Review of The Sagebrush Trail (1922) by Donald W — 15 Jul 2013

This is one of John Wayne's earliest movies. Only John Wayne shows any acting ability in this movie. He plays an escaped convict who arrives as a hobo on a train that looks like a 1930's era steam engine and box cars.

The box cars don't look that much different from the ones still used to this day. However as soon as he flees the sheriff and the railroad detectives he's in a world of horses and stage coaches.

All the other actors are real rodeo cowboys. They make good stuntmen but bad actors. Young John Wayne gets to show off his athletic ability with some fancy mounting of horses. The story telling is choppy and hard to follow.

A good writer and director could have made this into an interesting movie.