. . . is borne out once again in WEST OF THE DIVIDE. What DOES this title mean? On most any map, West is to the Left--that is, it's on the Sinister Side. Clearly, it's Wayne's "Ted" character who's standing WEST OF THE DIVIDE here, in full alignment with the Forces of Evil (namely, his father's murderer, Squire Gentry). Wayne easily slips into the role of "Gat Ganns," a notorious assassin-for-hire, facing the Hangman's Noose. Though Wayne's Real Life defection to the Dark Side was still a decade away, his penchant for Jekyll and Hyde movie roles during the 1930s is as much an indicator of future behavior as Middle Schooler Omar cheering for the hijackers on 9-11. Preachers discourage us from Playing with Hellfire, as Wayne does in WEST OF THE DIVIDE and most of his other early flicks. When Damien fatally runs down his Mommy with his tricycle in the original OMEN, it's hard not to think of the baby-faced Wayne in a picture such as DIVIDE, cutting his teeth for the deviltry to come in THE ALAMO, RIO BRAVO, and CHISUM. (Perhaps the inevitable "666" birthmark is the reason Wayne never appears shaven-headed in a movie.)

Ted Hayden (John Wayne) and his pal Dusty (Gabby Hayes) find wanted outlaw Gat Ganns dying. Hayden decides to impersonate Ganns in order to get a job as a hired gun for evil rancher Gentry (Lloyd Whitlock). He hopes to find out who killed his father and what happened to his brother. He also meets a girl who was shot in the head (!) by some of Gentry's men. Romance surely must follow.Another John Wayne cheapie western made early in his career. As with most of his other cheapies, this one also features Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt. Yakima's stunts are the best part. It's a watchable oater but nothing to get worked up over. Try to catch the version without the irritating electronic score.

"Ted Hayden" (John Wayne) joins an outlaw gang under the guise of a man he found dying to find the one or ones responsible for his father's death. Only to discover the gang leader's is the one responsible, but love and previously unknown family.This is not a bad movie, but may not be for all. First of all, there are a lot of audio problems throughout the film, which is fairly short by today's standards. There are times that you have to strain to hear some performers with weaker voices. I noticed, in a scene at the end of the film, a sound from the microphone when they switched to close-ups of the actors in scene possibly due to changes in the audio.John Wayne is possibly the best performer in this film. He is easily the easiest for the audience to connect with. His sidekick (George "Gabby" Hayes) is, in my opinion, completely forgettable only due to not being on screen much. I also found Virginia Brown Faire, who played Wayne's love interest, to be pretty poor in her performance. I just could not believe her as she said many of her lines.A big problem with this movie is that, due to the short length of the movie (under an hour), there was just not enough time to develop the characters or any subplot. If you ask me, the romantic subplot was really rushed. There was just no time to expand any of the main plot as well.The chemistry between performers was pretty good. I would have liked to have seen more between Wayne and Hayes, as well as Wayne and the young boy who Wayne's character befriends. Due to Faire's lackluster performance, it was hard to believe the relationship between her and Wayne at times.Like the audio, the sound effects were pretty bad. There were more fist fights than gun fights in this movie. While you could hear gun shots in this film, it was nearly impossible to hear punches "connect." You have to really strain to hear the smack of the punches apparently connecting during fights, especially when they were fairly distant from the microphone on set.As for wardrobes, they were all pretty nice. However, none of the clothing appeared to have been worn for some time by the people, it looked pretty much new. All the clothing looked really nice though, and fit the classic Old West stereotype created by Hollywood.There was absolutely no music in this film. Music could have helped enhance the mood of some scenes, but because the movie was from the early days of Hollywood, it wasn't needed.There is an extremely little amount of violence in this movie. Due to the time it was made, there is absolutely no blood. The most violent thing in the entire film is a fist fight. Parents, young children could watch this without you worrying about an excessive amount of blood.This movie wasn't bad, but it's far from perfect. Fans of "The Duke" will probably like this a lot more than others. However, his fans will most likely enjoy it more.

I was a TV addict at a very early age. I lived with my grandparents, and my grandfather and I used to fight over what to watch on his television. He loved westerns; we watched "Cheyenne," and "Wyatt Earp," and "Rifleman," and numerous others during the fifties. I didn't quite share his enthusiasm for these shows, but it was a way to pass the time with him. But after seeing "The West Divide," I know why he loved westerns so. Some may refer to it as a B movie, but I think the B stands for basic. There's something thrilling about its lack of artifice. The sound of fists connecting to flesh doesn't have that ungodly amplification that later, more technically sophisticated examples of the genre had. The sentiment is rarefied like the open air. When the heroine is shot, it's played out plainly and purely; sometimes you can get a stronger emotional effect without a musical score. And the sequence with the runaway team is bracing; I figure the legendary Yakima Canutt stunted in this scene.And then there is the young John Wayne. I think it is during this period in his career that he proved himself to be the giant star he became. When he dons white buckskin in "The Telegraph Trail," he becomes almost otherworldly. Here he plays a man posing as an outlaw to find the killer of his father. By the time he has set things right, lying supine in his long-lost brother's arms, you understand why so many moviegoers couldn't get enough of him. His entire body in that moment gives way to the scene, and you cherish how tenderly and passionately he's willing to play his part. This movie taps into that well of memories some of us have with family and loved ones, and as Father's Day is tomorrow, it helps remind me what deep, elemental emotion men often feel that these days goes unacknowledged. I certainly wasn't aware of it in those days with my grandfather; but I've gained a new consciousness that has come with my being about his age at the time and watching things I know he'd have loved. Like "The West Divide." It makes you wish they made more westerns like this one.