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. When he and his partner happen upon a pitched gun battle, they decide the join one side because they thought they would win and thought they could get a free meal out of it!! It turns out they were helping cattle rustlers!!! This is NOT a very heroic sort of role, that's for sure!! Fortunately, Wayne and his buddy are not killed but captured by a guy who just happens to be Wayne's goody-goody Cousin. This Cousin castigates Wayne for being a lazy schlemiel and shames him. After Wayne meets a pretty lady (who happens to be the cousin's lady), Wayne falls instantly in love and completely....or somewhat completely changes to the side of good! If only it were that easy!! Later in the film, Wayne's Cousin places him in charge of a cattle drive. It's win-win for the Cousin--if Wayne screws up, it will help the Cousin win the girl once and for all and if Wayne succeeds, he'll have turned his life around once and for all. What happens next is not at all out of the hero mold for Wayne and yet he still manages to get the girl! Weird...and certainly demotivational for the heroes out there watching the film! Despite a morally suspect hero and some dumb behaviors on his part, the film is pretty entertaining. So, ignore the inconsistencies and just enjoy.
Review of Born to the West
