User reviews

"The Man From Utah" is another of the Lone Star Westerns Wayne made in the 30's. This one has a rodeo setting with the Duke trying to outsmart the gang behind the murders and deceptive practices occurring therein.

The producers make extensive use of footage shot at some long forgotten rodeo. With the money they saved they actually were able to come up with a pleasant enough musical score, a rarity for poverty row quickies. They even were able to incorporate a left over "musical" number from one of Wayne's ill-fated "Singin'" Sandy Saunders efforts at the beginning, even though it has nothing to do with the rest of the picture.

The cast includes Polly Ann (sister of Loretta) Young as the heroine and Anita Compille as the good/bad girl competing for the Duke's affections. George (pre-"Gabby")Hayes is along again, this time as a Marshal. Edward Piel Sr. is the chief bad guy and once again proving that as an actor, he made a great stuntman, Yakima Canutt.

Not the best of the Lone Star series, but not the worst either.

In this low budget oater from Monogram we've got John Wayne helping U.S. Marshal Gabby Hayes bring down some bank robbers in the very act of same. Gabby liked the way young man handled himself so he takes him on as an undercover agent to smash a rodeo racket.

You heard it folks, a rodeo racket. This bunch comes to a given town sets up a rodeo, take in bets from the locals on their best cowboys and the gang's cowboys always seem to win by hook or deadly crook. They also do a few other things on the side like bank robbery, rustling, your usual western crimes.

They've also got a unique way of dispatching competition into eternity which I won't get into. The Duke was lucky to discover what they had in store for him. I will say that modern forensic science would have had the mystery solved.

This was one of those films where they tried to make John Wayne a singing cowboy. The film begins with him on a white horse, strumming a guitar, singing some forgettable ballad. Some Nelson Eddy wannabe's voice is dubbed in and you know it isn't Wayne. It's so bad that even audiences in 1934 would have known this wasn't John Wayne, And this was before he became JOHN WAYNE.

I just watched a couple of John Wayne's old B-westerns on the Encore Channel and was taken aback by someone's brilliant idea to replace the musical soundtrack! Instead of the original music, new and much louder music is present--and it sounded especially weird with the electronic instruments used to make it. After all, it wasn't like they used synthesizers in 1934!! Overall, this is a BAD thing--and I recommend you just download the free movie as linked by IMDb, as the music is just annoying--and even worse than in "The Lucky Texan". What idiot thought doing this was a good idea?!

Like the other new tricked-out B I just saw ("The Lucky Texan"), this one also featured George "Gabby" Hayes. And, like "The Lucky Texan", you might have trouble recognizing Gabby at first, as he doesn't sport his usual huge raccoon-like beard...and is a bit more macho than usual. After all, you certainly don't expect to see him playing a US Marshall!

As for the plot, it's pretty bad...even by B standards. That's because HUGE segments of the film consist of nothing but old rodeo footage and the plot involving a fixed rodeo competition is a cheap way to make use of this film. Wayne plays 'Weston'--a guy who shows himself to be very handy with his fists, on a horse and with a gun. As far as his singing goes, like Wayne's 'Singing Sandy' films, it is very, very obvious that it's not him doing the singing and fortunately this singing persona soon was abandoned in upcoming films.

As a result of lots of padding and the Encore soundtrack, it's definitely among the least watchable of Wayne's B-westerns. It's really a shame, as normally Wayne's Bs hold up pretty well...just not this one.

By the way, please note the 1930s fashions on the leading lady. I guess historical anachronisms weren't much of a concern with this film!

This film holds up better than some of the early westerns. John Wayne is a hero in this - all the way. His Weston character is a well drawn two fisted hero who can do it all. Of course you have to watch the film until the ending to find out who his character really is. That is what I mean about the plot being good- it keeps you guessing exactly who Wayne is until the end.

The DVD I saw of this has some very dark sequences. A fight sequence is dark deliberately, but some of the other ones really should be better lit. Think this had to do with the tight shooting sequences of these films. There were times in this era when these films would be shot in the matter of just a few days.

Overall, while the special effects are crude & some of the sequences a loosely tied, if your a fan of the Duke or like these old westerns, this is a pretty good film. It is not on the level of The Searchers, but it was not meant to be. This is one of many early films Wayne did to establish himself as a true cowboy hero of the silver screen.

Forget the guitar-strumming opening. This is Wayne at his youthfully charming best, relaxed and easy-going before the pressures of super-stardom and the booze bottle began to show .This is really a rodeo picture with lots of well-integrated footage of calf-roping, bull-dogging, and more, but no gun-play. (Am I wrong or do some of the pageant paraders look like they just staggered out of a saloon.) The baddies are trying to rip-off the town sponsors of the rodeo and only Wayne and the marshal stand in their way. It's fun watching the cantankerous Gabby character trying to break out from Hayes' serious marshal role. Polly Ann Young (Loretta's sister) with a really big smile makes a fetching love interest-- watch Wayne really plant one on her at fade-out. I don't know, but I thought the girl who played the Mexican Delores had a really phony accent. Then I checked the cast and came to find her movie credits are mostly Spanish language productions! Oh well, maybe she don't speak Spanish so good. Anyway, this is average Lone Star fare, mainly for rodeo fans who like seeing a bull's big neck get stretched or a scrawny little calf get thrown to the ground.

Marshal George Higgins appoints John Weston a deputy after the latter helps save the Wells Fargo office from being robbed. Higgins wants Weston to use his riding skills to enter the rodeo and prevent a gang from having the contests fixed and some of the riders killed before they win the prize money. Weston notices that Barton, a promoter in town, is the head of the crime ring and takes heed before he can enter the final races. Barton also has another sideline, robbing Carter's bank of the gate receipts following his attempted "snake bite" treatment for Weston. Very good Lone Star film for Wayne being one of Bradbury's better directorial and writing efforts. Considering Canutt was one of the riders in the rodeo, it would have been nice to see some actual riding shots instead of the stock footage. Nice interaction between Wayne and Young (she was quite fickle). The climactic fight between Wayne and Peil was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the film was able to make up for it. Rating, based on B westerns, 7.

At the start of this Lone Star cheapie, the Duke strays into Roy Rogers territory as he warbles in a worryingly light voice while trotting along on his trusty steed - and one can only speculate on how foolish he must have felt. Thankfully, our hero quickly becomes too involved with a crooked rodeo gang to 'entertain' us with any more serenades as he 'bulldogs' and 'Roman Rides' and does all the other things an honest cowboy has to do to get in with a gang of crooks.

Subsequent fame has given us a kinder opinion of Wayne than he probably deserves in terms of his potential in these early days. Ford saw something there, but nobody else in Hollywood did, and Wayne spent most of the 30s trudging from one no-budget potboiler to another. He's better than most of the cast in this flick, but there's little to indicate the massive star power he would one day possess - it's only his size that seems to give him a presence (and that, if truth be told, is what Wayne was - a screen presence rather than an accomplished actor).

All these flicks were padded out with interminable shots of cowboys riding very fast on their horses, and this one's no different. But in this one we're also treated to lengthy scenes of rodeo riders - which are actually more interesting than the horse-riding fillers, even though the numerous shots of men twisting steers' necks to near-impossible angles in order to floor them and prove their macho status are not pleasant to watch. And the Indians - who were rarely a feature in the Lone Star flicks - are relegated to the status of rodeo sideshow acts here.

THE MAN FROM UTAH is by no means the worst of the Lone Stars pics (of the ones I've seen, that particular wooden spoon is reserved for RANDY RIDES ALONE) although the superhuman status given to Wayne's character is a bit over the top. Probably the best from this era is THE LUCKY TEXAN, so if, for some bizarre reason, you're in a position to choose between the two, be sure to plump for the Texan.

Even if The Man From Utah looks like a cheap production with its spliced in scenes from a rodeo, it still is a lot of fun to watch. Having been to a rodeo the night before viewing this John Wayne western, the movie was all the more interesting for me. Those old rodeo scenes are exciting because they are real! It is also interesting to compare the calf roping techniques of seventy plus years ago to the way rodeo competitors do it today.

Looking too deep into the story shows its flaws. Flowing with the scenes as they are presented makes viewing easier. What is really missing most is the background of the character, John Weston. We know nothing about him, and for that reason it is odd that the marshal immediately hires him to go undercover at what is suspected to be a fixed rodeo. We know John Wayne is playing a good guy, but when the marshal just says he knew that John Weston is a good guy after having met him minutes before a robbery... that is a bit of a stretch. It is possible that the original story had more depth, but a little more revealing dialog about the character of John Weston would have helped the final product of this movie. At least The Man From Utah was not haphazardly edited together like The Lawless Frontier, leaving some continuity holes to ponder.

If you want to see an outstanding performance by George Hayes before he was to become known as "Windy Halliday" or "Gabby Whitaker" this is a great example. Even if Hayes did not have any more screen time than normal, he had perfected what it took to look good on screen by 1934.

In contrast, John Wayne looked good on screen, but in The Man From Utah he sometimes tripped through some of his lines. Usually this is attributed to Wayne's "delivery." Not this time. That in itself is not a bad thing. The more the an actor looked like a genuine cowboy trying to play one in a movie, the better he was liked. Wayne was working through another quickly made low budget production, and he was always improving. The Man From Utah was another stepping stone in John Wayne's path to greatness.

Too much stock footage (almost one third of this 53 minute film) really slows this one down. Granted that the plot is that John Weston (John Wayne) is sent by Marshall George Higgins (George Hayes) to participate in a fixed rodeo (say "Ro-DAY-oh"), but character development and interaction are sacrificed. The relationship between the Bad Girl (usually a Latina-- even in the great "Duck Soup" [1933]) and the 'heroine' Polly Ann Young, a Loretta Young look-alike (hey! it's her sister!) could have benefited from more screen time. The happy ending is too abrupt-- although this time John Wayne actually kisses the girl.

The most interesting stock footage was the lengthy rodeo parade of real Indians, squaws, and papooses. But when the best part of the movie is the stunt work by the Mighty Yak, Yakima Canutt, who gives us jumping from one horse to another and several different running leaps onto a horse, you know we're in trouble. As noted by others, the final fight with the villain is very poorly done.

My copy, from 'Platinum Disc Corporation' featured an added,sparse, ill-fitting (pseudo-classical) stereo music track that ruins the authenticity of the original film.(The DVD box had 'enhanced audio 5.1' on it.) If you're going to modernize and colorize it you should add a 'western' sounding score with acoustic guitars, 'klip-klopping' hoofbeats, harmonicas, and an accordion.

Finally, we have to say this is one of the weakest Lone Star efforts.

A film that falls into the class of "great" just because it's so bad, it's neat.

This movie should provide inspiration to a whole slew of 12-year-olds wanting to get into the film business. Leastwise, it's about the same level of quality in it's stilted dialog, pregnant pauses, outright goofs, and overacting. On the other hand, it provides an interesting study in the evolution of film making from the silent era to talkies.

The good guys really wear white hats and the bad guys wear black. Can't beat that!

It has John Wayne trying to be a singing cowboy. Yep, Pilgrim, THE John Wayne.

Add to that Gabby Hayes - a great Western character actor, and Loretta Young's lesser known (but just as pretty) sister. Don't know who the gorgeous senorita femme-fatale was, she kind of disappeared after this film.

Plus any film that was made in Lone Pine has to be OK!

I had watched this movie before when it came out on TV, and was, like most, perturbed at the effort to make the Duke a traveling troubadour. The story is western B-movie grade, and would probably not have seen the light of day, beyond its original release if it did not have John Wayne (or someone else who would eventually reach superstardom). It has an interesting enough plot, with some rodeo stunts that are, of themselves, impressive. Yes, the acting is stilted, but you expect that with these fly-by-night productions. I read the gripes about 'the original music' not used in this film, and replaced by modern day synthesizer music. I myself prefer the added music for the simple reason that (other than the opening song supposed sung by Wayne), there is no original music. And it was actually my first experience watching this film that I came to realize that not only does music in a movie amp up the drama, but it also help you feel the pacing of the storyline. Perhaps the movie's events should be dramatic of themselves, but again, this is a B-movie we're watching. Overall, it's worth wading through all the cheesiness just to feel the full scope of John Wayne's career.

Oh, brother, this one starts out with John Wayne riding his horse and singing like he's high on wacky tobacky. His singing voice is dubbed but that just makes it more embarrassing, I think. Anyway, this singing cowboy rides into town just as the bank is being robbed. He helps marshal Gabby Hayes stop the robbers and is immediately recruited to do some undercover work with a gang that's fixing rodeos...or something like that.

Polly Ann Young plays the female lead and she wears 1930s clothes even though this is supposed to take place in the Old West. There are also telephone poles throughout the entire movie that they don't even try to shoot around. They use stock footage during the rodeo scenes that clearly have people in 1930s attire in the audience. Historical accuracy was not a concern to the good people at Lone Star. This is one of many B westerns Wayne made in the '30s before he hit it big. The vast majority of these were forgettable but watchable oaters with little or nothing to recommend about them. A select few were better than average and many others were worse than average. This one's kind of crappy but if you have a good sense of humor and like to poke fun at bad movies, you might like it. Beware modern copies that have a terrible electronic score that often just starts at random spots in the movie.

This film essentially begins with a cowboy named "John Weston" (John Wayne) riding into a small town to inquire about a job. While he's talking, however, he notices that the local bank is being robbed by three men. With the local marshal out-gunned, John decides to return their fire which results in two of them being killed and the other one wounded to the point that he immediately surrenders. Quite impressed, "Marshal George Higgins" (George 'Gabby' Hayes) promptly offers John a job as his new deputy. After accepting the job offer, John is then sent to investigate a fraudulent rodeo circuit in another town which has already resulted in the deaths of three other cowboys--all by snakebite. However, to get to the bottom of this mystery, John has to volunteer as a participant in the same events as the other three cowboys. What he doesn't realize, however, is the overall level of corruption and the exact number of men that are involved. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I found this to be a rather amusing film due in large part to the antiquated techniques involved in its production--with the recycled background noise during the rodeo scene being especially noticeable. Likewise, having the film start off with John Wayne strumming a guitar and supposedly singing while on horseback was equally entertaining. Admittedly, this film is extremely dated and certain allowances are almost certainly required as it pales in comparison to modern standards. Be that as it may, while it certainly wasn't a great film by any means, it managed to pass the time well enough and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

An American Western; A story set in Nevada about a saddle tramp who collaborates with a U. S. marshal to infiltrate rodeo racketeers who are secretly murdering any competitors so that they collect all the prize money. Simultaneously lively and dull, with its histrionics, simplistic dialogue, and simplistic storyline. John Wayne struggles along in the embarrassing glare of low production values, resorting to showcasing his trick-riding skills. There is stock footage of a real rodeo, the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, which provides some interesting footage of good stuntwork, but otherwise this is an unremarkable film.

This was better than I thought that It would be,, The Duke rides into town and is immediately recruited by the local sheriff.. Gabby Hayes to help him find out how a bunch of crooks are ripping off local towns in the rodeo's that they are sponsoring,, apparently one man has ideas on claiming all of the money for him and his cohorts and he systematically takes out the competition one by one, by taking a needle and putting poison on it,, and sticking it by the saddle or through it,, so when the rider sits down he is immediately injected with the poison,, so the Duke goes undercover to try and root out the bad men who are ripping off the local townspeople , very funny western,, good story,, it really didn't need any gunplay,, took a little used to not seeing John Wayne fire off a bunch of shots with a revolver or rifle,, but a decent watch nonetheless.

Here's another of the cheap B westerns that John Wayne starred in between THE BIG TRAIL and STAGECOACH. He's singing - voice provided by Jack Kirk - on a slow horse with his last dollar. Marshall Gabby Hayes gets him to look into some baddies. Wayne romances Polly Ann Young and gets into a fixed rodeo.

The copy I looked at was pretty good, with some nice camerawork by Archie Stout, one of twelve he was DP on that year. This being a Paul Malvern production, little money was spent on anything, and the soundtrack was so odd, atypically filled with romantic violas and blaring brass, that I concluded it was added decades later, along with the Foley work.

It's directed at a good clip by Robert Bradbury, but no one was getting a fat contract with a major studio off this one. John Ford would rescue Wayne in 1939, and Stout, who had been DP on Demille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, a few years later.

Suspenseful Gabby, Yak and Duke undercover movie with an action packed beginning. Then he gets hired by the Judge (Lafe McKee) to seek out the gang spiking the rodeo. His gorgeous daughter (Polly Ann Young) has her eyes on Duke in more ways than one. Marshal Gabby Hayes, saved by Wayne in the opening has put all his trust in him. Canutt as always is superb on both sides of the screen. Earl Dwire, although not in a major role did well as the rodeo announcer. Can Spike Barton (Edward Peil Sr). keep the scam going? See beautiful Anita Campillo in an interesting scene luring Duke away from Young and into a deadly trap.

John Wayne made a number of crummy movies at Lone Star. Trying to decide which was worst is not easy, but "The Man From Utah" is hard to beat.

John Weston (Wayne) rides into a new town looking for work, and immediately jumps in to stop a robbery in progress. U. S. Marshal George Higgins (George Hayes, later known as Gabby Hayes) then asks Weston to help solve a series of mysterious rodeo deaths he believes are caused by insiders running the rodeo, whose hired hands always win when these rodeos end in sudden death.

"It's mighty peculiar that these outsiders fall off those tough broncs sufferin' from snake bite," Higgins says. "I tell you it just ain't natural." That's some mighty fine po-lease work, I tells yuh.

Everything about "The Man From Utah" suggests a cut-rate, hurry-up production, more so than the usual Lone Star offerings Wayne made with director Robert N. Bradbury. The movie is slathered with minutes of footage of real rodeo action which seems a decade older than the rest of the film. Parading American Indians, steer roping, stagecoach races, people in stands waving and cheering, it just goes on and on.

Wayne is terrible in this one, stiff and wooden. He talks in a monotone and barely seems engaged in what he's doing. A weak script supplies his character with zero motivation to do more. Asked by this guy he never met to go undercover and risk his neck to solve the rodeo mystery, Weston simply smiles and says "Sounds great to me!" without even asking about pay.

"I'm kind of green at this racket," he says at one point. Green don't cut it here.

For some reason, the film introduces Weston on a horse and singing. I think it was him singing, and not the horse, though each seems to lip-sync as well as the other. When Weston reaches town, he puts the guitar behind a tree and the singing never comes up again. Why bring it out in the first place?

Padding. It's the reason for the stock footage, too, and a lot of other things in this movie. Take a sequence where Higgins takes Weston to meet a man chopping wood, who then takes Weston to a canoe on a river, whereupon they paddle to a small corral where the guy gives Weston a horse and tells him there's a trail to the town where the rodeo is being held. Why did we need to see all this, if not to fill time? Fifty-two minutes never seemed so hard to fill.

Everything is off in this film, from the opening gunfight (everyone including Wayne wave their pistols up and down when firing them, like finger jabs) to the closing battle, where Wayne rides up on two men who shoot and shoot at him, not breaking stride until he jumps off and tackles them to the ground simultaneously.

Hayes is fun to watch at times, and so was Polly Ann Young as the pretty love interest, though like everyone else she's saddled with bad dialogue trying to shoehorn a love story in the off minutes. Everyone else plays their parts like rejected extras from a social- disease short.

It's hard to rustle much love for this one. Even one of the more positive reviews of this movie notes: "Looking too deep into the story shows its flaws." I second that sentiment, provided "looking too deep" means watching it for more than 90 seconds. "The Man From Utah" is something you don't want to watch unless you are a John Wayne fan, in which case you REALLY don't want to watch it.