Winds Of The Wasteland (1936)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
The arrival of the telegraph put Pony Express riders
like John Blair and his pal Smoky out of work.
A race will decide whether they or stageline owner
Drake get the government mail contract.

Full Cast
John Wayne .... John Blair
Phyllis Fraser .... Barbara Forsythe
Lew Kelly .... Mayor Rocky O'Brien
Douglas Cosgrove .... Cal Drake (Buchanan Stage Line)
Lane Chandler .... Larry Adams (Blair's partner)
Sam Flint .... Dr. William 'Doc' Forsythe
Bob Kortman .... Cherokee Joe (henchman) (as Robert Kortman)
Ed Cassidy .... Mr. Dodge (Pony Express manager)
Jon Hall .... Jim (Pony Express rider) (as Charles Locher)
Merrill McCormick .... Henchman Pete (as W.M. McCormick)
Christian J. Frank .... Graham, Telegraph crew chief (as Chris Franke)
Jack Rockwell .... Buchanan City Marshal
Arthur Millett .... Postmaster In Buchanan City
Tracy Layne .... Reed
Yakima Canutt .... Smokey (uncredited)
Horace B. Carpenter .... Settler with sick child (uncredited)
Herman Hack .... Townsman (uncredited)
Henry Hall .... Townsman (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham .... Man showing stage to Barbara (uncredited)
Jack Ingram .... Guard (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons .... Express rider (uncredited)
Murdock MacQuarrie .... Townsman (uncredited)
Clyde McClary .... Townsman (uncredited)
Bud McClure .... Green (guard) (uncredited)
Art Mix .... Ed (Pony Express rider) (uncredited)
George Morrell .... Townsman (uncredited)
Bud Pope .... Henchman (uncredited)
Francis Walker .... Townsman (uncredited)
Joe Yrigoyen .... Pike, Drake's stage driver (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Joseph F. Poland (story and screenplay)

Cinematography
William Nobles

Stunts
Yakima Canutt .... stunts (uncredited)
Tracy Layne .... stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons .... stunts (uncredited)
Francis Walker .... stunts (uncredited)
Joe Yrigoyen .... stunts (uncredited)

Filming Locations
Agoura Ranch, Agoura, California, USA
Brandeis Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
Sacramento River Valley, California, USA
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA
(stock footage)

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Winds of the Wasteland

Winds of the Wasteland is a 1936 Western film, starring John Wayne and Phyllis Fraser.
The film was directed by Mack V. Wright, and was released by Republic Pictures.
The rights on this movie haven't been renewed, so this movie is legally free to watch on various internet sites,
and Hulu.com sometimes features a colorized version under the title Stagecoach Run.

This oater, was one of the earlier releases of the new amalgamated Republic Studios.
This is one of my favourites.

Duke and his pal, are made redundant from the Pony Express,
and as a leaving gift, they are allowed to take some horses.
They set up their own stage line, but are given a ghost town as
a base, but it's not long before they secure a government contract
by winning a thrilling stagecoach race.

I have this film on VHS in a re-dubbed Colour verion,
the dubbing, of what seems to be someone else speaking Duke,
is awful, but it doesn't distract from a very enjoyable film.

User Review

Quote

The Great Stagecoach Race
30 April 2006 | by bkoganbing (Buffalo, New York)

Former Pony Express Riders John Wayne and Lane Chandler get some free horses when the Pony Express disbands and decide to start a stagecoach line. Easier said than done when a crooked stagecoach entrepreneur, Douglas Cosgrove, sells them a worthless route to a ghost town.

Well not quite a ghost town, there are two inhabitants there. But through good old American know how and some hard work, Wayne and Chandler make a go of it. The town springs back to life in the process.

Though this is a poverty row B film with production values of same, this is one of the Duke's better B films of his pre-Stagecoach period. I like the plot very much and there is an exciting climax with a stagecoach race to see who wins the government mail contract.

And why wouldn't it be exciting since the King of Stuntmen, Yakima Canutt who did the chariot race in Ben-Hur had a hand in this one.

Also look for a very nice performance from character actor Lew Kelly, the "Mayor" of the ghost town who keeps having a run in with a persistent skunk who has taken up residence in the old stagecoach Wayne and Chandler buy.

But that's no comment on the picture.

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Quote from Senta

Double-feature DVD from Canada company Cascadia Entertaiment. The voice was his own in both movies. I bought this disc on Abebooks, they sometimes have DVDs and VHS on sale.
Regards,
Senta

Robbie,

I don't have the DVD, but here's a post by Vera!

I think it's great, and you know Robbie,
they could have re-made this one in Duke's later life!!

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Winds of the Wasteland

Quote from Robbie

I stand by my original claim, this the best pre "Stagecoach" movie that John Wayne made, his mannerisms are really perfecting and his wardrobe has greatly improved.

Personally I would recommend the colourised version, I found the following version of this movie online and I have to ask does the background music play throughout the film or has this version also been dubbed?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFeqf1wbC28

Robbie take a look at this one form our Archives

Winds of the Wasteland