In the opening scene, a church notice states that a "Peace Meeting" will be held on Friday at 7:30 P.M. Right after the meeting ends, as sheriff Buck Gordon (Buck Jones) accompanies Dad Turner (Will Walling) to Charlie's Saloon, Dad states that it's Sunday!

"Range Feud" was much better than I was expecting. Seeing veteran Buck Jones with up and comer John Wayne is reason enough to catch this flick, but the story itself winds up being pretty decent as well, even for an oater from the early 1930's. Up to this point, Wayne had already appeared in about two dozen films, but mostly in uncredited or bit parts, so seeing him share almost equal screen time with cowboy legend Jones must have been a great feeling for him.

In the story, Gordon is the sheriff of a small town, raised as an adopted son by rancher Dad Turner. Clint (Wayne) is Turner's other son, visually a good deal younger than Buck. In actuality, at the time of the film's release, Buck was forty two and Wayne was twenty four.

Gordon establishes his presence in the film early, he stands for nothing short of strict law and order, and finds himself right in the middle of a simmering feud between Dad and rancher Walton (Ed LeSaint). When Buck sides with Walton's claim over ownership of a parcel of land that he intends to restrict the grazing rights on, Dad Turner is ready to disown him.

The thought just struck me that in virtually every 'B' Western featuring a romantic interest, it turns out that she's the only girl in town. In this case, Judy Walton (Susan Fleming) intends to marry Clint Turner, but first she'll have to deal with her father's murder, Clint's frame up, the quick trial and the sentence imposed on her fiancée - death by hanging. Well, you know the formula, Buck figures it all out in due course and saves his pal, with your standard horse chases and shoot outs in between. The main bad guy pulling the strings behind the scenes is appropriately named Vandall (Harry Woods).

There are a couple of unusual scenes to keep your eye on in the picture. When Buck first arrests Clint and puts him in jail, he forgets to take his gun. Later, when a posse comes to hang Clint, he turns to the deputy and says "Here's a good hat I won't be needin' Jack."

It's too bad this was the only screen pairing of Buck Jones and John Wayne. It came only a couple of years prior to Wayne landing more than a dozen lead roles over at Lone Star Pictures, where he would be joined on and off by Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt. "Range Feud" would have been right at home among them, though probably a tad better than most of those flicks.

Though by no means rare, it might be tough getting your hands on a copy of this movie. I was lucky to pick it up as a double feature DVD with another Wayne film. It was worth every penny just to see all those little horseshoes on Buck Jones' shirt.

Competent little "B" oater with Buck Jones as the heroic sheriff and John Wayne as his friend falsely accused of murder. When you see Harry Wood's name in the cast, it doesn't take long to figure out who is behind all the rustling and killing.

This was one of the Duke's first westerns following "The Big Trail"(1930). It was the beginning of a long apprenticeship in the "B" western field. His parts became increasingly smaller in the balance of his work for Columbia due to a conflict with the legendary Harry Cohn, Head of the studio.

On the video release issued by Columbia/Tri-Star Home Video notice the title card at the beginning. It gives the title as Range Fued. How did that one ever get by the quality control people?

Most people today don't realize that for over a decade, John Wayne appeared mostly in cheaply made B-westerns. While none of John Wayne's Bs from the 1930s are great, they were, by and large, very enjoyable and provided a lot of entertainment---all within a tightly written an hour. Although Wayne DID star in a major film early in his career ("The Big Trail"),because of the film's failure he was soon cast as a sidekick--with stars such as Tim McCoy and Buck Jones. But, because of his great screen presence, within two years, he was starring in his own Bs.

"Range Feud" is one of those films made between "The Big Trail" and Wayne's starring Bs. In this movie, he is Buck Jones' sidekick--and clearly he is the subordinate in the plot and spends much of the film in jail--in other words, not doing much of anything through the middle of the film. BUT, for Wayne fans this isn't all bad, as the movie IS more interesting than the average Wayne movie and I just found it exciting to watch him hone his craft and play a role with which we aren't terribly familiar.

The plot isn't the most original I've seen. It concerns two bosses of rival ranches--a common theme (such as in "The Big Country") but how it was handled was uncommon. See the film to see what I mean--and to discover how Wayne's character is convicted of murder!!

By the way, the opening credits appear to have been added later...and by an idiot. That's because they misspelled the name of the movie! See what I mean when the film begins and it reads "Range Feud".