oscaralbert Review of West of the Divide

West of the Divide (1934)

That John Wayne was a Bad Guy at heart , , ,

[6/10 · 16 June 2016]

. . . is borne out once again in WEST OF THE DIVIDE. What DOES this title mean? On most any map, West is to the Left--that is, it's on the Sinister Side. Clearly, it's Wayne's "Ted" character who's standing WEST OF THE DIVIDE here, in full alignment with the Forces of Evil (namely, his father's murderer, Squire Gentry). Wayne easily slips into the role of "Gat Ganns," a notorious assassin-for-hire, facing the Hangman's Noose. Though Wayne's Real Life defection to the Dark Side was still a decade away, his penchant for Jekyll and Hyde movie roles during the 1930s is as much an indicator of future behavior as Middle Schooler Omar cheering for the hijackers on 9-11. Preachers discourage us from Playing with Hellfire, as Wayne does in WEST OF THE DIVIDE and most of his other early flicks. When Damien fatally runs down his Mommy with his tricycle in the original OMEN, it's hard not to think of the baby-faced Wayne in a picture such as DIVIDE, cutting his teeth for the deviltry to come in THE ALAMO, RIO BRAVO, and CHISUM. (Perhaps the inevitable "666" birthmark is the reason Wayne never appears shaven-headed in a movie.)