★ 6 / 10
I quite enjoyed this entertaining outing for the
CinemaSerf
I quite enjoyed this entertaining outing for the Duke. Here he ("Clint") is accused of murdering the father of his girlfriend "Judy" (Susan Fleming) after he…
I quite enjoyed this entertaining outing for the Duke. Here he ("Clint") is accused of murdering the father of his girlfriend "Judy" (Susan Fleming) after he is rather publicly barred from their ranch. Arrested by his sheriff pal - and the top billed - Buck Jones ("Buck" - indeed, why complicate matters?) both must work to track down the true culprit before our fresh faced cowboy goes for a long drop with a short rope... Of course we know what's going to happen, but so what? It's still a quickly paced episode that features plenty of action and the small cast keep the story tight and focused. Not the best of the star's B features, but still a watchable adventure for an hour.
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★ 6 / 10
"If there's any hanging to be done, I'll take care of it."
classicsoncall
In the opening scene, a church notice states that a "Peace Meeting" will be held on Friday at 7:30 P.M. Right after the meeting ends, as sheriff Buck Gordon…
In the opening scene, a church notice states that a "Peace Meeting" will be held on Friday at 7:30 P.M. Right after the meeting ends, as sheriff Buck Gordon (Buck Jones) accompanies Dad Turner (Will Walling) to Charlie's Saloon, Dad states that it's Sunday!
"Range Feud" was much better than I was expecting. Seeing veteran Buck Jones with up and comer John Wayne is reason enough to catch this flick, but the story itself winds up being pretty decent as well, even for an oater from the early 1930's. Up to this point, Wayne had already appeared in about two dozen films, but mostly in uncredited or bit parts, so seeing him share almost equal screen time with cowboy legend Jones must have been a great feeling for him.
In the story, Gordon is the sheriff of a small town, raised as an adopted son by rancher Dad Turner. Clint (Wayne) is Turner's other son, visually a good deal younger than Buck. In actuality, at the time of the film's release, Buck was forty two and Wayne was twenty four.
Gordon establishes his presence in the film early, he stands for nothing short of strict law and order, and finds himself right in the middle of a simmering feud between Dad and rancher Walton (Ed LeSaint). When Buck sides with Walton's claim over ownership of a parcel of land that he intends to restrict the grazing rights on, Dad Turner is ready to disown him.
The thought just struck me that in virtually every 'B' Western featuring a romantic interest, it turns out that she's the only girl in town. In this case, Judy Walton (Susan Fleming) intends to marry Clint Turner, but first she'll have to deal with her father's murder, Clint's frame up, the quick trial and the sentence imposed on her fiancée - death by hanging. Well, you know the formula, Buck figures it all out in due course and saves his pal, with your standard horse chases and shoot outs in between. The main bad guy pulling the strings behind the scenes is appropriately named Vandall (Harry Woods).
There are a couple of unusual scenes to keep your eye on in the picture. When Buck first arrests Clint and puts him in jail, he forgets to take his gun. Later, when a posse comes to hang Clint, he turns to the deputy and says "Here's a good hat I won't be needin' Jack."
It's too bad this was the only screen pairing of Buck Jones and John Wayne. It came only a couple of years prior to Wayne landing more than a dozen lead roles over at Lone Star Pictures, where he would be joined on and off by Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt. "Range Feud" would have been right at home among them, though probably a tad better than most of those flicks.
Though by no means rare, it might be tough getting your hands on a copy of this movie. I was lucky to pick it up as a double feature DVD with another Wayne film. It was worth every penny just to see all those little horseshoes on Buck Jones' shirt.
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