The Trail Beyond

After a mixup on a train, a cowboy (John Wayne) and his buddy find themselves on the run from law, searching the Canadian wilderness for a girl and a gold mine.

While the Big Bear Lake vistas provide a nice change of pace from Wayne’s other Monogram entries, the canoeing shots do get repetitive and Wayne’s shirt manages to change color several times while he moves up and down river. Further, despite offering moments of originality, such as setting some of the action on a train where we see a 27-year-old Wayne in his finest suit, Parsons’ script is talky, convoluted, by the numbers production.

Fortunately, “by the numbers” also means plenty of Yakima Canutt’s great stunts including the oft used horse dive (this time with an over-the-shoulder POV shot), and a well staged finale that features an extremely realistic (complete with a miss!) attempt to jump from a horse to a moving carriage. Look close at the trading post wall for the wanted poster from Wayne’s earlier oater West of the Divide.