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5.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Lonely Trail remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like your movies short, punchy, and filled with guys in hats riding horses for no apparent reason, you'll be fine here. If you need complex character motivations or high-budget polish, stay away. This is pure, low-budget 1936 comfort food.
John Wayne is just doing his thing. He walks into a room, looks squinty-eyed at the villains, and eventually, things get sorted out with a lot of dust and gunfire. It’s barely an hour long, which I honestly appreciated. Nobody is trying to make a masterpiece about the human condition.
There's a moment about halfway through where the plot basically stalls just so two guys can look at a map. It’s hilariously unnecessary. You can tell they were just trying to fill the runtime before the next chase scene started.
Also, the villain is just pure evil for the sake of being evil. No baggage, no tragic backstory, just a guy with a mustache who loves stealing money. It’s refreshing, honestly. I’m tired of bad guys who give 20-minute speeches about their childhoods.
The pacing is all over the place. Sometimes it feels like they’re rushing to catch a train, and other times people are just standing around in a saloon waiting for someone to say a line. It’s not smooth, but it’s honest filmmaking.
If you’ve seen The Great Cattle War, you’ll recognize the rhythm here. It’s the same dusty playbook. They aren't even trying to hide the fact that they’re using the same locations.
That scene where the horse nearly trips over a prop barrel? I’m pretty sure they kept it in because they didn't have enough money for a second take. I love that stuff. It makes the movie feel alive instead of perfectly manufactured.
Little things I noticed:
It’s not perfect. It’s not even that great. But it’s a solid way to kill sixty minutes if you’ve got a cold drink and nowhere to be. 🤠