WATCH NOW
The Lawless Frontier revolves around a man, played by John Wayne, trying to apprehend his parent’s murderer, an outlaw named Pandro Zanti who is described as a “half white, half an Apache Indian that poses as Mexican.”
While Zanti attempts to pore over the details of the homesteader miner’s life and set an elaborate ambush, things go sideways for him. The miner, played by Gabby Hades, catches a hint of Zanti’s scheme, forcing him to take his daughter Ruby and make a run for it. As their plan fails miserably, Wayne comes in to save the day by helping a drowning Ruby.
Wayne’s plan of getting Zanti behind bars is hindered by a bull-headed sheriff and a secret path that comes to light as a complication.
Along with this, Wayne is also arrested in a pair of handcuffs by a cruel sheriff and escapes through the secret cave. He pioneered Zanti’s flight. As westerns became immensely popular, Wayne starred in 16 Lone Star westerns for Monogram alongside others. Each of these sixty-minute features was shot back to back with a time frame of 6 days to complete each of them. Because of this, there was a lot of recycling of sets, locations, and casts.
Unlike the studios that Wayne worked previously with at Warner Bros. that recycled action footage from Ken Maynard silents, these movies featured all original aerial stunt work. A huge majority of the aerial stunt work was done by Yakima Canutt.
Wayne also participates in the original versions of the stunts, which are the most distinguishing features of the film. The Lawless Frontier’s highlights include a scene where Wayne is bodyboarding down a sluice run. While simultaneously being a double for Wayne and choreographing everything, Canutt dubs also Zanti’s right-hand man.
In the same manner, as all of Wayne’s Monogram releases, The Lawless Frontier is also afflicted with cranky dialogue, wooden performances, and poorly executed production. These are far from good films, but there are some degree of importance. These inadequacies, along with their production pace and Wayne’s trade insecurities combined, forced Wayne to step up his game. Viewing them is witnessing John Wayne during his formative years.
Writer-director Robert N Bradbury’s 1934 The Lawless Frontier is a quick, shallow and engaging Lone Star/ Monogram studios Western B-movie, where a pre-A-list stardom John Wayne starred as John Tobin, a man who is trying to clear his name after a Mexican bandit, Pandro Zanti, disguises himself as Don Yorba (Earl Dwire) and murders Tobin’s parents, framing him for the crime.
Wayne’s old associate George ‘Gabby’ Hayes is Dusty, who comes to Wayne’s aid against Dwire after he has injured George. The simple-minded sheriff Luke Williams, played by Jack Rockwell, believes Wayne is the culprit and ends up arresting him.
Other cast members include Sheila Terry, Gordon De Main, Jay Wilsey (which is his Buffalo Bill Jr constructive name), Tommy Coats, Herman Hack, Artie Ortego, Eddie Parker, and Lloyd Whitlock.
The Lawless Frontier is a Paul Malvern Productions and Lone Star picture running 59 minutes and having its worldwide release from Monogram. The film is the creation of Robert N Bradbury, an amalgamation of screenwriting and directing. The motion picture is based on a story by Robert N Bradbury, who has also written it. The Director of Photography is Archie J Stout, who filmed the motion picture in black and white, as Paul Malvern controlled the overall production and design was handled by E R, with the score provided by Sam Perry.
To watch more movies like The Lawless Frontier (1934) visit 123Movies.
Also Watch for more movies like:
