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The Lawless Frontier

Released Nov 22, 1934 52m Western List
Reviews 18% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
The parents of John Tobin (John Wayne) have been murdered, and he wants justice. He sets out to find the killer, the evil gang leader Pandro Zanti (Earl Dwire), who hides from the law with disguises and almost kills old prospector Dusty (George Hayes) and his granddaughter. John rescues them and catches Zanti, only to face criminal charges from lawman Sheriff Williams (Jack Rockwell). Zanti is let go, and John must clear his name and establish who the real criminal is. Read More Read Less
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Critics Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Victor Mature was never more mature as an actor. Rated: B+ Jan 30, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Good movie here well worth watching. Also, I was just reading about the girl in this movie Sheila Terry sad about her life ending died at 47 years old broke James Welch, Henderson Arkansas, July 1, 2023. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Poor cinematography but a good old classic story. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Unremarkable 'B' Western. John Wayne is out to kill a half apache outlaw who kidnaps a girl the Duke has the hots for. It's a watchable adventure, but there's very little to distance itself from other 'B' pictures that Wayne made in the 30's. It does have some nice shots of the waterfall hideout, and the secret tunnel behind the bookcase. Only viewable for Wayne nuts. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member "John Tobin" (John Wayne) is on the hunt of the killer of his father (Earl Dwire), who kidnaps a young woman (Sheila Terry). Now, John has to save the young woman, while trying to prove he is not a member of the outlaw's gang to the bumbling sheriff, who also accuses him for killing the girl's father. This is one of the worst 1930's movies I've seen. I spent more time looking away from my computer screen than watching the actual movie. The first problem is the length of the film. It completely rushed the story, which was hard to follow at times. It also gave no chance of the characters to develop. Everybody in the cast seemed to have been forced together, and did not get the chance to develop any chemistry. A good chunk of this movie deals with "Tobin" chasing the villain. In fact, a good chunk of the entire 50 minutes was a horse chase. The villain was horrible, and I did not feel any hate toward him. I didn't even believe his accent. Surprisingly, Wayne was not good in this movie. I believe this was early in his career, and it showed. He was not leading man material in this one. He didn't even have chemistry with any of the other performers. Due to the age of this film, the audio was not great. It made the dialog nearly impossible to hear at times. There were times that you couldn't understand anything that was said. You also had the source of the sound go to almost a whisper as it moved away from the microphone. If you are a John Wayne fan, check this out if you see it on the Westerns channel, but only if there is nothing else on. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Don't drink poison. Zanti is an outlaw with many men that has killed John Tobin's parents and destroyed Dusty's town. John and Dustin come across each other and join forces to hunt Zanti down. They eventually kidnap him and hand him over to the authorities; unfortunately, he escapes. The two men hunt down Zanti again in what can only end in an epic gun battle. "Better take charge of him, sheriff, before I cheat the law." Robert N. Bradbury, director of Blue Steel, The Star Packer, Riders of Destiny, The Lucky Texan, Where Trails Divide, Stars over Arizona, and Trail of Terror, delivers The Lawless Frontier. The storyline for this picture is fairly cliché, very straightforward, with "as you'd expect" characters for the genre. The acting was average and the cast includes John Wayne, Sheila Terry, George Hayes, Jack Rockwell, and Yakima Canutt. "Them renegades are after my girl. I appreciate the help." This was recommended to me by Verizon Fios so I DVR'd this classic western. Wayne was a bit raw and awkward at times in this film and the script was fairly clumsy. The overall movie was just okay and only worth viewing to diehard fans of the genre. "He likes to work alone." Grade: C Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Early classic John Wayne. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Lawless Frontier

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Movie Info

Synopsis The parents of John Tobin (John Wayne) have been murdered, and he wants justice. He sets out to find the killer, the evil gang leader Pandro Zanti (Earl Dwire), who hides from the law with disguises and almost kills old prospector Dusty (George Hayes) and his granddaughter. John rescues them and catches Zanti, only to face criminal charges from lawman Sheriff Williams (Jack Rockwell). Zanti is let go, and John must clear his name and establish who the real criminal is.
Director
Robert N. Bradbury
Producer
Paul Malvern
Screenwriter
Robert N. Bradbury
Production Co
Monogram
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 22, 1934, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 12, 2016
Runtime
52m
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