Customer Reviews

Helltown [VHS]

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I can't argue with those who call Hell Town John Wayne's best B western. Two years before Stagecoach made Wayne the undisputed king of the cowboys, this well-shot film based on a novel by Zane Grey is a pure joy to watch. Originally titled Born to the West, this Favorite Films Corporation release is a notch above Wayne's numerous Lone Star Productions and other miscellaneous films of the 1930s; the picture is sounder, the music is much more in tune with the movie, and the plot is well-developed and drawn out. Wayne plays Dare Rudd, a drifter on his way to Wyoming, hoping to get a much-needed meal and perhaps some spending money from one of his relatives there. He and his pal Dinkie Hooley (Sid Saylor) arrive in the middle of a cattle rustling drama and, having chosen the wrong side to help, encounter a suspicious sheriff who turns out to be Rude's cousin. Cousin Tom Fillmore (Johnny Mack Brown) gives Dare a check and sends him on his way, but Dare decides he wants to hang around in town after all and maybe even settle down once he casts his eyes on Tom's girlfriend Judy Worstall (Marsha Hunt). Something of a sparking contest is set off between the cousins, but eventually Tom entrusts Dare with the job of moving his cattle to market and returning with the money. Dare's biggest weakness is poker, and after he outsmarts the cattle rustlers, they switch to Plan B, trying to cheat him out of all the money in a rigged poker game. The ending is quite good, and Johnny Mack Brown gives what I consider a superb performance. The film comes in at under an hour in length, but it has everything a good old western needs - desperadoes, horse chases, gunfights, card games, some light comedy, and of course John Wayne. I like all of The Duke's early westerns, but if I had to recommend only one of them, it would definitely be Hell Town.

This early film made by Lone Star productions is one of John Wayne's best early westerns. It has top notch acting, action sequences, and a very suspenseful ending. When two drifters arrive in a town, (including Wayne), they get embroiled in a cattle rustling feud there. A gunfight in held in the end, and the villians get either shot or driven away from the town. Sid Taylor co stars as Wayne's drifter partner. There are many more excellent early John Wayne films out there, and all are very well made. Want a bargain, buy the "Great American Western" DVD, which has four of Wayne's early films on a single disc! These include: "The Desert Trail", "Angel and the Badman", Hell Town", and more! This film is one of the best on that disc. If you were to select on early western to buy, definetely buy Hell Town.