Please don't spend money on this.

Must See Movie...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

With a bigger budget than other movies of John Wayne's of this period, this 55 minute programmer has a more interesting story and higher production values than those others.The version I saw, on TCM had a very clean and crisp transfer and even looked like it had been restored.The story goes something like this: John Wayne travels to Canada in search of a missing miner and his daughter, but ends up a fugitive when he helps a friend who has been framed for murder to escape the law. In a deserted mountain cabin, complete with skeletons, they stumble on a treasure map. Deciding to go after the loot, they're on the run again, until a devious trapper plans to get his hands on it by posing as a mountie.There's some wonderful scenery (pity it's not later and in Technicolor) that rather takes over from the story but that's no bad thing and is a nice change from the dust and Indians of your usual western.The Duke's delivery of his lines are stilted and rather wooden but he's unsurpassed at mounting a horse whilst running - and from the back of the animal, which arguably is far more important than eloquent dialogue!Though hardly a classic and probably a bit pretty for young boys wanting 'cowboys'n'indians' action, The Trail Beyond remains quite watchable.

While I love old movie westerns, this film is a special favorite to me due to the filming locations. Visitors to the Eastern Sierra will enjoy watching this movie for all the familiar locations.Many of the shoots are in the Devils Postpile National Monument near Mammoth Lakes, CA. The canoe scenes are on the San Jaoquin River next to what is now the ranger station and campground for the Monument. My family has camped there for many years. The big falls in the movie is Rainbow Falls in the south end of the Monument.Bad acting and dialog are a fun part of watching movies like this. I'm not looking for a fine art film when I watch this. Horse chases, pretty girls and good guys versus bad guys out in wild scenery is what I want. I got that in this picture.

In western gear, brawny John Wayne (as Rod Drew) is asked to find a missing woman. Donning modern dress, he takes a train to Canada. On board, Mr. Wayne meets similarly-suited college pal Noah Beery Jr. (as Wabi). Mr. Berry's participation in a crooked poker game gets the two men off the train. They change into western outfits, and are on the run from the law.In an abandoned cabin, Wayne and Berry find a map to some gold, along with the skeletal remains of some unfortunates. They go to hide the map in a store run by pretty blonde Verna Hillie (as Felice) and papa Noah Beery Sr. (as George Newsome). The prospects of gold and a pretty woman attract the attention of dastardly Robert Frazer (as Jules LaRocque) and his gang… This "Lone Star Productions" film has a simple plot that keeps you forgetting where they've been and why they're going wherever they're going. The focus is on Wayne and "half breed" (huh?) sidekick Berry Jr., with the latter's real-life father in a few scenes. A very mild subplot involves their competition for the lovely Ms. Hillie. The film gets by on stunts and scenery.*** The Trail Beyond (10/22/34) Robert N. Bradbury ~ John Wayne, Noah Beery Jr., Verna Hillie, Noah Beery

Like the other John Wayne B-westerns I recently saw on the Encore Channel, this one had a very modern and inappropriate music track added to it by some idiots at Fox Lorber Pictures. Why they would do this is beyond me, as the electronic instruments and how invasive the music was seriously detracted from the film. My advice is to download the public domain copy linked to IMDb instead.In the 1930s-50s, some of the series B-westerns played very fast and loose with anachronisms and continuity. Early on, you see this is the case with "Trail Beyond" because although it begins in the old West, soon you see John Wayne dressed in stylish 1930s clothes and he's riding on a contemporary train car. Considering how often Gene Autry and others also had such silly anachronisms in their films, I guess I can cut this one a little slack.Wayne is sent to Canada by a friend. It seems that long ago, this friend and his brother became estranged. Now that he's an old man he wants to patch things up with his niece--who he's never seen. Due to his age, he needs Wayne to make this trip for him. However, on the way there, Wayne meets up with another friend (a college buddy?!) who is set up for murder and he helps the guy make a getaway. That Wayne--such a helpful and swell guy! The choice of the friend and the guy who played Mr. Newsome is pretty interesting, by the way. Newsome is played by Noah Beery and the young guy set up for a killing he didn't do is Noah Beery, Jr.--who you may recognize from his stint on "The Rockford Files" in the 1970s.Once in Canada, Wayne and his friend find a cabin with skeletons inside. In addition, there is a map showing the location of a gold mine. Naturally, there is an evil gang looking for the gold as well. I say naturally because just about every Wayne B-western involves an evil gang! Soon Wayne and Jr. get involved in rescuing a pretty lady from the gang. Surprise, surprise...the woman eventually turns out to be the missing niece---one of the least surprising twists in movie history! This is so predictable and contrived--especially when just as Wayne is about to tell this pretty lady about the Uncle and his desire to make her his heir, he's interrupted! Sheesh! In the meantime, an evil lady has decided to try to assume the role of his niece.In the midst of all this gang activity and deceit, there still is a killing attributed to Beery, Jr. and the Mounties are looking for him. Unfortunately, when a Mountie does catch the pair, he turns out to be one of the gang...and a faux Mountie! But, since it's a B-movie at well under an hour in length, very soon they manage to escape along with a real Mountie. Can they find the real niece AND the gold mine AND can Beery, Jr. prove his innocence? Aside from saying that the film was set in Canada, the Mountie and a couple guys with outrageous French-Canadian accents, this is pretty much like any other Wayne B-western. However, at least the crew filmed this in a location that at least looks reasonably Canadian (at Big Bear lake in California). This is pretty surprising, as this area is about 40 miles due east of Los Angeles--and not anywhere close to the wild North! The film is decent watchable B-western entertainment. Nothing deep or sophisticated here--just a very direct film made in a quick but exciting manner. This is not one to rush out to see and it has its obvious plot deficiencies, but it is worth seeing if you enjoy films of the genre.By the way, my favorite moment in the film was near the end. When the baddie was shot, he falls down near the edge of a cliff--dead. Yet, oddly, in the next cut, he's shown falling off the cliff--as if someone ha