The Trail Beyond (1934)

One of Wayne's best B Films. After a whole lot of creaky, bad B westerns, Wayne triumphs here. The locations are great, the stuntwork is great, and his teaming with Beery is great. Some of the editing of previous stuntwork into the climax is ridiculous, but this film works pretty well in a fun, old movie way.

Normally I regale angrily at the very idea of colourisation - but in this case, it might just have helped as much of this rather unremarkable Western takes place amongst some beautiful scenery - with John Wayne often seen alongside Yakima Canutt and good old Eddie Parker ("the Mountie") paddling to, from and frequently in, the rivers as they try to get to the bottom of a missing girl and a gold-mine swizzle. Will he get the girl and save the day? Well, what do you think... it's actually quite a fun little feature - with Wayne clearly demonstrating why he was signed in the first place and Noah Beery adding some humour as his card-sharp pal. Verna Hillie provides the glamourous love interest and the set-piece drama quite cheerily kills 55 minutes.