The Range Feud

"Range Feud" comes to us from 1931, when Buck Jones was perhaps the strongest of the B-western heroes and when John Wayne was trying to gain a consistent presence in Hollywood. It is as if Wayne was cast here to test his appeal to B-western audiences as one more top-billed hero, of which at the time there were many. Although John Wayne's character is central to why we are all watching this film, Wayne doesn't actually have a lot to do in this film (he spends considerable time in the jailhouse or laying low), but he does a credible job when asked to contribute to the strong dramatics and pathos in this serious film.

But this is a Buck Jones show and Buck turns in another powerful performance as a determined and stoic lawman faced with choices that are not always merely either good or bad. The story of two camps of good people needing to take a stand on life-impacting issues that clearly are seen differently by them is well developed and told in such a way that the viewer also takes a stand; however, the viewer comes to realize before long that further evaluation may be demanded as the movie's expository process unfolds.

Director Sam Newfield pries some effective performances from the cast in a production that seems to have given him the luxury of time to do so. In the coming decades Newfield would grind out countless more westerns, but time and budget constraints usually limited his movies to lots of action but weak to so-so story development. But here, in this one, story is paramount and action is used to illustrate or even punctuate the story. This is one reason why Buck Jones has such an aura of mythic hero about him to this day... he looks like the perfect Western hero, acts like it, too, and seems to always find himself in powerful situations and stories that befit his persona. It is a shame that more Buck movies from the 1930's are not more readily available.