Paradise Canyon (1935)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Sadly Over-hyped

I'll tell you why so serious

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

. . . so PARADISE CANYON is a pretty static story. This flick is one of TWO DOZEN--that's right, you can count them up on this site's "John Wayne" filmography: there are 24!--movies Wayne made during the 1930s alone in which he's pretending to be a "John." (Of course, in Real Life, he was in and out of so many Mexican bordellos during the mid-1900s that he got his days and nights mixed up, and "accidentally" MARRIED at least one of these hookers!) As Gertrude Stein famously said, "A john is a john is a john." Though America's self-appointed Snitch-in-Chief later reduced Humphrey Bogart to a sniveling coward during the Great U.S. Witch Hunt, at least Bogie did not feel the need to play "Humphreys" in all of HIS films. (Somehow, it seems that THE MALTESE FALCON may have flopped if its P.I. were named "Humphrey Spade;" ditto a CASABLANCA centered around "Humphrey's Gin Joint.") The other key visitor to PARADISE CANYON is "Linda Carter." Though Linda throws herself at John-John, there's not much chemistry here, since she's clearly not a high-end Mexican courtesan. Those hoping to see Linda don Star-Spangled Tights also will be disappointed, because she lacks Wonder Woman's super powers (and this flick is filmed in Black & White, to boot!).

Posses on horseback chasing after Model T Fords has never been my idea of a Western. Though I tolerated it from Roy Rogers (as a child of the 50s) I can't take it as an adult fan of The Duke. If there are cars in the picture 'it ain't a western'.We do have the obligatory hide out in a cave and John Wayne diving in to river-he must have been a heck of a swimmer because he sure jumped in to lakes and rivers a lot in these B films of the 30s. It actually is not a bad story line as far as these old b&w movies go-but I go back to my previous point-cars and horses don't mix in my mind as to what a western should be. I'm not asking for my money back though-just my least favorite of the 30s western genre that helped launch the Duke's career.

John Wayne is on the trail of a counterfeiting racket, and joins a medicine show in order to trick the bad guys. He falls in love with the daughter (Marion Burns) of the alcoholic owner (Earle Hodgins), and races frantically at the conclusion to prove that the guys always come out first. There's plenty to enjoy in this very short western comedy, and Wayne is at his low-budget best. We've seen him do this before, and some of the low grade westerns he did prior to "Stagecoach" are much better than others. This is one of the better ones. Hodgins proves that alcoholics can be funny (even if it is medicine he claims he is taking, 90 percent alcohol included) and Burns is a sweet, likable heroine.

This film is structured like the formulaic Republic westerns to come from 1937 on. Too much talking, not enough action, unfunny comic relief, bad songs, and too many stationary locations. We can bid goodbye to the fast paced action of the earlier 'Lone Star' films.Here, while John Wayne is again a 'Federal' agent sent to track down a gang of, in this case, counterfeiters, the action gets bogged down in too many side characters and slow story. Wayne joins up with 'Doctor Carter's Medicine Show', which was somehow involved in the appearance of fake money. Finally he catches Curly Joe (Yakima Canutt), the head of the evil gang, who had captured and tied up Doctor Carter (Earle Hodgins) and his daughter Linda (Marion Burns). It's always great to hear Yakima Canutt as the villain, though, with that gravelly voice of his! Marion Burns and Reed Howes (here a 'henchman') helped to make 'The Dawn Riders' (1935) a much better film than this, since it was about a love triangle between her, Howes, and John Wayne. Everything in this one just plods along until it's action time going towards the end.One highlight is the extensive screen time given to Earle Hodgins as Doc. In one too long scene he goes on and on as a barker. The director, not R.N. Bradbury, probably said, "Let him go on! He does it so well!" Sure enough, he turned his carnival barker style of acting schtick into most of his over 300 movie and TV appearances! Although I love music, the duo singing here is strictly Republic (that is, highly forgettable). I give the film a 3.