"The Crooked Trail" is a solid entry in the Johnny Mack Brown book, featuring a cast of B-western favorites and a story that needs to be followed carefully to most fully enjoy the show. It is somewhat hard to believe that smart and seemingly savvy Jim Blake (JMB) could be deceived for so long about the dangerously mean character of the man whose life he saved out in the desert's local badlands, especially since everyone else he knew tries to warn him, even his female love interest (the two men have more than one interaction of what seems to be affectionate horsing around that may seem a little surprising when contrasting yesterday's sensibilities with today's). This film is consistently entertaining. However, it becomes increasingly grim as the characters' relationships become ever more complex and sometimes strained (it is always interesting to view a film that shows a basically happy and breezy hero caught up in distressing turmoil).
The acting is good in general, with the exception of leading lady Lucille Browne, who gives a consistently weak read. John Merton has a juicy role as the supporting very bad badman and does a fine job with it; he seems to pop up everywhere all the time and has almost as much screen time as JMB. The rest of the cast are familiar stablemates and it is fun just to look at all those fabulous faces. Plus the good ol' dependably photogenic Vasquez Rocks make yet another Oscar-worthy appearance.
"The Crooked Trail" is a story-propelled movie for sure, but the direction and the cinematography could have been a little more polished. And one more thing... the fight scenes are strong and not for the faint of heart. But when Johnny Mack Brown wasn't fighting he had such a warm and reassuring presence that he must have made a lot of girls in the audience swoon! Enjoy the movie!