Daniel Boone (1936): A Dusty Trip Through Kentucky

Is it worth the time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s B-westerns or just really, really like watching people walk through woods. If you’re looking for a grounded look at the frontier, you’ll probably find this movie a bit exhausting. It’s definitely for the crowd that prefers their action simple and their heroes shiny.

George O'Brien plays Boone with a jawline that feels like it’s doing most of the acting. He’s got that classic, stiff-backed charisma that you see in a lot of old-school adventure films, like something out of The Country Kid. It works, mostly because the script doesn't ask him to do much else.

The Pacing Problem

The movie starts with a lot of heavy lifting. It tries to set up the whole "taming the wilderness" thing, but it takes forever to actually get to the point. There’s a scene in the middle where they’re just sitting around a campfire that felt like it lasted until the next Tuesday. I checked my watch twice.

Then, suddenly, everyone is running and shouting. It’s like the editor got bored and just decided to hit the fast-forward button. The transition from "leisurely stroll through the forest" to "life-or-death battle" happens so fast it’s almost funny.

• The trees in the background look like they’ve been moved around to make the forest look bigger.
• John Carradine is in this, looking menacing in a way that suggests he’s the only one who realized what kind of movie he was in.
• The dialogue is so formal it sounds like they’re reading off legal documents.

I found myself distracted by the extras during the bigger sequences. There’s one guy in the background of the fort scenes who clearly forgets he’s supposed to be distressed and just leans against a wall looking for his lunch. It’s those little moments that keep you awake when the plot starts to drag.

It’s not trying to be a deep dive into the human condition. It’s a relic, really. A snapshot of when Hollywood thought the frontier was just a place for men to look noble while carrying rifles. If you want something a bit more fun, maybe check out Wild Women instead, just for the change of pace.

I don’t know. It’s not great, but it’s not exactly insulting either. It’s just... there. It exists. It’s a movie that happened once and now it’s sitting on a hard drive somewhere. 🤠