THE BIG TRAIL (1930)

In a town in Missouri, a group of pioneers have gathered on the way to "conquer the West," as the title card says, and head out along the Oregon Trail in a wagon train. Among the settlers: Ruth Cameron and her brother Dave, and the Swedish Gus and his domineering mother-in-law. The crusty Red Flack is leading the group with his suspicious sidekick Lopez, and he reluctantly hires Breck Coleman and his buddy Zeke (occasionally rather soused) as scouts. Breck is hunting the killer of a friend of his, Ben Griswell, a trapper whose entire load of pelts was stolen. The murder was made to look like the work of Indians but Breck, who lived among Indian tribes, suspects that Red is the killer. Along the way, Breck takes a liking to Ruth, but Ruth is enamored of fancy gambler Bill Thorpe, a man whose tales of family wealth and a big Louisiana plantation are not believed by Breck. Along the way, there is an Indian attack, a dangerous river crossing, a snowstorm, and a deadly dry spell. Red, Lopez and Bill all agree that it would be best to get rid of Breck, who obviously knows too much about their collective shady backgrounds, not to mention that Breck is making progress in his romantic pursuit of Ruth. As you can tell, the plot of this early talkie western is par for the course, but two things make it stand out in its genre: 1) Breck is the first starring role for John Wayne (young, handsome, and talented, pictured at right) who would wind up back in B-westerns for much of the decade until his next A-role in STAGECOACH; 2) it is one of the first Hollywood movies made in a widescreen format, Fox's Grandeur process. Only a couple of theaters in the country could show that format, so most people saw it in the standard square Academy ratio, but the widescreen print survives today, and it's very impressive. The black and white image presents gorgeous vistas and with wide shots that feature action in various layers of depth, it almost achieves a 3D effect at times. Wayne, caught before his heroic persona solidified, seems casual and comfortable and less serious than he became in the 40s. El Brendel, as Gus, is the comic relief, though his style of over-the-top ethnic humor hasn't aged well. The chief bad guys (Ian Keith as Bill, Tyrone Power Sr. as Red) are too obvious in their mustache-twirling villainy, and Marguerite Churchill as Ruth is fairly bland. Tully Marshall is Zeke and David Rollins is Dave. The amount of production work shows: there were apparently thousands of extras and animals and hundreds of wagons, and shooting was done over dozens of locations. Despite being over 90 years old, it still looks impressive and manages to hold interest over its two hour running time. [TCM]