Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . 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.)

FightingWesterner John Wayne and George Hayes come back to the place where Wayne spent his childhood in order to find out who killed his father and what became of his baby brother twelve years earlier. Wayne and Hayes then go undercover to stop a group of ranch thieves.There's a few good scenes and a decent climax in this entry in Wayne's Lone Star western series but mostly this is middle of the road entertainment with a bit too much talking and not enough action this time around.However, this does have some better-than-usual acting for the series. Duke and Gabby's performances are also quite likable, as is the actor that played Wayne's young friend.

John W Chance An average Lone Star film -- built on convenient coincidences (Gat Gann just happens to walk into the scene and dies, and, as luck would have it, just happens to bear a letter of introduction to the man, "Gantry" who, as fate would have it, just happens to have killed John "Ted" Wayne's father and for whom Ted goes to work because Ted just happens to look just like Gannon in his "Wanted" poster, etc., etc.) and clichés. Interesting for: 1) the stunt work of Yakima Cannutt-- riding a buckboard hitch with a boy on his back,and later diving through a window from a horse; 2) the child abuse theme that culminates in John Wayne's heartfelt hugging of young "Spud" at the end. Other than that, not much here, even by Lone Star standards. No real character development, except for John Wayne's passionate presence; George Hayes just chews tobacco.

shrine-2 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.