Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on January 20, 2006 at 15:32:01

1943 film starring Jean Arthur as a New York City (read:big city) lady who elects to leave her three hot and heavy suitors for a trip out west. On the way, the bus stops in Texas for a rodeo, where, surprise, surprise, John Wayne plays a cowboy named, honestly, "Duke.". While at the rodeo and sitting in the stands, Wayne is launched upon Arthur. Therein begins the relationship.

They soon begin walking around the town, and go on a date to a saloon. There, Wayne, apparently to prove his vowed bachelorhood, invites numerous friends. Arthur quickly leaves, they mill around the town participating in the obligatory scenes, including a bar brawl and gambling, falling on hay, etc.

Predictably, Arthur looses track of time, and the bus leaves poor Arthur in town. The following day, she hitchikes with Wayne to the next town. Along the way, we see them fight, those of the "cute" variety. They part ways, she returning to New York. End of story? No. Who shows up in New York. Wayne does. Though he arrives there almost immediately after she did, which left me to ponder when he left, and what was his more of transportation, given that his car was lucky to make it to the next Texas town.

Wayne receives second billing on the film, the year being 1943, and while his film credits were many, his best films were yet to come. Arthur, on the other hand, was at the end of her film career. She made three more films in the next ten years. I am not familiar with her, but she apparently fell fast. I learn that she was one of the finalists for Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, and that Frank Capra regarded her as his favorite actress.

She is certainly cute, but here she seems to strike a one note performance. The story is predictable and simple. Almost as though she needed the work, Wayne needed something to do. This may be the only John Wayne film that be properly labeled a "romantic comedy". I found Wayne to have pretty good comic timing, and I think that he could have been a pretty good actor in this type of role, provided he was given better material.

As an aside, Charles Winninger, previously unknown to me, plays Waco, a short, pudgy Wayne side kick. Is it me, or did John Wayne always seem to have goofy sidekicks? The D.V.D. transfer is merely acceptable. Some shots are out of focus, and there are a few white splotches which crop up, and some editing splices. There are no special features, which confirms my theory that a film's importance, at least to the studio, can always be gauged by the special features they offer.

I would recommend the film only for serious John Wayne afficionados, those persons that need to collect everything. The film is predictable, and while competently acted, not much stands out from the actors. The scenery is largely studio. Nothing in the way of grand vistas.