California Straight Ahead! (1937): A Simple Race to the Coast

So, you’re thinking about California Straight Ahead! from way back in 1937? Look, if you’re hoping for a grand, sweeping epic, this isn't it. But if you’ve got a soft spot for really old, straightforward adventure stories, or you just want to see John Wayne before he was the John Wayne, you might find some quiet enjoyment. Anyone expecting modern thrills or deep characters will probably be bored stiff, honest.

The movie wastes no time getting to the point. We meet Biff Smith, played by Billy Diamond, who used to drive a school bus. Now he runs a small trucking company, and it’s got that scrappy, underdog feel right from the start. You just kinda root for him, this regular guy just trying to make his business work.

His trucks, these big lumbering things for the era, are suddenly in a high-stakes race. They gotta get some important airplane bits across the country to the Pacific coast. And guess what? They’re up against a train! 🚂 It’s a classic man-vs-machine setup, just with more dust and less CGI, obviously.

What really stuck with me were the scenes on the road. The trucks, they’re not exactly speed demons. You see them rumbling along these old, empty highways. The feeling is less "breakneck speed" and more "determined plodding." It’s actually quite charming, seeing that open road stretch out. It makes you wonder what cross-country travel was like back then.

There’s a part where one of the trucks hits a bump, and the whole thing just wobbles. It looked less like a professional stunt and more like they just drove over something unexpectedly and kept rolling. Kinda makes you feel like you're watching real people, not actors perfectly hitting marks. It added a strange little touch of authenticity, if that makes sense.

John Wayne pops up here, but don't go in expecting the Duke to be riding horses or shooting bad guys. He’s just… a guy named Jimmy, one of Biff’s drivers. He’s young, he’s got a hat, and he drives a truck. His screen time is not huge, which might disappoint some. He’s definitely not the focus, which is a bit of a surprise if you just skimmed the cast list and saw his name.

The train itself, well, it’s mostly just a train. You get a few shots of it chugging along. The tension of the race mostly comes from the dialogue, honestly. People talking about how important it is to beat the train, rather than seeing any actual, nail-biting near misses. It’s like, the idea of a race is more exciting than the actual visual of it sometimes.

One little detail, the office scenes. So many telephones ringing, and everyone sounds so serious about these calls. You can almost feel the weight of communication technology back then. It felt important to get a call through, like a