Winds of the Wasteland (1936)

Winds of the Wasteland
Directed by Mack V. Wright
Written by Joseph F. Poland
1936/USA
Republic Pictures
First viewing

[box]Larry Adams: Who ever heard of sending messages over a piece of wire?[/box]

This otherwise forgettable B Western again demonstrates John Wayne’s innate star power.

The pony express is shutting its doors and rider John Blair (Wayne) must find a new line of work.  He decides to start a stagecoach line.  Evil Cal Drake sells him a stagecoach and one of his lines – which goes to a ghost town, population 2.  Not to be deterred, Blair single-handedly resurrects the town and prepares to compete with Drake in a race to win a lucrative government mail contract.  The rest should be obvious.  Plenty of fist fights and gun battles and a little humor.  No winds; no wasteland.

Among  the many actors in this who appear to be reading their lines for the first time, Wayne is completely natural.  Although I never agreed with his politics, in later years I have had to admit that the Duke definitely had something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ShcMtcEWs

Clip – stagecoach battle (colorized – I was able to watch in black and white)