Heritage of the Desert

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.

J. Farrell MacDonald has settled and proved his ranch for many years. He's buried his partner and his wife. He looks forward to his son, Gordon Westcott, marry his partner's daughter, Sally Blane. However David Landau has a beef with him; MacDonald won't let him drive his stolen cattle across his land, and he owns the exit to the outside world. Landau makes him an offer, which he refuses. Westcott, however, is wild and has lost a lot of money gambling, which Landau holds over his head.

Into this mix comes surveyor Randolph Scott in his first starring western, under the direction of Henry Hathaway in his first credited appearance behind the megaphone. The result is mixed. The visuals are fine under the camerawork of Archie Stout, and the western atmosphere is a lot rawer and more realistic than many a director would have you believe. The Zane Grey story proceeds at a good clip. However, some of the performances are off and the line readings often too slow; Landau is particularly painful, and Scott seems to be absent from many of the scenes where he might have a line or two.

Well, star and director would improve quickly, and Vince Barnett as the comic relief is surprisingly painless. Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams is good in a henchman role. Still, it's more interesting for what the talent would later accomplish than it is on its own merits.

Zany Grey's "When The West Was Young" rose to the top with great acting talents under the skillful direction of Henry Hathaway in his first movie as a director. Randolph Scott and Sally Blane had great chemistry on and off the set. Veteran actor J. Farrell MacDonald as Adam Naab, gave a spirited performance as the ranch owner who won't give up. On the other side of the range war was great chemistry too with Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams as Lefty and David Landau as Judson Holderness. Holderness always has to remind "Big Boy" not to think. Who better to give the comic relief than Hollywood's favorite practical joker, Vince Barnett? Scott was fighting a war on two fronts against the land grab of Holderness and Blane's suitor Snap (Gordon Westcott). A great scene when Naab asked his ranch hands to sing his favorite song (and mine) "Rock of Ages."

With this adaptation - as intrusion - of Zane Grey's novel Heritage of the Desert, Henry Hathaway begins his career as a director of feature films although little of his later imprint appears in this effort. The screenplay leaves in tatters Grey's powerful work, which deals strongly with Mormon culture in Utah in 1890, and is only recognizable by the names of characters as a product of Grey. Judson Holderness (David Landau), a cattle rustler and owner of the White Sage Saloon and Gambling Hall, is a pestilence to landowners near his ranch, and has purchased or stolen all nearby property, except for that belonging to Adam Naab (J. Farrell MacDonald). Holderness requires Naab's land in order to have a direct corridor for driving his mostly stolen herd to water, but Naab rejects the saloon owner's offer to buy, and mounts a challenge against any attempt to jump his claim by hiring a surveyor to document his boundaries. When the surveyor, Jack Hare (Randolph Scott) arrives, he spends a good deal of his time wooing Judy (Sally Blane), the ward of Naab and the fiancee of Naab's son Snap, which naturally raises the tension level at the Naab ranch. Despite this romantic conflict, Jack sides with Adam against Holderness with neither realizing that Snap is beholden to the rustler due to gambling debts incurred at the latter's saloon, and the action is prepared to go towards a violent climax. Henry Hathaway enjoyed years of critical success for his films, but in this beginning attempt there are only glimmers of his budding skill, although a poor script and ragged editing are of no assistance. David Landau's villain is pitched to an interesting sardonic level, and Sally Blane is vivacious and strives with some success to make her character interesting, but most of the cast is defeated by its dialogue.

'Heritage of the Desert' is an excellent western that will appeal to viewers who don't normally like westerns. Made early in the career of the underrated director Henry Hathaway, this is a splendid example of his skills.

Veteran character actor J Farrell MacDonald gives one of his best performances here as Naab (unnecessarily weird name), a rancher who permits neighbouring ranchers to run their cattle drives through a narrow pass on his land ... all except rancher Judd Holderness (great name!), whom Naab knows to be a rustler. I usually dislike actor David Landau, with his coarse features and unpleasant voice, but here he has some great dialogue ... baiting his henchman Lefty with lines like 'How often have I told you not to think? You can do a lot better with your gun' and 'You got a six-gun where your brains oughta be.' When a morally ambiguous rancher (good performance by Gordon Westcott) tries to appeal to Holderness's conscience -- 'You wouldn't do a thing like that, would you?' -- Holderness calmly replies 'I do things like that every ten minutes.' Sally Blane, Loretta Young's sister, gives a strong and appealing performance as the heroine. I'm a fan of Loretta Young, but I've always found her just a little too beautiful to be believable in most of her roles. (I have the same problem with Nicole Kidman, whom I also like.) Blane strongly resembled her famous sister but was slightly less beautiful, and this makes her far more credible than Loretta in roles such as the one she plays here. Blane spends much of the film in a set of culottes which show off her lissome figure, but which are probably not historically accurate.

Vince Barnett, a character actor whom I usually like, is saddled here with some painfully thick-witted dialogue which he enunciates in one of the most bizarre and implausible accents I've ever heard. Randolph Scott is excellent as the surveyor who arrives at Naab's spread, where Sally shows interest in his plumb bob.

SPOILERS COMING. Hathaway's directorial hand is sure throughout. I was especially impressed by one staggeringly beautiful desertscape, and by a long series of dissolve shots as Randolph Scott's stand-in, wounded by a cowpoke's bullet, stumbles through the alkali.

Later in the film, there's an impressive sequence in which two characters draw their pistols and stand each other off. The camera pans to Sally Blane's reaction as two shots are fired off-camera. She screams, and we know that *somebody* got plugged ... but we don't learn the outcome until later.

Considering that this film was made on a low budget in 1932, its sound recording is very impressive. I'll rate 'Heritage of the Desert' 8 out of 10.