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5.0 out of 5 stars
The Search for Lost Treasure, July 20, 2010
The Trail Beyond, 1934 film
The story begins with a lone rider in the country. He is asked to find a missing brother, John and his daughter. Rod Drew takes a train to the Canadian Northwest, and meets a friend from college. There is a fight over gambling and a shot. Rod and Robby jump from the moving train. They change out of suits into Western clothes and ride away fast. There is a chase, the pair jump for it into a lake. A Mountie is sent to get them. They find a deserted cabin with two skeletons! There is a map to a gold mine. They tell people they are hunting wolves. Benoit looks at the map; does he plan to betray his trust? The villains capture Felice. Can Rod and Robby rescue her? Jules LaRocque is behind this. The rescue works. There is another chase. A swift canoe gets them away.
LaRocque sends Marie to get the gold map. She can keep books for Newsome. `What do you care?" A Mountie shows up to arrest the pair. It's a trick! Rod breaks a bottle and cuts the ropes to get free. Rod is smart, he has the real map. They find the mine and a picture to identify the heiress. The villains go back and get a canoe to chase the good guys. Rod upsets their plans. But the canoe with the wounded Mountie drifts towards the water fall. Rod to the rescue in the shallows. The villains plan to attack Wabinosh House. Rod rides to get help from the Mounties, who deputize and arm all the men in the settlement for help. Both groups ride, one to attack and one to defend. There are a lot of shots fired without any damage. "Not so fast, Marie." "The Redcoats are coming" shouts Benoit. Will Jules get away with the gold found in the mine?
The villains flee, the posse is in pursuit. Gunshots drop riders. Rod chases Jules' wagon. The remaining villains are captured. Jules' plan is upset. There is a happy ending. That gambler recovered and exonerated Robby. Felice will return to her uncle to live a better life. You can assume that Rod will accomplish his next mission.
This is another story how money and greed lead to murder and robbery. This was adapted from a James Oliver Curwood story "The Wolf Hunters". A good story makes a better movie in spite of a low budget. This film stars Noah Beery Sr. and Jr.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
John Wayne heads north of the border in this sub-par B-western, December 18, 2005
"The Trial Beyond" is the ninth of the B Westerns that a young John Wayne made for the poverty row studio Lone Star/Monogram and is one of the most unusual because for once the usual cast of characters is different. In addition to the Duke (before he was really the Duke) we have come to expect to see George Hayes (before he was Gabby), the legendary stunt man Yakima Canutt, and character actor Earl Dwire. The last one on that list is around, again playing a henchman, and Canutt is doing the stunts, without a specific on screen role for once, but instead of Hayes we have both Noah Beery and Noah Berry, Jr. You have to wonder why things were different this time around, but I have yet to uncover an explanation.
In terms of the action sequences this is one of the better Lone Star efforts. I have seen this 1934 film cited as showing how Canutt and Wayne had developed by this point the "pass system" that is now the standard technique for on-screen fight scenes. However, the story is pretty standard. Canutt does several of his better stunts, performing a leap from a moving train off a bridge into a river and riding horses off of a cliff. Another great stunt man, Ed Parker, plays Ryan the Mountie (it is in Canada, another interesting difference, so there has to be a Mountie).
Set in Canada but beautifully photographed in California around Mammoth Lakes by Archie Stout, "The Trail Beyond" has Wayne playing Rod Drew, who is up in French-Canadian country trying to track down Felice Newsome (Verna Hillie), the daughter of an old friend. On the way he encounters an old college friend, Wabi (Beery, Jr.) who has to be rescued from some card cheats who frame him for a murder. What ups the ante is that they find a skeleton with a map, which, of course, means there is a gold mind out there. The bad guys after the gold mind are Jules LaRocque (Robert Frazer) and his henchman Benoit (Dwire), a pair of trapper with the worst French-Canadian accents you have ever heard. Things then proceed so that everybody has repeated occasion to get very wet (you will see what I mean).
I suppose the reason Canutt was not given a regular role was because he is kept pretty busy in this one doubling for Wayne and everybody else and is the main attraction of the movie. The story and the acting are sub-par and while the quality of the video on this VHS tape is not especially good it did not appear to be as bad as what many are bemoaning is what they are finding on a DVD version of "The Trail Beyond." But on balance those accents are just so bad they drag this one down a notch despite the work turned in by Canutt.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
John Wayne heads north of the border in this sub-par western, June 13, 2004
"The Trial Beyond" is the ninth of the B Westerns that a young John Wayne made for the poverty row studio Lone Star/Monogram and is one of the most unusual because for once the usual cast of characters is different. In addition to the Duke (before he was really the Duke) we have come to expect to see George Hayes (before he was Gabby), the legendary stunt man Yakima Canutt, and character actor Earl Dwire. The last one on that list is around, again playing a henchman, and Canutt is doing the stunts, without a specific on screen role for once, but instead of Hayes we have both Noah Beery and Noah Berry, Jr. You have to wonder why things were different this time around, but I have yet to uncover an explanation. In terms of the action sequences this is one of the better Lone Star efforts. I have seen this 1934 film cited as showing how Canutt and Wayne had developed by this point the "pass system" that is now the standard technique for on-screen fight scenes. However, the story is pretty standard. Canutt does several of his better stunts, performing a leap from a moving train off a bridge into a river and riding horses off of a cliff. Another great stunt man, Ed Parker, plays Ryan the Mountie (it is in Canada, another interesting difference, so there has to be a Mountie). Set in Canada but beautifully photographed in California around Mammoth Lakes by Archie Stout, "The Trail Beyond" has Wayne playing Rod Drew, who is up in French-Canadian country trying to track down Felice Newsome (Verna Hillie), the daughter of an old friend. On the way he encounters an old college friend, Wabi (Beery, Jr.) who has to be rescued from some card cheats who frame him for a murder. What ups the ante is that they find a skeleton with a map, which, of course, means there is a gold mind out there. The bad guys after the gold mind are Jules LaRocque (Robert Frazer) and his henchman Benoit (Dwire), a pair of trapper with the worst French-Canadian accents you have ever heard. Things then proceed so that everybody has repeated occasion to get very wet (you will see what I mean). I suppose the reason Canutt was not given a regular role was because he is kept pretty busy in this one doubling for Wayne and everybody else and is the main attraction of the movie. The story and the acting are sub-par and while the quality of the video on this VHS tape is not especially good it did not appear to be as bad as what many are bemoaning is what they are finding on a DVD version of "The Trail Beyond." But on balance those accents are just so bad they drag this one down a notch despite the work turned in by Canutt.
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