This kid-friendly Oater was obviously intended for the Saturday morning double-features which droves of kids attended in the 30's and 40's. Mom & Dad dropped you off while they did the weekly shopping and you had a double-feature, a couple of cartoons, a 3-Stooges short and a Movietone news to entertain you, all for a dime. I know because I saw hundreds of them. Anyway, about this picture, it pays very little homage to the so-called plot which involves something to do with the new invention of the telegraph bringing communication across the continent. It has hundreds of extras (they must have been cheap to hire in those days) dressed as settlers, cavalry or Indians backing up the star (John Wayne) and the requisite pretty lady played by Marceline Day. In those days, the studio executives must have been convinced that the Cowboy and his faithful horse sidekick (ala Roy Rogers and Trigger) was a winning formula, so they paired John Wayne with a beautiful white stallion named Duke. The major attraction of this movie is the continual series of sight gags and gaffes which we never noticed as kids. In one scene, John Wayne is on top of a telegraph pole sending a message back to the Fort and a crowd of 10-12 Indians rides up and begins shooting at him. Wayne pulls his trusty six-shooter, fires once, and kills the Indian with the headdress. THEN WAYNE PUTS HIS GUN BACK IN HIS HOLSTER! What kind of direction was that? Can you believe John Wayne ever quit fighting a hoard of enemies in his life? Well, he does in this movie. I guess it was because he wanted to wait until the Indians fired off a volley at him; this would allow him to pretend to be hit so that he could fall off the pole (ouch!) and fake his death. Naturally, the gullible Indians were fooled, so they rode off at an accelerated gallop (all the galloping scenes are speeded up about 20% to make things more exciting), and before they have gone 50 yards, we see John Wayne getting to his feet. Then we find out that he wanted the feathered headdress so he could strip off his shirt (showing the manly Wayne chest), don the headdress and, pretending to be an Indian, join the Indians attacking the settlers, and then slip through the line of wagons (in a circle, naturally) and reenter the camp where he can join up with the beautiful girl. Of course, he can't begin fighting the circling Indians until he ducks into a tent and grabs a beautiful fringed-leather shirt and puts it on. One must be properly dressed when fighting Indians! All in all, this movie is fun to watch and if you are an old codger like me, it will bring back lots of wonderful memories of all those Saturday mornings long ago.
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Eventuallyequalsalways27 May 2006
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At this point in his career John Wayne was doing B films for Warner Brothers and it was decided to give him a smart horse like Roy Rogers's Trigger. And what do they name the horse? Duke. That's something Wayne must have had a hand in.
Here John Wayne is an army scout and he gets Frank McHugh as an army corporal/telegrapher as sidekick. When a good friend of their's is killed while sending a message for help by wire during an Indian attack, these two are sent to take personal charge of the construction of the last leg of the telegraph.
There's a nasty villain played by Frank Hagney who runs a shipping outfit and with his Indian friends wants to keep the telegraph out. How the telegraph would affect his business is never quite made clear, but this is a B western so plot holes back then were a pretty common occurrence.
Wayne and McHugh are very effective together, too bad they never got to work together again.
For those who've never seen the entire film, the last minute of The Telegraph Trail are seen in Footlight Parade in a scene where James Cagney is in a movie theater observing his competition as he's a director of stage musicals. Ironically enough Frank McHugh is also in the cast of Footlight Parade which makes one wonder how the Warner Brothers slipped up there.
By the way, for the only time I can recall in any of his films, John Wayne sports a two gun holster. Butts reversed in the manner of Wild Bill Elliott. If anyone can recall another film he did like that, I'll correct this review.
I would recommend The Telegraph Trail for Wayne fans to see how well he and Frank McHugh connect. Another twist in his career and Frank McHugh could have had a grand career as western sidekicks. -
Art-221 January 1999This early John Wayne western has the frequently used plot of some baddies convincing indians that the white men are up to no good, in this case by building a telegraph line to connect the east and west. But I still had some fun watching it, mostly because of the comedy by both Frank McHugh and Otis Harlan. In their funniest scene, they get drunk while the indians are attacking and they are bleary-eyed enough to think one bullet fells as many as 8 indians. The scene itself, in the middle of a battle in which many are killed, indicates director Tenny Wright did not direct with a heavy hand; I sensed a light-hearted touch throughout, which was a welcome change from most of these westerns. I also laughed whenever some clichéd event occurred, such as the love interest, Marceline Day, overhearing the the baddies talking about the upcoming ambush and getting the information to Wayne. And Wayne's horse, Duke, enters the fight by kicking indians when he was in a tent and observes their silhouettes against the tent wall. No wonder he was billed second in the opening credits, but I still wondered how the other actors felt about being outbilled by a horse.
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John Wayne stars as US Cavalry scout John Trent. When the last stretch of the new telegraph lines keep getting sabotaged by Indian attacks, Trent, along with comic relief buddy Corporal Tippy (Frank McHugh), is sent to put an end to it. He soon learns that the natives, led by fierce war chief High Wolf (Yakima Canutt), are in cahoots with the villainous Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) who is exploiting the "random" Indian attacks to become the sole transporter of goods to and from town. Trent also finds time to woo shopkeeper's niece Alice (Marceline Day).
This was the last of the six John Wayne/Duke the Horse team-ups that I hadn't seen. I enjoyed this one more than many of the others, as it has a sharper script and better characters. I get a kick out of McHugh, and Canutt has one of his bigger roles as the tough native warrior. Some of the stunt work looks painful for the men and the horses. -
fredit-4300428 September 2022Leon Schlesinger notably produced a large portion of Warners' cartoons of this time period. Notably Schlesinger even appears in a cartoon, discussing contract provisions with Porky Pig. So, let's not expect this film to be a John Ford western, ok? Expect no more than a cartoon and you won't be disappointed. The greatest stuntman ever, Yakima Canutt, plays an Indian in this film. Yak was a world champ rodeo cowboy before his film career, and he is not a Native American. Often he doubled for Wayne in dangerous scenes, and I understand he taught John Wayne how to walk, talk and fight like a cowboy. Here, Wayne had not yet graduated from Yak's acting academy, but he was well on his way.
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bsmith55526 December 2006"The Telegraph Trail" was one of six "B" westerns that John Wayne and his horse "Duke" made for Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season. In this minor entry, Wayne helps bring the telegraph to the old west.
After a pal is killed in an Indian raid on the telegraph, army scout John Trent (Wayne) volunteers to help get to the bottom of the raids. With his sidekick Cpl. Tippy (Frank McHugh) he rides in to organize the workers and ensure that the supplies get through. We learn early that Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) is inciting local renegade chief, High Wolf (Yakima Canutt) to raid the workers.
Trent organizes the workers led by Lafe (Lafe McKee) and work on the final link of the telegraph begins. He also becomes romantically involved with Alice Keller (Marceline Day) after she tells her uncle Zeke (Otis Harlan) that she is engaged to Trent in order to fend off the aspirations of Lynch. When it seems that Trent might succeed in setting up the telegraph line, Lynch and High Wolf plan a mass attack on the worker's camp and..............
Yakima Canutt was known primarily for his expert stunt work. It was around this time that he and Wayne became friends and Canutt would work with him throughout the 30s teaching him how to stage a screen fight, walk, as well as, double him in the more difficult stunts. Frank McHugh was poised to graduate to "A" features in support of his friend James Cagney and others. Marceline Day makes an appealing heroine and even gets to embrace the hero, unusual for "B" westerns where the hero generally saved his embraces for his horse.
The climatic Indian Raid is mostly stock footage from the silent days inter cut with silly interludes of McHugh and Harlan shooting "multiple" Indians and Wayne going for help. There's one scene where Wayne is shot from a telegraph pole and rises up without a scratch (I know, I know, he was probably playing possum...NOT).
Not the best of Wayne's Warner Bros. films but better than most of the Poverty Row Lone Star Westerns which followed this series. -
Michael_Elliott22 August 2016The Telegraph Trail (1933)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A company is trying to hang telegraph wire out West but their men keep coming under attack by Indians so they send John Trent (John Wayne) out there along with his sidekick Tippy (Frank McHugh). Once out there John strikes up a relationship with Alice (Marceline Day) and begins to realize Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) is actually the one making the Indians attack.
This "B" Western certainly shows its low-budget nature but if you're a fan of such films then there's enough going on here to keep you entertained throughout the rather short running time. If you've seen enough of these films then you already know that they rarely have much of a story or at least much of an original one. The entire bit with telegraph wire had already been done countless times by 1933 but what's one more film? The highlight is certainly the cast with Wayne in good form as he obviously has no problem playing the hero. Day is good in her role as is Smtih in his. Duke, the horse, is back once again with his name in the credits right by Wayne. I also thought McHugh added some nice support and gets the biggest laugh in the film when he gives his silly one-tone laugh.
With that said, the film comes up ultra cheap at the end when the majority of the big battle is taken from other movies. The footage is obviously from a silent movie so that takes some points away since they couldn't even stage their own scenes here. -
The opening credits proclaim this film a Four Star Western, but in actuality it was a Warner Brothers unit that John Wayne made six movies for in 1932/1933 before moving on to B Studio Lone Star Productions. These pictures aren't easy to come by so it was a pleasant surprise to catch it the other day on the Encore Western Channel, just recently revamped with new logos and screen graphics.
The biggest kick I got out of this picture had to do with the captioning, and I have the feeling that someone at the service might have had some larceny in their heart when they worked the scene when bad guy Gus Lynch (Albert J. Smith) confronts John Trent (John Wayne) and his sidekick Tippy (Frank McHugh) for the first time at Zeke Keller's Trading Post. Lynch pinches Tippy's nose hard and puts him down to the ground before going after Trent. When Tippy gets up, he says what sounded to me like, "He got my nose". However the captioning had "This f...in' nose" and it caught me off guard so completely that I replayed the scene four times to see if I had it right (I had the picture DVR'd). My immediate thought was that the captioner might have been inspired by a scene in both versions of "The Longest Yard". Anyway, chances are this goof, if it was a goof, will be corrected soon enough, but folks, believe me when I tell you, it was there!
Well with that out of the way, let's get to the story. I was somewhat surprised to see Frank McHugh in the picture as John Wayne's sidekick. Generally he'll show up in more than a handful of Jimmy Cagney flicks, which brings up an interesting trivia note. In Cagney's "Footlight Parade", also released in 1933, his character watches this film as a theater marquee announces "Silent Pictures are Finished". As one would expect, McHugh's Corporal Tippy provides the picture's comic relief, a running gag of his having to do with the gals he left behind stretching all the way from Topeka to Nogales and several points in between.
As in most of John Wayne's early Westerns there's a pretty gal on hand. In this case it's Marceline Day as Alice Keller, who concocts a story about being engaged to Wayne's character based on a picture she sees of him, in order to thwart a marriage proposal from bad guy Lynch. The story line has some fun with the misunderstanding, particularly with Corporal Tippy's grievance over his buddy having a secret girlfriend. This all plays out to a conclusion that would happen again and again with Wayne's early Westerns, in as much he closes out the picture giving his gal a kiss.
The action scenes in the film consist mostly of an Indian attack instigated by Lynch who's in cahoots with Indian White Wolf (Yakima Canutt). With Trent attempting to complete a telegraph line in the territory, Lynch incites White Wolf with the idea that a completed line will bring in more settlers who will kill off the Indians. In reality, Lynch means to preserve his strangle hold on commerce in the area by disrupting any competing supply sources while gouging settlers with his prices.
Before closing I really need to mention Wayne's horse. In this, as in all six of his Warner pictures, Wayne rode a light colored horse listed in the opening credits as 'Duke'. Duke was quite resourceful during the Indian attack, lining himself up to dispatch a couple of renegades through a tent while protecting Miss Alice. Earlier he had some comical scenes with Tippy as well. I'd really like to catch a few more of these Warner Westerns starring Wayne, because in the only other one I've seen, "Haunted Gold", Duke had even more screen time going to bat for the film's hero. Catch that one if you can along with "The Telegraph Trail". -
utgard1422 April 2014Another B western from the early '30s with a young John Wayne and his horse Duke. A greedy white man is stirring up Indians to attack men installing telegraph lines. Army scout Wayne is sent to investigate. Frank McHugh plays Wayne's sidekick. He seems really out of place in a western. Get back to the city with Cagney, Frank. Marceline Day plays the inevitable love interest. Her character is responsible for some of the goofier parts of the plot. But she's likable and pleasant enough. It's a routine but enjoyable western with some comedy and romance. Nothing to write home about but Wayne fans will probably enjoy it for curiosity's sake.
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shakercoola29 April 2022An American Western; A story about a greedy tycoon who foments a Native American uprising against the coming first transcontinental telegraph line so as to perpetuate his economic stranglehold on the territory. This film has a theme about progress and expansion that invites the spectre of corruption. It conjures up an interesting picture of 1860s life on the plains. Good action sequences but the comic relief is less than inspiring and the performances are all a bit stagey too. John Wayne is enjoyably to watch for his energetic turn, if a bit stilted at times, as a U. S. cavalry scout sent to put a stop to sleazy opportunist Albert J. Smith. Duke, the loyal horse, is a welcome diversion. The finale, using recycled scenes from the film, The Red Raiders (1927), make an impression but repetitive sequences involving horse chases and encircled wagons dullen the story. It is wrapped up pretty quick with a predictable romantic liaison.
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oscaralbert24 August 2016. . . so Warner Bros. was in an even better position to Warn America about Looming Threats as it released THE TELEGRAPH TRAIL during the Depths of the Great Depression. As "John Trent, Army Scout" John Wayne yet again portrays a Robin Hood-like Socialist, fighting Corrupt Capitalism, as he did in countless flicks up until World War Two, when he used some Big Business Connections to Dodge the Draft, and afterwards Cozied up to the few Actual Capitalist War Heroes, such as Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart. (Trying to over-compensate for Turning Yellow, Wayne would go on to send hundreds of Valiant Veterans to the Poorhouse, Prison, or Early Graves while heading several Vigilante Groups during the 1950s.) But as an "innocent" 20-something, Wayne fights against Corrupt Businessman "Gus Lynch" and Lynch's band of Tea Party-style Terrorists. Like Today's Leading Capitalist, Trumplestiltskin, Lynch attacks the Media--in this case, the brand new "Singing Wire" or Intercontinental Telegraph. Instead of saying that his female critics are "bleeding from their Wherevers," as does Trumpenstein, Lynch simply crates them up in his version of Pandora's Box. But Lynch brazenly rides side-by-side with Terrorist Leader "High Wolf," just as the Teflon Don has been seen shamelessly climbing into bed with Vladimir "Mad Dog" Putin of Russia.
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JohnHowardReid20 November 2017John Wayne (John Trent), Marceline Day (Alice Ellis), Frank McHugh (Sergeant Tippy), Otis Harlan (Zeke Keller), Albert J. Smith (Gus Lynch), Yakima Canutt (High Wolf), Lafe McKee (Lafe, old-timer), Clarence Geldert (Cavalry commander), Slim Whitaker, Frank Ellis, and "Duke".
Director: TENNY WRIGHT. Screenplay: Kurt Kempler. Suggested by the 1927 scenario The Red Raiders by Marion Jackson. Photography: Ted McCord. Film editor: William Clemens. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein. Western Electric Sound System. Associate producer: Sid Rogell. Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Copyright 25 March 1933 by The Vitagraph Pictures, Inc. A Warner Bros-First National Picture. No New York showcasing. U.S. release: 18 March 1933. U.K. release: 17 April 1933. 59 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: For reasons that are never made clear, a white trader stirs up the Indians to attack the telegraph linesmen and construction workers.
NOTES: As far as I know, this is the only film directed by Tenny Wright, one-time silent film actor and assistant director who rose to become production manager at Warner Bros where he made important contributions to just about all the famous Warner features of the 30s and 40s.
COMMENT: Instead of re-making the 1927 Ken Maynard western, "The Red Raiders", this time producer Schlesinger (of later Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes fame) decided to have a new story fashioned around the original film's truly spectacular action footage. This was a bad mistake. Not only is the new plot weak, but it's full of holes, inconsistencies and downright stupidities. The whole business with the box — what did they need a big empty box for, in the first place? — is a good example of the writer's haphazard approach. At first it seems the box is fairly solid, but later on it's revealed there's a hole in the side big enough for the girl to put her hand through.
The heroine's actions throughout are almost totally unbelievable, but the hero's are only marginally more convincing, mostly because he is called upon to react to, rather than initiate events. His reaction times are stupendously slow. From the very first scene with the telegraph message from Jonesy, it takes a considerable time for the import of the message to sink into his thick skull.
It seems to go against the whole canon of "B"-western lore to infer the hero is slow-witted, but this suggestion of brawn with no brains is confirmed in his very first encounter with the heroine in which he displays a similar, singular lack of even basic mental acuity. His immaturity is then further demonstrated by his complete change of attitude towards the girl. No wonder John Wayne constantly looks uncomfortable, hesitant, even confused!
The support players are of even less help. McHugh and Harlan are both over-zealous bores whose comic cut-ups provide little genuine amusement. Albert J. Smith does what he can with the heavy but is stymied by a script that provides him with virtually no motivation. Canutt plays the Indian in a totally clichéd manner.
Wright's slack, slow direction is compounded by the cutting in of obviously silent-speed material. Along with McCord's deliberately flat photography (to tone in with the copious Red Raiders action directed by Albert Rogell), these technical credits lend the movie the air of a musty if awesomely spectacular museum piece.
Wayne's efforts to regain his "A" standing certainly took a backward jolt with this entry. -
This early John Wayne B-movie is apparently not in the public domain--unlike many of his early films. This Leon Schlessinger film has been released by Warner Brothers/Turner Classic Movies instead of the usual cheap public domain videos you see in bargain bins. Unfortunately, however, despite this higher pedigree (and a slightly better quality print), this isn't all it's cracked up to be--there are no DVD extras nor are there any captions. It's a rather unimpressive release for Warner/TCM.
Instead of the usual sidekicks (such as the ubiquitous Gabby Hayes), this one features Frank McHugh. While he's a very common actor in Schlessinger (whose studio was soon bought by Warner) and Warner Brothers films of the era, I can only recall a few times where he appeared in westerns. He was more of the comic relief in contemporary period pieces--though he does a very nice job here and looked pretty comfortable on a horse.
The film begins with a group of telegraph installers being attacked by American-Indians. These Indiand, however, were orchestrated by a jerk named Lynch--who wanted to keep the telegraph and civilization away in order to force the settlers to deal with only him and his over-priced supplies. Although one of the telegraph men is shot, he's still able to relay a message to the fort many miles away--and Wayne and McHugh come to investigate. The message told what was happening but the man couldn't finish his transmission--and Wayne is trying to discover who the white man is who is stirring up all the Indian trouble. This is a weak point of the film, as it's 100% obvious who is behind it--there's no suspense whatsoever! Later, a lady overhears Lynch's plans to attack another group of telegraph installers. I have no idea why she didn't just tell Wayne. Instead, she devised a ridiculously complicated and sure to fail method to alert Wayne without revealing her identity. Why....?! And, as she was a witness to the conspiracy between Lynch and the Indian (Yakima Canutt), why didn't she just tell everyone so that Lynch would be arrested and...um...lynched! Then, they all could have gone out for pizza and had a party. Instead, the film went on for another 30 minutes---climaxing with a clichéd Indian attack--which is headed off at the last minutes by (surprise of surprises) the US Cavalry! The are absolutely no major surprises in this film. As usual, Wayne is very good and McHugh was a much better than normal sidekick...but even these couldn't overcome bad writing--even by cheap B-movie standards! It is entertaining...but a bit brainless. -
mark.waltz7 April 2024This B Western from Warner Brothers starring John Wayne seems to be pretty accurate looking, if fictionalized somewhat in its dramatization of the creation of telegraph lines going through native territory and the wars that start because one man (Albert J. Smith) stirs up problems between the settlers and the natives. Wayne comes along at the right time as Smith wants to marry Marceline Day who wants nothing to do with him even though her buffoonish uncle (Otis Harlan) says they need the money.
In a sense the natives are victims of deception as well thanks to Smith manipulations and lies. There's a ridiculous scene where Smith is electrocuted (and survives) by telegraph wire as Wayne and his partner (Frank McHugh) watch. The battle scenes are quite impressive as there are a ton of extras, and great stunts. Yakima Canutt is the main chief, with alleged other chiefs appearing in small roles as well. This is enjoyable but somewhat silly with focus placed on comedy rather than the story.