Watching the higher than grade B-western "Heritage of the Desert" from 1932 is rather like experiencing a dream that one is not really sure they are a part of. The settings seem so very vivid and ethereal, but yet one feels it is being looked at from on-high. Everything in view seems busy and lush, from the vegetation-rich outdoor gang-gathering spots to the fully appointed and so seemingly authentic interiors. The ranch complex's buildings and grounds are wonderfully detailed and oh-so dusty, and the spectacularly rustic White Sage Saloon, with its many ceiling-supporting timbers, is truly a marvel to behold. The saloon even has an imaginatively-situated office, perched just a few stairs above the main floor with a view to the bar's action when the office door is open. Such detail-rich sets just are not normally found in an average B-western.
This is noted director Henry Hathaway breakout picture and he offers up some nice panoramas and carefully composed shots, which serve to give this movie its poetic or even dreamlike atmosphere. But, for the realist, the jumping from Joshua Tree-studded desert to oak woodlands to pine-studded ridge tops and back again in the confines of a local story is a bit hard to accept, unless one accepts being in a dream.
The story is involving, as one might expect, being that it is sourced from Zane Grey. It struck me that the delivery of the dialog was powerfully effective and engaging, so much so that it was disappointing to see the program come to a close. Why the story unfolded so satisfyingly was in large measure owing to the faces delivering it, which are diverse and fascinating, and to the voicing, which although admittedly delivered a little stiffly at times, is strong and consistently appropriate for each character.
The men in this story exist in a harsh and dangerous world, but this is contrasted with softness with the appearances of the very feminine Sally Blane. Sally's very non-1890 look is just one more example of the film's dreamlike demeanor. She of course photographs beautifully, including in the warm glow of a campfire's light. Deeper into the film Sally walks along a windswept rocky ridge studded with pine trees looking for Randolph in the softest of summer dresses, fluffing her hair as she anticipates seeing him. Obviously this scene couldn't be from real life! The soft-focus scene where the two "bed down" in the moonlight in close proximity to one another after having had a romantic day together, he in a bed of pine needles on the ground and she perched above him on a platform in a pine tree, is perhaps one of the most romantic of moments in cinematic history.
The film has plenty of great dialog. One fun passage occurs out of doors in a tree grotto when the villain Judd Holderness (actor Daniel Landau) tells one of the men under his thumb, in his ominously-toned voice, "I staked you to plenty, savvy? Maybe your old man would like to know what happened to his horse money!" The character Snap Naab replies nervously, "You wouldn't do a thing like that, would you?" Holderness kicks at the ground like a horse and replies sternly, "I do things like that every ten minutes." This is really great stuff, as they say!
For 1932, "Heritage of the Desert" is a slice above a standard B-western in budget and appointment, and even has some appreciated music, including a beautiful medley as backdrop in the bar scenes as well as non-intrusive scoring in well-up moments when romance or tension develop. In summary, "Heritage of the Desert" has a fine story; a strong romance story line; the requisite horse, gun play, and fistfight action; considered cinematography; and riveting dialog delivery. It is an excellent hour's worth of lush and dreamy western movie entertainment.
