. . . is titled THE RANGE FU3D, and is included on a Disc Plaza Entertainment "Made in Canada" product labeled "John Wayne Movie Collectibles, Volume One." Besides RANGE FU3D, Vol. 1 includes THE LAWLESS RANGE, TWO FISTED LAW, and THE LUCKY TEXAN (all crammed onto a single DVD with NO Special Feature Extra Bonuses--not so much as a theatrical trailer or still photo gallery). Since I'd already seen these latter three Wayne films on professionally produced American home entertainment offerings, I did NOT try to sit through an inferior Canadian version of them (which I assume sported title cards reading THE BRALESS RANGE, TWO FISTED AWL, and THE DUCKY EXMAN). When Disc Plaza's clowns at "Cascadia Labs" threw FU3D into their Volume One, they forgot to include the original music soundtrack (except for 16 seconds at the very beginning and 13 at the end). Also missing is Mr. Wayne's hanging, which seems to be the whole point of this story. Somehow, the picture goes out-of-frame at the key moment, after the Duck has been Noosed for his Final Dance. Disc Plaza omits a release year on its Volume One package, but I have a hunch that Vol. 2 is due out any day now. Then perhaps we'll see such Wayne titles as RIDERS OF TIFFANY, KING OF THE PECAN, THE LONELY TAIL, and WINDS OF THE WAISTBAND.

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".

Young John Wayne appears in support of Buck Jones in Range Feud as a the son and heir of a couple of feuding ranch families. Seems as though the patriarch of the other clan is shot in the back shortly after Wayne came courting on Susan Fleming who is the daughter of the deceased.There's someone who's mighty interested in keeping a range feud going between the two families, a guy who's been rustling from both families and laying the blame on the other. It's up to the sheriff, played by Buck Jones to figure it out and prevent a miscarriage of justice.Buck Jones had a strong screen presence and a very good speaking voice for sound. He apparently made the transition to sound with ease. This was the first time I'd ever seen one of his films and I could tell why he was a success as a cowboy hero.Although there's not much suspense here, you pretty much figure out who's the real villain in the first few moments of the film, still for western fans it's got all the ingredients, riding, fighting, shooting, and the prerequisite ending.And it's an opportunity to see a very callow John Wayne in support of another cowboy hero.

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.