Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

John Wayne made six films under the Four Star Westerns banner, a unit of the Warners Studio, this was the fifth. I'd been on the lookout for all of them when they suddenly showed up on Turner Classics a couple weeks ago and they were shown one right after another in the order of original release date. Sometimes it pays to be patient.This one plays out like a preview for Wayne's stint as a member of the Three Mesquiteers, a series of flicks made by Republic during the 1938/1939 season. Wayne's character is John Bishop, and he's got a couple of partners going by Shorty (Billy Franey) and Riley (Frank Rice). The pair have a feuding gimmick of sorts, and they run a neat little scam on deputy sheriff Buzz (Pat Harmon) to break Bishop out of the local hoosegow when he was arrested on 'no charge' by the sheriff. It looked like Bishop might have had a stagecoach wheel tampered with to win a race, but that business got cleared up later on in the story.The picture also has a couple of female characters, a bit unusual for these early oaters since the story usually required only one female lead for the hero's attention. In this one, Bishop gets off on the wrong foot with the gals with that sabotaged stagecoach business, but eventually Mary Burton (Shirley Palmer) warms up to him and takes over the romantic lead. I'd have to say John Wayne's character pulled a pretty slick move teaching Mary how to handle the reins of a buckboard. In a way unusual story element, Wayne gets to kiss the girl well before the story's over, and not once but twice! In virtually every other B Western Wayne appeared in, he had to wait until the end of the picture to close out with a smooch.This might be the earliest picture in which I've seen Paul Fix, probably best remembered as the Sheriff of North Fork in the 'Rifleman' TV series. Fix's character is part of a gang operating south of the border, who was framed for a murder a couple years earlier. Since he's the son of Bob Leadly, the ranch owner Bishop works for, Bishop takes it upon himself to rescue Bart from the Monte Black (J.P. McGowan) operation before it's too late. See if you agree, Fix here looked a bit like a cross between Stan Laurel and Victor Jory.In all these Four Star films, Wayne rode a white horse named Duke, and the one downside to this picture was that he didn't have much to do. Duke was pretty talented but all he did here was pull on a warning bell letting the citizens of Paloma know that the bad guys were on the way. That did the trick well enough, as Bishop hooked up with the Mexican rurales to put away Black and his bad guys for good. For his trouble, he got one more kiss to close out the picture.

After an old man helps John Wayne in the face of a rodeo accident frame-up, he travels to Mexico and town of the title, to find the man's long-lost (also framed) son, in order to tell him that he'd been exonerated. However, the young man is part of a gang of gringo bandits that only allow members to quit feet first.One of six B-movies the Duke made for Warner Brothers' Four Star Westerns, this isn't quite as memorable as other films in the series. It is okay though and really looks good, with some nice location photography.The action is a little weak this time around, but Somewhere In Sonora picks up a bit when Wayne infiltrates the gang, leading to a climax featuring stock-footage from one of Ken Maynard's old silent vehicles, possibly the 1927 of the same film.

A Twin Forks (Arizona) "Stage Coach Race" mishap lands participating John Wayne (as John Bishop) in jail. Ranch boss Henry B. Walthall (as Bob Leadly) thinks Mr. Wayne is innocent, but attractive brunette Shirley Palmer (as Mary Burton) isn't sure. After escaping, Wayne decides to help the kindly Mr. Walthall by rescuing his son, Paul Fix (as Bart Leadly), from some southern border bandits. Coincidently, Ms. Palmer is also headed south, with annoyingly accented blonde companion Ann Faye (as Patsy Ellis)...The best thing to be said about Wayne's penultimate Warner Brothers western may be "he was still learning his craft". It doesn't help that "Somewhere in Sonora" is another sloppily pieced together re-make of an older "silent". Ken Maynard's 1927 version looks like it was more exciting, judging from the excised footage included here. Walthall (second-billed!) hasn't much to offer. Old boyfriends Frank Rice (as Riley) and Billy Franey (as Shorty) are amusing. Mr. Fix (a Wayne film regular) does well, in an early role. The part of the ending shootout with J.P. McGowan (as Monte Black) taking aim at Wayne is memorable.*** Somewhere in Sonora (5/27/33) Mack V. Wright ~ John Wayne, Shirley Palmer, Paul Fix, Henry B. Walthall

"Somewhere In Sonora" was one of six "B" westerns starring John Wayne and his horse "Duke" made for Warner Bros. for the 1932-33 season.Set in the "present", two city gals, Mary Burton (Shirley Palmer) and Patsy Ellis (Ann Faye) drive onto Bob Leadly's (Henry B. Walthall) spread where John Bishop (Wayne) is the foreman. Mary is on her way to visit her father somewhere in Sonora (get it?). As it happens a rodeo (courtesy of some stock footage) is about to take place. Bishop invites the girls to stay over. He participates in the rodeo and drives in the stagecoach race for Leadly.An "accident" happens to the rival stagecoach, a man is seriously hurt and Bishop is blamed and arrested. Leadly and Bishop's two sidekicks, Riley (Frank Rice) and Shorty (Billy Franey) manage to help him escape. Bishop learns that Leadly's son Bart (Paul Fix) wrongfully accused of murder, is running with a gang...now wait for it...somewhere in Sonora.Bishop goes to Sonora and meets up with Mary at her father's (Ralph Lewis) ranch. Bishop and his sidekicks learn that Bart Leadly is running with a gang led by the notorious Monte Black (J.P. McGowan). Bishop infiltrates the gang and befriends Bart. While the gang attempts to rob Mr. Burton's silver mine Bishop............................This film was arguably the weakest of the six WB features. Wayne's inexperience in the acting department really shows here. A lot of time is devoted to the dumb antics of the two sidekicks. However, Wayne does get to embrace the heroine rather than his horse.This was Wayne's first of many films over the next 40 or so years with his friend Paul Fix. Henry B. Walthall had been in films since the early silents and made over 300 pictures. He is probably best remembered for his role as "The Little Colonel" in D.W. Griffiths "The Birth of a Nation" (1915). Also, watch for "B" favorites Slim Whitaker, Bud Osborne and Glenn Strange as members of McGowan's gang.