Heritage of the Desert (1932)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
Nabb controls the pass and lets all the ranchers through except Holderness and his stolen cattle. When Nabb refuses to sell, Holderness works an his son Snap who has run up gambling debts. There is more trouble when Snap becomes jealous of Judy's attraction to the surveyor Jack. When Holderness has Snap killed, everyone heads to town for the showdown.
Written by Maurice VanAuken

Cast
Randolph Scott ... Jack Hare
Sally Blane ... Judy
J. Farrell MacDonald J. Farrell MacDonald ...
Adam Naab
David Landau ... Judson Holderness
Gordon Westcott ... Snap Naab
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams ... Lefty - Henchman (as Guinn Williams)
Vince Barnett ... Windy (as Vincent Barnett)
and many more...

Directed
Henry Hathaway

Writing Credits
Zane Grey ... (story)
Harold Shumate ... (adaptation) and
Frank Partos ... (adaptation)

Produced
Harold Hurley ... producer

Cinematography
Archie Stout

Trivia
Solo directorial debut of Henry Hathaway (he had co-directed Behind the Make-Up (1930)).

This is one of 20 Zane Grey stories, filmed by Paramount in the 1930s, which it sold to Favorite Films for re-release, circa 1950-52. The failure of Paramount, the original copyright holder, to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

When this film was re-released nationally in 1951 by Favorite Films, it was re-titled "When the West Was Young" and often shown in tandem with the re-release of Bad Man of Arizona (1936), which had been re-titled "Arizona Raiders".

Re-titled "When the West Was Young", this film was first telecast in Louisville (KY) on 18 September 1953 on WHAS (Channel 11), in Detroit (MI) on 26 February 1954 on WXYZ (Channel 7), in New York City 4 April 1954 on WCBS (Channel 2) and in Los Angeles 15 August 1954 on KNBH (Channel 4). In San Francisco it first hit the airwaves on 31 July 1955 on KPIX (Channel 5).

The 20 Zane Grey stories sold by Paramount to Favorite Films for theatrical re-release, and then to Unity Television Corp. for television broadcast, are as follows: The Light of Western Stars (1930) (aka "Winning the West"), Fighting Caravans (1931) (aka "Blazing Arrows"), Heritage of the Desert (1932) (aka "When the West Was Young"), "The Mysterious Rider (1933)_ (aka "The Fighting Phantom"), The Thundering Herd (1933) (aka "Buffalo Stampede"), Man of the Forest (1933) (aka "Challenge of the Frontier"), To the Last Man (1933) (aka "Law of Vengeance"), Wagon Wheels (1934) (aka "Caravans West"), Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935) (aka "The Fighting Westerner"), Drift Fence (1936) (aka "Texas Desperadoes"), _Desert Gold (1936)_ (aka "Desert Storm"), The Arizona Raiders (1936) (aka "Bad Men of Arizona"), Bad Man of Arizona (1936) (aka "Arizona Thunderbolt"), Forlorn River (1937) (aka "River of Destiny"), Thunder Pass (1937) (aka "Thunder Pass"), Born to the West (1937) (aka "Hell Town"), The Mysterious Rider (1938) (aka "Mark of the Avenger"), Heritage of the Desert (1939) (aka "Heritage of the Plains"), Knights of the Range (1940) (aka "Bad Men of Nevada"), _The Light of Western Stars" (aka "Border Renegade").

Goofs
Anachronisms
The story takes place in 1890, but Sally Blane's hairstyles, make-up and demeanor are strictly 1932, likewise the girls in the saloon.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA
Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Watch the Movie

[extendedmedia]

Heritage of the Desert is a 1932 American Pre-Code Western film directed by
Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott and Sally Blane.

Filmed on location in Red Rock Canyon State Park in California,
Heritage of the Desert provided Randolph Scott with his first starring role.
Released by Paramount Pictures, the film is a remake of
Paramount's successful silent version from 1924 which utilised early two-strip technicolor.
One of hundreds of Paramount films made between 1929 and 1949,
tied up in legal limbo by Universal which controls them.

User Review

Surveyor Randolph Scott romances Sally Blane and finds himself in the middle of a land struggle
20 July 2012 | by msroz (United States)

Quote from msr

Twenty minutes in, I began to ask myself if that was Loretta Young on the screen and how I had missed her in the credits. It turned out to be Sally Blane, Loretta's sister. Sally is betrothed to the dark-clothed and mustached foreman (Gordon Westcott) of rancher J. Farrell MacDonald, but she doesn't have her heart in it, so when Randolph Scott arrives to survey MacDonald's property, romance finds a new direction. MacDonald is under much pressure of David Landau, who wants to own the whole valley and has killed and rustled to get what he has. But MacDonald is thwarting him because he has killed good settlers and gotten away with it. There is no trace of a lawman in this story.

Scott has his own bone to pick with Landau who, at the outset, directs him into the desert and has Guinn Williams leave him horseless.

Henry Hathaway had his first full directing job here after coming up as an assistant, and he does a very fine and smooth job. The story has action and twists. The way that Landau ropes in Westcott is done nicely. The characters come off real. The acting is very, very good from all concerned. Landau's jabs at Guinn Williams alone make this movie worth watching. There are some memorably sharp lines. Landau is asked by Westcott "You wouldn't do that?" referring to blackmailing him. Landau replies "I do something like that every ten minutes." The 1930s westerns are typically short and punchy. They look more realistic than many that came later. The extras look like real hands. The buildings and interiors look worn and rugged and simple.

This story is definitely more realistic than most. There is no gun duel between hero and bad guy at the end. Westcott's character turns against Landau at one point when Blane is threatened. These script touches add up to a satisfying experience. Paramount turned out a fine western here.

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