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5.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Westward Ho remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like old-school black-and-white westerns where the good guys are very good and the bad guys have obvious mustaches, sure. Westward Ho is basically comfort food for people who grew up watching reruns on a grainy TV.
If you need plot twists that make sense or characters who act like real human beings, you’re going to hate this. It’s simple, it’s loud, and it’s very 1935.
John Wayne is in this, obviously. He plays John Wyatt with that same calm, slightly bored intensity he brought to everything back then. He’s looking for his brother, which is a decent enough hook, I guess. But the movie doesn't really care about the emotional weight of a kidnapped sibling. It cares about horses and guys falling off of them.
Things move fast. Like, suspiciously fast. One minute they are on a wagon train, the next there is a shootout, and then suddenly someone is singing. The transition between the drama and the musical numbers feels like someone just slapped two different movies together.
I found myself staring at the background extras in a few scenes. There is this one guy near the supply wagons who just stands there for an entire minute, holding a bucket, looking like he forgot why he was even on set. It’s weirdly hypnotic.
It’s not quite as interesting as The Border Legion, which had a bit more grit to it. This one feels like it was filmed on a Tuesday afternoon when everyone just wanted to get home for dinner.
The brother subplot is the only thing that gives the movie a heartbeat, but it’s mostly drowned out by the constant galloping. The romance with Mary Gordon is... well, it’s there. It happens because the script says it has to, not because there is any actual heat between them. It’s fine. It’s a movie you watch while folding laundry or cleaning the kitchen.
Don't look for deep meaning. Just enjoy the dust kicking up. 🤠