''Riders of Destiny'' is a 1933 pre-Code Western

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

starring 26-year-old

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

as Singin' Sandy Saunders, the screen's second

singing cowboy A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier, the original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and d ...

(the first being

Ken Maynard Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occasional screenwrit ...

in the 1929 film ''

The Wagon Master ''The Wagon Master'' is a 1929 American Western sound film starring Ken Maynard, directed by Harry Joe Brown, and written by Marion Jackson and Leslie Mason. The film was edited by Fred Allen and the cinematographer was Ted D. McCord. Maynard ...

''). It was the first of a series of sixteen Lone Star Westerns made for

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

between 1933-1935, by Wayne and director

Robert N. Bradbury Robert North Bradbury (March 23, 1886 – November 24, 1949) (born Ronald E. Bradbury) was an American film actor, director, and screenwriter. He directed 125 movies between 1918 and 1941, and is best known for directing early "Poverty Row"-produc ...

, and the first pairing of Wayne with George "Gabby" Hayes.

Plot

The movie begins with Saunders riding his horse and singing on his guitar when he finds Sheriff Bill Baxter tottering in the desert after being shot in the back. The scene cuts to Saunders witnessing Ms. Fay Denton robbing a stagecoach owned by Mr. Kincaid and when she attempts to get away her horse is shot from under her. Saunders rescues her, gives her his horse and then evades the captors attempting to find him. Ms. Fay turns up to the Sheriffs office to report that her horse has been stolen. The town "land and water" developer Mr. Kincaid seems to be running things and he attempts to console her. Kincaid and his henchmen have been plotting to hoard the water in the region, charge the landowners extortionist rates for the water supply and then convince them to hand over their lands. They have also been stealing Denton's proceeds from a claim in a mine. When Kincaid and his men recover Ms. Fay's saddle they return it to her at the ranch but notice that Saunders' horse is there. They suspect Saunders of being the stagecoach robber and lay a trap for him. Saunders walks into the trap but easily outguns the two henchmen that Kincaid sent to kill him. Meanwhile the towns people are arguing about what to do with Kincaid who is extorting them & compelling them to sell their land at a very low price. Kincaid as retaliation cuts off their water. In response the land owners try to steal some water. Saunders helps but the coach driver is shot and dies. Kincaid then hires Bert to take down Saunders in a town square duel. Saunders easily wounds and disarms Bert. Kincaid then attempts to bribe and hire Saunders. Saunders plays along and convinces Kincaid to blow up the well on the Denton property so they have no water and have to sell the property to Kincaid. Kincaid's men blow up the well but the well ends up springing a fountain head of water which turns into a river. Kincaid gets upset over this and murders his henchman Bert and runs for his life only to perish in the river. Saunders returns to the Denton's and as he is about to leave Ms. Fay, she tells him she does not want him to leave. He tells her that he will be back for supper and to bake him a few hundred biscuits. As Saunders rides off into the distance Ms. Fay runs in happily to bake a hundred biscuits.

Notes

Wayne's singing voice was dubbed, and the film is considerably darker than the

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

singing cowboy movies that followed it; for example, Singin' Sandy's

ten-gallon hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern United S ...

was black instead of white and he would grimly chant about "streets soon running with blood" and "you'll be drinking your drinks with the dead" as he strode purposefully down the street toward a showdown. Equally dark, the bad man in the film says he has made the ranchers "an offer they can't refuse." The supporting cast includes George "Gabby" Hayes, the acrobatic

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Al St. John, and the

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

Yakima Canutt. The movie was written and directed by

. It was the first of the

Lone Star Productions Lone may refer to: People *Lone (given name), a given name (including a list of people with this name) * Lone (musician), Matt Cutler, an electronic musician from Nottingham, United Kingdom *Lone (surname), a surname (including a list of people w ...

released through Metro Goldwyn Mayer. The actual singer, who was singing as this film and Lawless Range were being made, was Bill Bradbury, son of director

and brother of Robert A. Bradbury a.k.a. Bob Steele. Glenn Strange did the singing in ''Lawless Range''. Wayne's dubbed singing, which bore no resemblance to his unique speaking voice, was the reason he soon abandoned the singing cowboy format, as he later played a singing cowboy—though not Singin' Sandy—at least once, in '' Lawless Range'', but he was embarrassed during personal appearances when he couldn't accommodate children who clamored for a Singin' Sandy song. Gene Autry was chosen by the studio as Wayne's replacement in the new genre, immediately solving the live singing problem while ushering in a much lighter take on the format than Wayne's grimly intense rendition.

Cast

as Singin' Sandy Saunders * Cecilia Parker as Fay Denton * Forrest Taylor as James Kincaid * George "Gabby" Hayes as Charlie Denton (billed as George Hayes) * Al St. John as henchman Bert * Heinie Conklin as henchman Elmer * Yakima Canutt as henchman * Earl Dwire as Slip Morgan *

Lafe McKee Lafayette S. "Lafe" McKee (January 23, 1872 – August 10, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948. Part of his career was spent with Art Mix Productions. McKee also worked as a stage actor from 19 ...

as Sheriff Bill Baxter * Addie Foster as Mrs. Mason * Silver Tip Baker as townsman (uncredited) * Horace B. Carpenter as rancher (uncredited) * William Dyer as rancher (uncredited)

External links

* * * {{Expand Spanish, Jinetes del destino, date=May 2017 1933 films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Robert N. Bradbury American black-and-white films 1930s Western (genre) musical films Monogram Pictures films American Western (genre) musical films Articles containing video clips 1930s American films

Plot

See also

Notes

Cast

External links