20 Mule Team (1940)

Passed   |    |  Action, Adventure, Comedy

20 Mule Team (1940) Poster

In California's Death Valley, in 1892, Borax ore miners scratch a hard living until a map pinpointing the location of high-grade Borax ore surfaces, sending prospectors and crooks alike into a gold-rush-like frenzy.

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Photos

  • Wallace Beery and Leo Carrillo in 20 Mule Team (1940)
  • Wallace Beery and Douglas Fowley in 20 Mule Team (1940)
  • Wallace Beery and Marjorie Rambeau in 20 Mule Team (1940)
  • Wallace Beery and Marjorie Rambeau in 20 Mule Team (1940)
  • Wallace Beery in 20 Mule Team (1940)
  • Wallace Beery and Leo Carrillo in 20 Mule Team (1940)

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Reviews & Commentary

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User Reviews
9 April 2014 | jjnxn-1
6
| So where's the story of the 20 Mule Teams?
Ordinary western hews to the standard Beery persona and is rife with stereotypes.

More interesting for its cast than anything in its script. It has only the most tangential association with how the original 20 Mule Teams actually ran, the setting is just a device to pin the story on.

Beery is the grizzled sad sack that he always played when he found himself in chaps but if you like him then you know what to expect. What is of more interest is seeing him costarring with his real life nephew Noah Beery, Jr., in their only appearance together. Anne Baxter makes her debut, only 17 at the time she's a bit callow but self possessed in front of the camera and it's clear she would go far. The standout in the cast is Marjorie Rambeau, she's better than the standard material deserves actually.

Best for Beery fans but anyone who likes westerns won't find it too bad.

Critic Reviews

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial television broadcast in Los Angeles Friday 15 February 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), followed by Chicago Wednesday 27 February 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), and by Philadelphia Wednesday 6 March 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6); it first aired in Altoona PA 20 March 1957 on WFBG (Channel 10), in Seattle 25 March 1957 on KING (Channel 5), in New York City 29 March 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2), in Portland OR 6 May 1957 on KGW (Channel 8), in Albuquerque 7 May 1957 on KOAT (Channel 7), in Tucson 15 May 1957 on KVOA (Channel 4), in Minneapolis 12 July 1957 on KMGM (Channel 9), in Norfolk VA 22 July on WTAR (Channel 3) and in San Francisco 7 February 1958 on KGO (Channel 7).

Quotes

Skinner Bill Bragg: Let's scratch some sand over him and keep the buzzards from picking him to pieces.
Piute Pete: Pretty soon wind comes some more, blow sand off and coyotes dig him up just the same.
Skinner Bill Bragg: Ain't you got no respect? It's the idea of the thing. Now get to scratching.

Goofs

Early in the movie when Bill goes into the Saloon and orders a beer its three-quarters full when he starts to drink, but, Josie grabs it and in the next shot of the three of them and the bartender the glass is three-quarters empty.

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Western

Details

Release Date:

3 May 1940

Language

English

Country of Origin

USA

Filming Locations

Death Valley National Park, California, USA

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