"Wagon Wheels"

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Today I watched my first Randolph Scott movie (contrary to the song Randolph Scott never actually Rode The Range Alone, since he always had sidekicks), Wagon Wheels.  It's a B-movie version of Zane Gray's book Fighting Caravans, which had already received one or two A-movie treatments at that time.

Randy, indeed.


I enjoyed it. Scott was an unexpected pleasure.  He was calm and poised and actually attractive (rather than just Cowboy Movie "attractive").  There was a little kid played by Billy Lee who was not only was non-annoying, he was actually adorable.  The female love interest had determination and dignity and the most beautiful alto voice.  The supporting characters were enjoyable even: the frontier lesbian and her bookish sister, the Old Gay Mountaineer Couple who raised Scott's character since finding him as a child, the Snidely Whiplash guy who's "half-injun" and there to sabotage the trip.

There's a lot of sexual tension here. I'm just not sure exactly WHERE.

There were the usual anachronisms to annoy me.  The spy's purpose in sabotaging the trip is to preserve The Fur Trade, when the fact is the Oregon Trail started only after the Fur Trade had dried up (due to the change in fashion for men's hats, if you can believe that).  Kerosene is a plot point, which wouldn't have been cheap and  plentiful enough to have a WAGON full of it on the Oregon Trail.  And, most gratuitously and gratingly, the wagoneers sing "Onward, Christian Soldiers" about thirty years before it was written.  I mean, really now; it was written by ARTHUR SULLIVAN; the mistake is unforgivable.

"Injuns" are mostly props to shoot at (except for the spy).  I suppose it is some consolation that they were not Gratuitously Evil, but were being led (employed?) by the Spy.  

The movie is only about an hour and some of that was filled up with diegetic musical performances, but those were pleasant and seemed appropriate.  Frankly, the length of the film was a blessing; Westerns can be really SLOW AND TEDIOUS and this one avoided that.  

There was also an 11th hour character development that I did not expect, which was rather moving.

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