Somewhere in Sonora

Remake of 1927 silent western has a young John Wayne (riding his horse Duke) repaying a favor to a friend (Henry B. Walthall) by going across the border to Sonora, Mexico to locate the man's son (Paul Fix). To find him he has to go undercover in the gang of notorious outlaw Monte Black, a perfect name for a western bad guy. Some nice rodeo stock footage. It's apparently pronounced "ro-day-o" as one character admonishes another. Wayne's accompanied by two comic relief sidekicks, played by Frank Rice and Bill Franey. They are responsible for most of the movie's best parts. There's also two annoying girls who keep popping up and seem to share one brain cell. Pretty routine '30s B western.

It's in these early films that you see how middle-class John Wayne really is before he assumed the immortal identity of the American cowboy. He was obviously socialised into high society through his university connections and has a healthy interest in women. Thanks to John Ford he was just churning out the B-pictures one after the other. However, as a self-contained project, the film looks quite stagy as though it was fresh from the theatre. The dialogue is stilted and clumsy, but then that's down to the writing. I don't think that screenwriters and directors got to grips with the new medium that is cinema at this point, making this offering painful to watch.

I was a bit shocked when I looked at the summaries for this film on IMDb. While the movie clocks in at only 59 minutes, its summary is about as long and detailed as you'd expect for "Gone With The Wind"!! Someone must have really, really liked this film! "Somewhere in Sonora" is one of a half dozen John Wayne B-westerns he made for the Leon Schlesinger Studio (which, in turn, were distributed through First National-Warner Brothers). Today I actually sat down and watched four of the six films and found them to be a very mixed bag. The first two, "Haunted Gold" and "Ride Him Cowboy" were simply dreadful--with nothing to recommend them. This was a bit of a surprise, as Wayne made a ton of B-westerns in the 1930s and most of them are better than the films of his contemporaries, such as Gene Autry. Fortunately, the third film I saw, "The Big Stampede" turned out to be a dandy little film. Was this an abberation or are there other good Schlesinger/Wayne films to be seen--and would "Somewhere in Sonora" be one of the good ones? The film begins with two Easterner women traveling out west where they meet Wayne. Wayne is about to race in a buckboard race and makes a quip about the other guy's wagon falling apart during the race. When this actually occurs (due to the machinations of evil gamblers, not Wayne), he is immediately assumed to be guilty. The two uptight ladies completely hate him (who can hate him?!) and Wayne is left to rot in jail--until his friends help bust him out of jail. He travels to Sonora, Mexico and deliberately insinuates himself with an evil gang--as he wants to help a friend break up this group of thugs. His cover as an escaped prisoner will no doubt help him in this task.

Later, when the two uptight and annoying ladies happen upon Wayne again, he manages to save their lives. At this point, it's obvious even to the most oblivious in the audience that romance is in bloom between Wayne and the less annoying sister. But can Wayne get the girl and break up Monte Black's gang? This is the SAME gang that boasts that no member has ever left the gang....alive! But, of course, Wayne is the handsome hero and this is a B-western, so is there much doubt?! One thing that makes this film a bit difference from the usual B-western of the era is the presence of two sidekicks--not one. The two guys are pretty cute together and they made a sweet couple--though I am not sure whether or not this was the writer's intention. They sure seemed VERY happy together--just like an old married couple. Considering that this film debuted in the Pre-Code era, perhaps this WAS the implication--especially since the two were confirmed misogynists.

Overall, this film is pretty much what you'd expect from a Wayne B-film. He's likable and the film is pleasant, but like all B-westerns, not terribly original or believable but still a lot of fun. Worth seeing.

"Somewhere In Sonora" was one of six "B" westerns starring John Wayne and his horse "Duke" made for Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season.

Set in the "present", two city gals, Mary Burton (Shirley Palmer) and Patsy Ellis (Ann Faye) drive onto Bob Leadly's (Henry B. Walthall) spread where John Bishop (Wayne) is the foreman. Mary is on her way to visit her father somewhere in Sonora (get it?). As it happens a rodeo (courtesy of some stock footage) is about to take place. Bishop invites the girls to stay over. He participates in the rodeo and drives in the stagecoach race for Leadly.

An "accident" happens to the rival stagecoach, a man is seriously hurt and Bishop is blamed and arrested. Leadly and Bishop's two sidekicks, Riley (Frank Rice) and Shorty (Billy Franey) manage to help him escape. Bishop learns that Leadly's son Bart (Paul Fix) wrongfully accused of murder, is running with a gang...now wait for it...somewhere in Sonora.

Bishop goes to Sonora and meets up with Mary at her father's (Ralph Lewis) ranch. Bishop and his sidekicks learn that Bart Leadly is running with a gang led by the notorious Monte Black (J.P. McGowan). Bishop infiltrates the gang and befriends Bart. While the gang attempts to rob Mr. Burton's silver mine Bishop............................

This film was arguably the weakest of the six WB features. Wayne's inexperience in the acting department really shows here. A lot of time is devoted to the dumb antics of the two sidekicks. However, Wayne does get to embrace the heroine rather than his horse.

This was Wayne's first of many films over the next 40 or so years with his friend Paul Fix. Henry B. Walthall had been in films since the early silents and made over 300 pictures. He is probably best remembered for his role as "The Little Colonel" in D.W. Griffiths "The Birth of a Nation" (1915). Also, watch for "B" favorites Slim Whitaker, Bud Osborne and Glenn Strange as members of McGowan's gang.

A Twin Forks (Arizona) "Stage Coach Race" mishap lands participating John Wayne (as John Bishop) in jail. Ranch boss Henry B. Walthall (as Bob Leadly) thinks Mr. Wayne is innocent, but attractive brunette Shirley Palmer (as Mary Burton) isn't sure. After escaping, Wayne decides to help the kindly Mr. Walthall by rescuing his son, Paul Fix (as Bart Leadly), from some southern border bandits. Coincidently, Ms. Palmer is also headed south, with annoyingly accented blonde companion Ann Faye (as Patsy Ellis)...

The best thing to be said about Wayne's penultimate Warner Brothers western may be "he was still learning his craft". It doesn't help that "Somewhere in Sonora" is another sloppily pieced together re-make of an older "silent". Ken Maynard's 1927 version looks like it was more exciting, judging from the excised footage included here. Walthall (second-billed!) hasn't much to offer. Old boyfriends Frank Rice (as Riley) and Billy Franey (as Shorty) are amusing. Mr. Fix (a Wayne film regular) does well, in an early role. The part of the ending shootout with J.P. McGowan (as Monte Black) taking aim at Wayne is memorable.

*** Somewhere in Sonora (5/27/33) Mack V. Wright ~ John Wayne, Shirley Palmer, Paul Fix, Henry B. Walthall