Near the Trail's End: Just another day in the dusty desert

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you are a sucker for black-and-white westerns where the dialogue is thin and the horses look tired. If you like your movies to move fast and have a lot of weird, dusty local color, you will probably get a kick out of this. If you need logic or a plot that doesn't feel like it was scribbled on a napkin, look elsewhere.

Bob Steele is the main guy here. He has this way of walking that looks like he is constantly trying to balance on a rolling barrel. It is charming, in a weird way.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Near the Trail's End (1931) through its definitive frames.

Cactus City feels… small

The town itself looks like it has about three streets and one actual wall. Every time someone walks into a building, you can practically hear the cardboard rattling. There is a scene where Johnny just stares down a group of henchmen, and the silence goes on for way too long. You can almost see the actors wondering if the director fell asleep in the back.

Speaking of silence, there is a distinct lack of music during the long riding shots. It just feels empty, like the audio engineer went to grab a sandwich and forgot to come back. It’s not necessarily bad, just… quiet. Very, very quiet.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Near the Trail's End (1931) through its definitive frames.

The bad guys and the rest

Bart Morgan is the kind of villain who spends most of his screen time pointing at things and looking vaguely annoyed. He doesn't really *do* much, he just kind of exists in the background, lurking near doorways. It reminds me a bit of the aimless energy in The Warrior, where things just sort of happen because the script says so.

Jane Rankin is there, mostly to be the prize. It is 1940s western logic, so don't expect her to have much to do other than look worried and stand in the shade. She does a fine job of it, though.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Near the Trail's End (1931) through its definitive frames.

• That one guy in the background of the saloon scene is definitely just reading a newspaper upside down.
• The horses are the best actors in the film, let’s be honest.
• There is a fight scene that involves a lot of swinging at thin air.

It is not trying to be The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, that is for sure. It’s just a B-movie western. Sometimes the sun is too bright, sometimes the shadows are too deep, and sometimes you just want to watch a guy in a cowboy hat get punched in the jaw. It delivers on that front, at least.

I found myself thinking about Tempest Cody Hits the Trail halfway through. They share that same breezy, low-budget feel where the plot is just a flimsy excuse to get to the next punch-up. It is not a great film, but it is not a chore either. Just don't ask it to be anything more than what it is.