Westward Bound

By the 1940's the format for the 3 pals western was pretty well set, and here we have the Trailblazers. The budget values are pretty apparent, especially some stock footage of Steele at the beginning riding down a dirt road past telephone poles. The actors don't even bother with stage names.

The action is good. Battlin' Bob and Maynard each go more than a few rounds. Even Hoot Gibson does a little fighting. The shtick with him throwing lit dynamite at the villains reminds me a lot of Walter Brennan's turn in Rio Bravo. Both Hoot and Walter were getting up there in years, cackling away and neither very flexible anymore.

At 50 minutes in length, this was intended for Saturday afternoon matinée filler. It interests me how much these B westerns presage TV drama. The target audience has a short attention span, and are shocked into alertness every five minutes with some kind of a racket - shooting, galloping, fighting, whatever. These films create a mood. The plot and acting are incidental. While this one is a lot like all the rest, I think it's better than average as a mindless Saturday afternoon trip down memory lane.