oscaralbert Review of Born to the West

Born to the West (1937)

Though originally titled BORN TO THE WEST . . .

[7/10 · 18 June 2016]

. . . once novelist Zane Grey saw this flick allegedly based upon one of his stories, he demanded that they reissue the movie as "Satan's Saloon," "The Devil's Dare," or "Hell Town." "HELL TOWN it is," responded the honchos in charge of Favorite Films Corp. 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). As a Chuckwagon cook (complete with frilly white apron), he cannot differentiate rocks from biscuits. When it comes to a brawl, he's always running into some guy's fist. When a lady falls head over heels for him, he chalks it up to a snake. At the poker table, he's too busy smirking over two pair to notice that he's being "cold-decked." He gets his brainy community pillar of a cousin shot, than swipes his cousin's fiancée. Dare's all hat, no brains, as they say Out West. 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.