The Man from Monterey

The only way I can watch any one of the early B-westerns is by deciding in advance to treat it as high camp, although occasionally a good one pops up. This film is not one of those, but I still had a few chuckles at the goings on, looking for outrageous items. John Wayne is an army captain sent from a fort in Monterey to convince Spanish land owner Lafe McKee to register his claim, else it will become public domain. Land grabbers Francis Ford and his son Donald Reed try to keep McKee from doing so in order to get the land for themselves. The only comic relief in the film came from Luis Alberni, who reads palms, continuously introduces himself as "Felipe Guadelupe Constanche Delgado Santa Cruz" in a flourish, and dresses in drag. Almost everyone else, including Wayne, is so serious it was somewhat funny. I had fun with the good bad guy (Slim Whitaker), the all-too-easy escapes, the stilted dialog, the obligatory love-interest (with Ruth Hall), the peculiar sword fighting, and best of all, Wayne's mind-reading horse, Duke. When Wayne was captured, he tells Alberni (who is outside the locked room where there are no guards) to send Duke to get Whitaker's men. All Alberni does is pat the horse on his rear end and say "go on, Duke."

This was set right after California entered the Union when the Spanish land owners distrusted the "gringos," and filmmakers used the theme of land grabbing quite often.

In 1848, Spanish landowners are losing their lands when the US government refuses to acknowledge the land grants given years before to the citizens. Some unscrupulous types are also using the upheaval as an opportunity to swindle others. Cavalry officer John Holmes (John Wayne) is sent to make sure that the land owners know that they have a chance to register their lands with the government, which upsets scheming bad guys Don Luis (Donald Reed) and Don Pablo (Francis Ford). Holmes tries to outwit them while also wooing local beauty Dolores (Ruth Hall).

This is a little better than many of the other Wayne/Duke movies, with an emphasis on character, and better costumes and sets. It's still pretty bad, though, with stilted acting and an uninspired script. Luis Alberni gets a scene in drag. It's largely interesting from a standpoint of seeing what John Wayne was doing between The Big Trail and Stagecoach.

26 Year old John Wayne is Captain Holmes in this short shortie from Warner Brothers. The US guv-ment is trying to convince land-owners to register their land, or it will be declared open land. Holmes has been ordered to get the large ranchers to register their land to avoid property wars, and his first challenge is "Castanares", owner of a very large ranch. Slim Whitaker is "Morgan", who wants to make sure the landowners DON'T register their deed, so they can get the ranch and the land, free of charge. Would be interesting to know the locations, but was probably the director's house or maybe Corriganville in north LA. It's all okay. Wayne is still the young, energetic, wide-eyed kid, on a mission. He's not yet the older, wiser, all-knowing gentleman of an older generation. He comes to the rescue of Dolores ( Ruth Hall ), the don's daughter. and SOMEONE is dressed up in drag, but we're not sure quite who! Kind of a funny bit where Holmes and the good guys are running from room to room to escape the bad guys, and it looks like a scene from Scooby Doo. or maybe the three stooges. and a sword fight breaks out. and Duke the horse goes for help as oats are being burned by the bushel. It's not bad. shows on Turner Classic. directed by Mack Wright. certainly important for john wayne fans.

"The Man From Monterey" was the last of six "B" features that John Wayne (and his horse "Duke") made for Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season. Warners would get out of the series "B" westerns for a while until they made a series with Dick Foran later on in the 30s.

This story takes place in 1848 California after the state joined the USA. Landowners with old Spanish land grants are being asked to register their properties with the government or else the land will fall into public domain and be there for the taking.

Don Pablo Gonzales (Francis Ford) is trying to discourage fellow landowner Don Jose Castanares (Lafe McKee) from registering his property and then grabbing it for himself. His son Don Luis (Donald Reed) is courting Castanares' daughter Dolores (Ruth Hall) hoping to join the two families (and their properties) through marriage, if all else fails.

Captain John Holmes (Wayne) is sent to see why certain property owners have not registered their land. Naturally, Holmes is headed for the Castanares spread.

In the local town saloon, a wayfaring troubadour named Felipe (Luis Alberni) has a confrontation with Don Luis who has come to see his love sick girl friend Anita Garcia (Nena Quartero). Holmes intervenes and he and Felipe team up together.

On the way to the ranch, Holmes manages to rescue Dolores from a bogus attack on her coach by Don Luis' men designed to make him out a hero in Dolores' eyes.

Holmes manages to convince Don Jose to register his land before the impending deadline. On his way to register, Don Jose is kidnapped and imprisoned by Don Pablo's men. Meanwhile Holmes and Felipe have befriended an American bandit named Jake Morgan (Slim Whitaker) and his men who also plan to move on any unregistered properties.

In the ensuing action to free Don Jose we get to see John Wayne wield a sword. Let's just say that as a swashbuckler, Wayne made a great gunfighter.

The "acting" in this oater is uniformly awful. The attempts at Spanish accents are laughable. Wayne still had a long six years ahead of him in "B" westerns before achieving stardom in John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1939). Coincidently, Francis Ford, John Ford's brother appears in this film. Also in the cast are Chris Pin Martin as Manuel, Don Pablo's foreman and Tom London as Lt. Adams. Ken Maynard and his horse "Tarzan" appear in stock footage from their silent movie days.

OK - This is obviously not a great film by any stretch of the imagination but in its own silly way, it's a tremendously entertaining one. It reminds me of an early film operetta (like the original RIO RITA) except without the songs. The acting and script are, for the most part, pretty bad but that's part of the charm. John Wayne's performances certainly improved in later years but he was at his most handsome here--oozing sex appeal. And Luis Alberni has to be one of the great unsung character actors in Hollywood history. He is genuinely funny in this film---almost equaling his hilarious performance in THE GREAT GARRICK. The production values are surprisingly good for such a low budget effort, the print shown on TCM (which I assume is the same as the Warner DVD)is pristine and the plot moves like lightning. Give it a shot--you might have fun.