Paradise Canyon

This film begins with a federal agent by the name of "John Wyatt" (John Wayne) being given an assignment to ride to Arizona to investigate a counterfeit ring that is operating near the Mexican border. From what he is told, the two main suspects are a convict recently released from prison by the name of "Doc Carter" (Earle Hodgins) and another man named "Curly Joe Gale" (Yakima Canutt). When he finally gets to the area in question, he finds Doc Carter driving from town to town in a truck peddling a tonic which supposedly cures everything. Also with him are two employees named "Ike" (Perry Murdock) and "Mike" (Gordon Clifford) along with his adult daughter "Linda Carter" (Marion Burns). That said, wanting to ingratiate himself with them to further his investigation, he helps them out of some difficult and is quickly allowed to join their traveling medicine show. It's also during this time that Curly Joe discovers that Doc Carter is now back in town and--fearful that he will expose him to the law--makes every effort to silence him, once and for all. The problem is that John Wyatt has gotten wise to the idea that Doc Carter was set up by Curly Joe and realizes the situation all too well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay Western for its time with John Wayne putting in his usual solid performance. Admittedly, it is a bit short (only 52 minutes) but that was quite typical for the period in question. In any case, those looking for an old-style Western of this type probably won't be too disappointed and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Yakima Canutt and his gang of counterfeiters try to run his former partner Dr. Carter and his medicine show out of town before the "doctor" recognizes him and quite possibly blows the whistle on Canutt's involvement in a recent string of bogus bills. Luckily for Carter, undercover lawman John Wayne is the show's new trick shooter.

The last film Wayne made for Lone Star/ Monogram Pictures, this is more light-hearted and less action packed than other entries. It's still good fun with a few decent action scenes and stunts.

The best thing about it is the wonderful scene featuring the medicine show in all it's glory, including the sales pitch, music, and a trick shooting demonstration.

John Wayne and a couple of reasonable action scenes are about all that keep this B-Western afloat. The plot is mildly interesting, with Wayne working undercover trying to break up a counterfeiting ring. But it strains credibility a little too often, and the goofy medicine show settings, while occasionally amusing, cause at least one too many groans. The action scenes are OK, thanks to Wayne and Yakima Canutt, who plays the bad guy. Wayne was still progressing as an actor himself, and would later have much more of a screen presence, but he was obviously above most of the material in this movie. The film itself is really only interesting because he was in it, and it gives you reason to be thankful that eventually he was given a chance to move on to better things.

This is not by any means a work of art, as Big John sorts out the counterfeiters who sneak across the border. However, it is remarkably entertaining, especially given it cost about three bucks to make. The background of a medicine show adds a little by way of originality, and I suspect this is a relatively realistic picture of a not-long-vanished West, that most of the audience will have experienced and remembered. John Wayne is on good form, with a particularly enormous ten gallon hat catching the attention. Mary Astor-lookalike Marion Burns is the love interest, and the difficult father-in-law-to-be is a nice performance from Earle Hodgins, who manages even to ruin their wedding. Yakima Canutt's acting is seen to good effect, as a hard-bitten villain, and Reed Howes is a good heavy. The stunts are as usual incredible, and presumably not every horse survived the picture. High Noon it is not, but there are worse ways of spending 50 minutes of your time.

While I admit that having the same music for all of John Wayne's Wild West movies from 1933-1935 is somewhat tiresome, the movies themselves are really great. On critic complains that the heroine in Paradise Canyon wears modern dress, and the medicine show drives a model T type truck with a homemade trailer attached, I think this indicates that the movie is set in the twenties and not the 1890's. Also the villain is Yakima Canutt who is never boring, at least to me. Modern movies could take a lot of pointers from these old ones. I love the humor, romance, fantastic horseback riding and stunts, and the gorgeous scenery, even if it is black and white. I highly recommend all of these early movies featuring John Wayne. And don't miss "The Big Trail" from 1929 either!!!!! WOWEE!!!