Sagebrush Trail
Sagebrush Trail
| 15 December 1933 (USA)
Sagebrush Trail Trailers

Imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, John Brant escapes and ends up out west where, after giving the local lawmen the slip, he joins up with an outlaw gang. Brant finds out that 'Jones', one of the outlaws he has become friends with, committed the murder that Brant was sent up for, but has no knowledge that anyone was ever put in jail for his crime. Willing to forgive and forget, Brant doesn't realize that 'Jones' has not only fallen for the same pretty shopgirl Brant has, but begins to suspect that Brant is not truly an outlaw.

Reviews
Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
arfdawg-1 Imprisoned for a murder he did not commit, John Brant escapes and ends up out west.After giving the local lawmen the slip, he joins up with an outlaw gang. Brant finds out that 'Jones', one of the outlaws he has become friends with, committed the murder that Brant was sent up for, but has no knowledge that anyone was ever put in jail for his crime. Willing to forgive and forget, Brant doesn't realize that 'Jones' has not only fallen for the same pretty shop girl Brant has, but begins to suspect that Brant is not truly an outlaw.Some decent fight scenes.But let's be honest, this is a B picture. Better than a lot of westerns made for no money and not just because Wayne is in it.
aa56 I reckon audiences in the early 1930s were expected to suspend belief completely when they watched these pictures.Wayne pulls a reed out of the mud as if were a prop. The Law shoots into the water, and because the reed floats away, they assume they gottem, but don't care that no body floats to the surface, and skeedaddle as fast as they can. From the animal's rump, Wayne jumps on horses that should have been tied to the hitchin' post and gallops away without untying it. The Law waits in ambush for Jones and Wayne to enter the store, but fires before Wayne fully opens the door, wounding him in the shoulder, which miraculously heals in a coupla' days. They dutifully wait in the store until the two can escape before they give chase, and, of course, Jones and the wounded Wayne are much faster than the lawmen. Wayne camouflages himself and waits for a stagecoach to run over him, not caring at all if the horses step on him or a wheel squashes him. When Jones and Wayne are behind the wagon being hosed by the continuous fire of the robbers, no bullets at all hit the wagon, allowing the two to have a quiet chat.I could go on, but that should prove my point.
MartinHafer In the 1930s, before he was a Hollywood star, John Wayne made a long string of rather ordinary B-westerns. Now these were not necessarily bad movies (well, aside from his stint as "Singing Sandy"), but they certainly were not great works of art. Like other B-westerns, they filled a niche--a cheap second film for a double feature--the sort of film that kids loved. In many ways, these films are a lot like Gene Autry films with a little bit more realism.This film finds Wayne playing John Brant--a guy who has escaped from prison and is trying to prove his innocence. With practically no evidence to support this, his instincts tell him to make for a group of crooks out West--even though the murder occurred in Baltimore. And, in a case of coincidence only possible in movies, he just happens to find the guy who really committed the crime!! While silly, I did like that at least there was the twist that Brant found he liked the guy!Overall, about what you'd expect from such a film. The acting, at times, was suspect but the film went by at such a fast clip that it was basically harmless entertainment.By the way, I saw this film again on the Encore Channel and noticed right away that someone 'clever' at Fox Lorber Pictures added an annoying modern electronic musical track to this film. Avoid this version at all costs and just download the public domain version from IMDb--you'll be doing yourself a favor.
bkoganbing It was in films like Sagebrush Trail that John Wayne learned his craft, but thank the Deity he got out of doing stuff like Sagebrush Trail. The Duke has busted loose from jail, he was in the calaboose for a murder he didn't commit. He eludes a posse chasing him, but gets into the clutches of an outlaw gang headed by Yakima Canutt. It's as good a place as any to look for the man who can clear him. He doesn't realize though how lucky he got.Now granted this was a Lone Star production, not even a B film. But I would have liked to have seen just how Wayne got into the jackpot that landed him jail for murdering the lover of a married woman if he wasn't involved with her. When we do find who the murderer is that's never explained to us. Since this was for the afternoon kiddie matinée crowd maybe such things weren't delved into even before the Code came in place. Maybe it was a question of sloppy editing also. I think John Wayne's most devoted fans might like this one, I really wouldn't recommend to others, even other western fans.