mixed up with another woman but the way Wayne stomps on Chandler's foot every time the latter tries to punch him never became funny with me. A later scene with the Duke asking for some tonic on the top shelf is funny though since Kornman seems partly aware of John wanting to check her out! The story itself fits the 52-minute running time so there's no stretching at the seems. All in all, The Desert Trail was a somewhat enjoyable time-waster. P.S. There's a mix of both actual score music by Lee Zahler from the original print and latter-day additional scoring from William Barber that are obvious depending on how the music sounds though Barber's score isn't too distracting. And Ms. Kornman eventually became an expert horsewoman herself before she died on June 1, 1973.

wes-connors Falsely accused, skirt-chasing chums John Wayne (as John Scott) and Eddy Chandler (as Kansas Charlie) change identities to become "Alias Smith and Jones". Mr. Wayne becomes "John Jones". Mr. Chandler's is supposed to be "Rev. Smith", but Wayne calls him "Dr. Smith". At no time are either of them as entertaining as Roger Davis, Pete Duel, Jonathan Harris, or Ben Murphy; although, Wayne can be considered infinitely more successful than any of them, career wise. Pretty blonde Mary Kornman (as Anne), grown-up from her days in "Our Gang", is a lovely interest for Wayne. She and Chandler have a couple of cute scenes with Wayne. If you're not a fan of low budget John Wayne films of the 1930s, this movie won't make you one.

aimless-46 Before I explain the "Alias" comment let me say that "The Desert Trail" is bad even by the standards of westerns staring The Three Stooges. In fact it features Carmen Laroux as semi- bad girl Juanita, when you hear her Mexican accent you will immediately recognize her as Senorita Rita from the classic Stooge short "Saved by the Belle". In "The Desert Trail" John Wayne gets to play the Moe Howard character and Eddy Chandler gets to play Curly Howard. Like their Stooge counterparts a running gag throughout the 53- minute movie is Moe hitting Curly. Wayne's character, a skirt chasing bully, is not very endearing, but is supposed to be the good guy. Playing a traveling rodeo cowboy Wayne holds up the rodeo box office at gunpoint and takes the prize money he would have won if the attendance proceeds had been good-the other riders have to settle for 25 cents on the dollar (actually even less after Wayne robs the box office). No explanation is given for Wayne's ripping off the riders and still being considered the hero who gets the girl. Things get complicated at this point because the villain (Al Ferguson) and his sidekick Larry Fine (played by Paul Fix-who would go on to play Sheriff Micah on television's "The Rifleman") see Wayne rob the box office and then steal the remainder of the money and kill the rodeo manager. Moe and Curly get blamed. So Moe and Curly move to another town to get away from the law and they change their names to Smith and Jones. Who do they meet first but their old friend Larry, whose sister becomes the 2nd half love interest (Senorita Rita is left behind it the old town and makes no further appearances in the movie). Larry's sister is nicely played by a radiantly beautiful Mary Kornman (now grown up but in her younger days she was one of the original cast members of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" shorts). Kornman is the main reason to watch the mega-lame western and her scenes with Moe and Curly are much better than any others in the production, as if they used an entirely different crew to film them. Even for 1935 the action sequences in this thing are extremely weak and the technical film- making is staggeringly bad. The two main chase scenes end with stock footage wide shots of a rider falling from a horse. Both times the editor cuts to a shot of one of the characters rolling on the ground, but there is no horse in the frame, the film stock is completely different, and the character has on different clothes than the stunt rider. There is liberal use of stock footage in other places, none of it even remotely convincing. One thing to watch for is a scene midway into the movie where Moe and Curly get on their horses and ride away (to screen right) from a cabin as the posse is galloping toward the cabin from the left. The cameraman follows the two stooges with a slow pan right and then does a whip pan to the left to reveal the approaching posse. Outside of home movies I have never seen anything like this, not because it is looks stupid (which it does) but because a competent director would never stage a scene in this manner. They would film the two riders leaving and then reposition the camera and film the posse approaching as a separate action. Or if they were feeling creative they would stage the sequence so the camera shows the riders in the foreground and the posse approaching in the background. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.