Born to the West

Plot synopsis:
On the vast mountainous Montana vista, to the soft strains of a "ride 'em" chorus, horned cattle are quietly herded until raiders divert them. Hearing shots, Dare (Wayne) "This is no time to think" in a tall white hat, and hungry dark-mustached wiry side-kick lightning-rod salesman Dink Hooley (an uncredited Syd Saylor) mis-call "the winning side", add their wild mustangs to confusion and dusty stampede at jerky triple time of original silent film. Rough shrubby terrain provides a dangerous battleground.
Seemingly safe across border in next state, Wayne's cousin Tom Fillmore (John Mack Brown), local "big man," Bank President, and "shining" good sheep of the family surprises the pair, and offers them a job. "People around here spend too much time thinking"; John just fist fights and proposes while Tom's girl Judy (Marsha Hunt) bandages his eye, "I guess I'll just marry you" he says. She declines to answer, but says, "You've been hurt enough for one day." When a rattler scares her horse, Tom's somersaults and Dare wins the chase.
"I wound up the cat and kicked the clock out" is Dare trying to turn a new leaf and be responsible. Judy asks Tom to take the cook's apron off Wayne, so the boss does promote his cousin to foreman of the herding. First night out, rustlers attack - empty blankets "Hope it don't start raining". Dare makes the sale for over $10K, but gets convinced to pay out wages and stay the night to celebrate, proving who is "the best player west of the Mississippi". The bartender serves a deck under the bad guy's tray of drinks, and Dare loses almost everything.
When Dare is late returning, Tom tells Judy the cost was worth every penny to show her Dare's true nature. She pleads for him to save Dare "You're smart about these things, smarter than any man I know." He arrives in time to take over playing and catches their trick. Fillmore hands have already left, so the bad guys shoot Tom in the shoulder and pursue the trio. Dink diverts some and catches up to bring the hands back, while the cousins hole up, Dare admitting Tom is the best poker player. Back home after winning the gunfight, Tom tells Judy where Dare is riding out of town, and that he wants to offer him a partnership, so Judy brings the Montana-bound buddies back.

Tags: romantic

Review:
John Wayne fans should watch this film right after seeing a few of the ultra-low budget B-westerns Wayne made for Lone Star Pictures in 1934-5 (conveniently, you can get a 2-DVD set with this film, nine of Wayne's Lone Star cheapies, and ANGEL AND THE BADMAN for six bucks at Wal-Mart).In the earlier films, we're clearly watching young Marion "Duke" Morrison appearing under a stage name.
By the time BORN TO THE WEST (aka HELL TOWN) came out in 1937, Morrison was really growing into the John Wayne persona.
John Wayne and sidekick Syd Saylor are heading from Montana to Wyoming to the ranch of Wayne's cousin Johnny Mack Brown.
The Duke even in his later and more irascible years usually didn't have parts that called for that, but here he does show that side of his character and shows it well.Wayne moves in on Marsha Hunt who is Brown's girl friend.
His Alabama drawl made him a natural for westerns and he was grinding out the B films just like the Duke was at this time.
While it has a story that is not bad in itself, "Born to the West" (or "Hell Town") is mostly carried by John Wayne's screen presence, with some help from Johnny Mack Brown and the rest of a pretty good cast.Wayne plays a gambling-addicted cowboy who runs into his respected and influential cousin (Brown) while passing through Montana.
The two become rivals for the affections of Brown's girlfriend (Marsha Hunt) while at the same time they must join up to deal with cattle rustlers and crooked card players.
The scenery is also pretty good at times.The film is a decent Western in its own right, and is also worth watching to see Wayne's performance as a man who has to combine action with some careful thinking about his future.
*This review is based on the re-release of the film under the title, Hell Town*Drifter Dare and his friend Dink travel to Wyoming to see Dare's cousin, Tom Fillmore, banker and president of the cattleman's association.
Tom gives Dare a chance to earn an honest living (Dare bills himself as the greatest poker player west of the Mississippi, while Dink sells lightning rods as part of a payment scam) by working on his next cattle drive.
Wayne seems to carry most of the film, seeming odd that Brown was an established B western draw, and he could have gotten more scenes in the film.
I am giving this film ten stars, not because it is a great film (although it is one of the best of its type), but because it is a remarkably important transitional film for one of the real originals of American cinema, John Wayne.This is one of the last of the many 'Saturday matinée' potboilers Wayne acted in for a half-dozen marginal studios during the 1930s; two years later, Ford would give him the big break of his career in "Stagecoach".Unlike the other potboilers he appeared in, "Hell Town" (aka "Born to the West", although I have never seen a print with that title on it) is well-written, well-directed, nicely photographed, and well-acted by all involved (but especially Johnny 'Mack' Brown) - surprising quality for a cheapie, but I suppose the fact the story it derived from had been written by Zane Grey - already a legendary Western writer - probably impressed cast and crew to make a best-effort presentation here.
At any rate, the film, under 55 minutes long, has the look and feel of a feature-length Western of the time, and it survives far better than any other of the Western shorts of the period.The story is solid, with relatively serious overtones concerning the possibility of redemption.
This is no longer the "Singing Mesquiteer" of the earlier potboilders, this is finally the Duke, who would star in "Stagecoach" and lead an army of fans (including myself) through film after film for four more decades.This is where the filmography of John 'Duke' Wayne rightfully begins - a film that has survived well, and may yet survive a few decades more.(Note: in another film made the previous year, Winds of the Wasteland, Wayne can also be seen coming into his own as an actor; but this is the better film.).
According to author Tony Thomas, this film shot adrenaline into the careers of both John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown.
This one’s slightly better than Texas TERROR, mainly because it features a better-than-average cast – apart from Wayne, of course, there’s Johnny “Mack” Brown as The Duke’s cousin/boss, Marsha Hunt (later co-star of the classic Anthony Mann noir RAW DEAL [1948]) as the girl who comes between them, Lucien Littlefield as Wayne’s sidekick/conscience, and Monte Blue as the villainous (but ostensibly respectable) leader of a gang of cattle rustlers.Based on a Zane Grey novel, the film was originally released as BORN TO THE WEST – but this got changed on its re-issue to the more vivid HELL TOWN; interestingly, Wayne’s leadership of a cattle drive here anticipates Howard Hawks’ Western masterpiece RED RIVER (1948), in which he gave one of his finest performances.Again, the film runs for less than one hour while involving standard excitements – a saloon brawl, various cattlemen-vs.-rustlers clashes, a marathon poker game erupting into violence, etc.
After six non-western B-movies, John Wayne returns to the saddle for what would be the beginning of the final chapter of his B-movie career.
The story is by acclaimed western novel writer Zane Grey which helps explain how this is different from all that came before it for the Duke.5.7 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener.
According to author Tony Thomas, this film shot adrenalin into the lagging careers of both John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown.
Though the copy of "Hell Town" I saw was pretty miserable, the quality of the script and of the acting more than made up for it.John Wayne by the time this was made was already a veteran actor, mostly in B Westerns.
That "B" designation, by the way, was purely a reference to the size of the budget, something too many people don't seem to realize.This B Western, despite its budget, had a really intelligent script and a talented director and, most of all, some of the best actors available: John Wayne, Johnny Mack Brown, and the lovely Marsha Hunt, as well as the busy but today under-rated Syd Saylor, who, despite his being the hero's sidekick, doesn't even get screen credit!On a purely personal note, catching this film at westernsontheweb.com gave me my first opportunity ever to see "Hell Town," and I am so very grateful.
This one is a good one to see as it's not your typical John Wayne film, he plays a character who's a bit of a down on his luck loser, and who's always making the wrong choices.
A good little movie that runs out of time before it runs out of story, "Born To The West" offers a rare chance to see John Wayne making a western in the 1930s with a decent budget for a change, even if it is still a B-picture.Also known as "Hell Town" (which is the title with the version I saw), the film presents Wayne in an unusual role, that of the aptly named Dare, "a wild and crazy fellow" as his cousin Tom (John Mack Brown) calls him.
Dare happens into Tom's home state of Wyoming looking for work, and not particular how he gets it.An opening scene sets up the character, as Dare and his comic-relief buddy Dink (Syd Saylor) show up in the middle of a gun battle between two groups of strangers."Which side you favor?" Dare asks."Which side's winning?" Dink answers, thinking of his stomach.Dare and Dink would just as soon blow out of town after Tom hands over $100 in travelling funds, until Dare gets a look at Tom's girl Judy (Marsha Hunt).
"Hell Town" then becomes an involving duel of personalities between Dare and the upright Tom, who offers Dare plenty of opportunities to mess up and lose his claim on Judy."Hell Town" benefits from a solid cast, funny dialogue, and able direction from Charles Barton, who knew how to make a genre film work.
(His best-remembered film combines two genres, "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.") Dink is always trying to sell lightning rods, while Dare is out to prove himself the best poker player west of the Mississippi.
But you do get a chance to see a nifty poker- playing scene where cousin Tom steps in and helps Dare handle a tense situation, the film's highlight.The rest of the film is pretty good, too, and represents a chance to see Wayne play a kind of ne'er-do-well.
He banters enjoyably with Saylor while showing ample nerve with Hunt: "Since you're not already spoken for, I guess I'll just marry you." Wayne would play stolid good guys, and hard cases, but here is a rare chance to see him as likable rogue, a direction his career might have gone if not for John Ford..
John Wayne plays an aimless and arrogant young man given a job by his cousin (Johnny Mack Brown) as a trail boss, who battles rustlers and successfully brings the cattle to market only to be lured by big city vice.One of the later films in Wayne's B-movie career, this is also one of the best and helped him considerably in his transition to full-blown movie star.
Watch some of his earlier pictures and you'll notice that between them and this, he'd definitely grown as an actor.Bookended by two great action sequences, the one at the beginning is especially well made with vivid scenes of a cattle drive, rustlers, and a stampede..
John Wayne, (Dare Rudd) plays the role of a drifter who gambles his money away and just can't seem to settle down until he goes back to his relative, (Tom Fillmore) Johnny Mack Brown who owns a great deal of cattle and runs the bank in town.
Tom has a girlfriend named Judy Rustoe, (Marsha Hunt) and Dare soon becomes very interested in her and they both start falling for each other.
The original title, `Born to the West,' makes more sense than does `Hell Town.' There's little to do with a town, & there's nothing particularly hellish about the town anyway, even though there's a hellish poker game that takes place there.
I guess John Wayne is the star of the movie, but Johnny Mack Brown comes off a little bit better, & Monte Blue is excellent as The Duke's sidekick.
Firstly i know this movie by its other title"helltown".(its very strange that some movies have a different title in some country's)Its also very seldom that a full story can be told in 60 min this movie did i a great job.The movie is short but the story is well taught.The movie centers around 2 drifters played by John Wayne*dare rudd(brilliant actor) and Sid saylor*dinkie hooley(brilliant comedian) they arrive one day at a small town where dinkie's rich cousin lives.
After a while dare starts noticing a girl.......Dare falls in love with dinkies cousin's girl and there for the title helltown cause after that all hell brake loose.The only reason a give this a 5 is bc its in black and white it brings down the quality of the movieSo if you love westerns and John Wayne check this one out..
Dare Rudd (John Wayne) and sidekick Dink Hooley (Syd Saylor) are itinerant cowpunchers who can't seem to stay in one place very long.
In "Helltown", the boys are headed to Montana, where they meet up with Rudd's cousin Tom Fillmore (Johnny Mack Brown), who offers them a job.
Judy is Tom's girl, but the attraction between her and Dare is evident early on.Fillmore has a cattle herd to move, and promotes Dare to running the drive, partly to prove to Judy that he may not be up to the task.
Meanwhile, bad guy Bart Hammond (Monte Blue) has his eyes on Fillmore's cattle, but when his henchmen fail to rustle the herd, he figures it's easier to win the money that Dare was paid at the end of the trail.
It's only when Dare fails to show up back at Fillmore's ranch that Tom goes out to find his cousin.
Exposing the cheats, Tom, Dare and Dink high tail it before the bad guys can get their revenge."Helltown", also known as "Born to the West", was released in 1937 by Favorite Films Corporation, a couple of years after Wayne's series of Westerns for Lone Star Productions.
It only slightly alters the Lone Star formula; Wayne does get the girl at the end of the film, but here he was trying.
There's a great runaway horse scene where Wayne rescues Marsha Hunt, in which Johnny Mack Brown's horse does a complete somersault spill.
Throughout the 1930s, John Wayne made a ton of B-westerns--all with incredibly low budgets but, overall, are pretty entertaining.
Most have a real predictability about them--but somehow "Born of the West" (also known as "Hell Town") managed to be extremely different--and not necessarily in all good ways.
Instead of his usual goody-goody role, Wayne, oddly, plays a rather amoral guy at the beginning of the movie.
Later in the film, Wayne's Cousin places him in charge of a cattle drive.
Much better than John Wayne's early westerns (1932-1935) in terms of script, character development, production values and cast.
In a couple of panoramic shots, you see a rider on a golden palomino -- could that be Johnny Mack Brown?Someone noted above that this film revitalized the flagging careers of both John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown -- they play cousins.
Brown, is Tom Fillmore, a level headed successful cattleman and business man, and Wayne is 'Dare' Rudd, surprisingly, a cocky, horny drifter, a role similar to the one he played in "The Desert Trail" (1934) opposite Mary Kornman, but it is even more developed here: Dare loses all of the money from the sale of the herd in a crooked all night game of poker to Hammond and his card sharp, when Tom shows up to regain the money and expose Hammond's crooked scheme.When Dare and Tom's girlfriend, Judy Worstall (the effective Marsha Hunt) catch each other's eye, Dare decides to settle down in their Wyoming town to chase her and seek honorable work.
A well played love triangle develops between the three of them while the evil saloon owner, Bart Hammond (Monte Blue), attempts to steal Fillmore's cattle herd, and later, the money for its sale.This film almost reaches first class A level movie making.
By 1937 full length musical scores had become common; this one has exciting allegro music during the action scenes, and even a love theme played over Dare and Judy's scenes ("The Hills of Old Wyoming"!) Syd Saylor thankfully plays it straight and tough as the side kick, avoiding his painful 'comic' schtick (stuttering and Adam's Apple neck bobbing) we saw in his earlier films.But we don't get a final battle between Dare and Hammond, the villains are all too easily dispatched in group horseback shootouts; and the only time John Wayne chases after anyone is to catch Judy on her runaway horse.
So except for the last minute rescue when Dare and Tom are pinned down by Hammond's henchmen, there isn't all that much action.This probably makes it a better film, but I can only give it a 5.Note: Marsha Hunt is fantastic in the amazingly darkly lit film noir classic "Raw Deal" (1948).
Between John Wayne's period of making non westerns for Universal in late '36 and '37, and his return to making B westerns for Republic in '38, he was the lead character is this Paramount B western, based on a Zane Gray story, and directed by B movie -specialist Charles Barton.
In addition to Wayne, as Dare Rudd, we have frequent starring cowboy Johnny Mack Brown, as Rudd's cousin Tom Fillmore, Marsha Hunt, as Judy Worstall: the love interest for both Rudd and Fillmore, Monte Blue as Bart Hammond: the saloon owner and the brains behind the local rustlers.
.......Although Wayne is addicted to gambling with cards, and claims he's the best poker player west of the Mississippi, he keeps losing his shirt!
HELL TOWN is a John Wayne western made just before he achieved international stardom as America's primary movie star.
Wayne plays the usual two-fisted cowboy who begins the film by being wrongly accused of being a cattle rustler before building his reputation and finally taking on a crooked gambler in the climactic moments.This film is very ordinary for a western of its age and thus not particularly engaging.
This cautionary tale features John Wayne as slacker "Dare Rudd," a would-be cowboy with no sense of Situational Awareness.
Dare enters the picture unable to tell good guys (cowboys) from bad ones (rustlers).
But Today's Red Staters are mostly descended from the shallow gene pool of Yesteryear's Dares, NOT from the level-headed guys such as Cousin Tom. It's not hard to see why any of their communities could be dubbed as HELL TOWN..
This is a great little western from Favourite Films.
Dare Rudd (John Wayne) and his side-kick accidentally get caught up in some cattle rustling.
The herd belongs to Tom Filmore (Johnny Mack Brown), Dare's brother.
Judy (Marsha Hunt) is one reason Dare decides to stay around.There is a spy in the cowboy ranks.
James Craig plays a crooked card sharp who trys to fleece Dare of the cattle money.Everybody who pops out from behind a rock was a star either on their way up or down.
Johnny Mack Brown had been popular in the late 20s and early 30s and this film provided a shot in the arm for his career at the time.
Lucian Littlefield, one of the screen's great character actors (he was in "The Cat and the Canary" (1927)) played John, a cattle buyer.