That was an excellent one.

Purely Joyful Movie!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Copyright 21 September 1934 by Paramount Productions, Inc. New York opening at the Mayfair: 3 October 1934. U.S. release: 15 September 1934. U.K. release: 23 March 1935. 6 reels. 56 minutes. Alternative U.S. TV title: CARAVANS WEST.SYNOPSIS: Fur trappers stir up Indians to attack a wagon train headed for Oregon in 1844.NOTES: A re-make of Fighting Caravans (1931) which starred Gary Cooper as Clint Belmet, Fred Kohler as Murdock and Lily Damita as the heroine.Charles Barton's first film as full director.COMMENT: You would naturally expect William A. Wellman's close friend and longtime minor associate to model his first film after the master. But Hollywood is usually so unpredictable and illogical, it's actually a surprise to find this surmise actually happening. Barton never became a really class "A" director and his later films with the likes of Abbott & Costello and Donald O'Connor are just about as far away from Wellman territory as it's possible to get. But here he makes a reasonable attempt to follow Wellman's foot-steps with a slice of historical saga. Although the plot is different, notice how close in mood and structure and atmosphere this movie is not only to Wellman's Westward the Women (1951), but even more to Ford's Wagon Master (1950).It's said that this movie uses out-takes from Fighting Caravans, which is probably correct though the footage is so skillfully integrated and matched that most people will assume that a lot of money was spent on Wagon Wheels. It certainly looks mighty impressive. Not only ruggedly picturesque, but vividly, colorfully realistic. The action spots are vigorously staged, and though there is room for romance and sentiment, these elements are for the most part subordinated. With three exceptions, the approach is unvarnished and unglamorously realistic. The exceptions are a bit of amusing comic by-play between Jan Duggan's over-romantic spinster and Raymond Hatton's rough-hewn frontiersman, three or four rousing musical interludes (a device which certainly brings Wagon Master to mind), and some unfortunate but fortunately limited encounters between our hero and a typically Hollywood precocious ankle-biter, over-enthusiastically played by Billy Lee. The rest of the cast is much more agreeable, with Randolph Scott contributing his usual stalwartly ingratiating performance, Gail Patrick making a surprisingly spirited heroine, and solid character studies from the likes of Jan Duggan, Leila Bennett, Raymond Hatton, villainous Monte Blue, and Olin Howland doing more than justice to a major role. All told, Barton's direction has the necessary sweep and pace, whilst production values are by "B" standards outstandingly lavish.OTHER VIEWS: It seems a contradiction in terms to talk about a "B" epic, but that's exactly what this remarkable film is. In fact were it not for its short running time, Wagon Wheels could make every claim to being a class "A" feature - and no audience would argue the point. The scriptwriters have packed an astonishing amount of incident into 56 minutes, and yet seem to have found plenty of time and opportunity not only for lavish pictorial effects of the multi-wagon train stretching clear to the horizon but for rich characterizations and three or four appropriately realistic musical interludes as well... In fact the emphasis throughout is firmly on realism. The film conveys not only a vivid record of the rigors of the trek, but an unvarnished look at the pioneers themselves: heroes certainly, but with feelings and dreams, lusts and emotions strangely recognizable as akin to our own.

Wagon Wheels is a really enjoyable old western to watch. Set in the year 1844, any viewer will find humor, music, drama, suspense, romance, and excellent acting throughout the cast. It is also a superb depiction of some of the elements, and especially equipment that beset an 1840's wagon train heading west. The ensemble actors had a keen sense of playing their roles in a manner depicting that previous period. Randolph Scott leads the players, where he is heroic, valiant of character, and sagacious of spirit. . .while his easy natural ways are endearing. Beautiful Gail Patrick is perfect for her role as a widowed mother taking a 4 year old son west. Her little boy, played by Billy Lee, is one of the great child actors ever, and gives a wonderful performance here. The 3 men leading the wagon west (Randolph Scott & 2 grizzled characters) have a real challenge defeating the elements that fall upon them. I don't want to give the whole story away, only to say I've seen a whole lot of westerns, and this one is one of the most enjoyable to me.

I was surprised during the opening credits to see that this picture was based on the Zane Grey Western story 'Fighting Caravans'. A film with that title appeared in 1931 starring a young Gary Cooper with much of the same story line. This time the destination is Oregon, while in the earlier movie, the wagon train was heading to Sacramento. The principal character, wagon-master Clint Belmet is portrayed by Randolph Scott, and he has a couple of sidekicks, Bill O'Leary (Olin Howland) and Jim Burch (Ray Hatton) who help out with the wagon teams. Belmet has this thing against 'lily white women going across the Rockies', but after a while, he begins to take a liking to Nan Wellington (Gail Patrick), and the feeling appears mutual. Nan's four year old boy Sonny (Billy Lee) provides some of the picture's comic relief in his relationship with Belmet, and manages to fire off a few well placed slingshot rounds during the Indian attack that closes out the story.I have to say, the wagon train itself was quite an impressive affair, and a lot more rustic looking than you got with your classic TV Westerns. Watching them make their way across deep rivers and through rugged mountain passes covered with snow made you wonder how rugged those folks had to be to even contemplate such a journey.Surprisingly to me, the film offered more than a handful of songs provided by various characters, including the title tune done a couple of times by cowboys round the campfire and again by rugged gal Hetty Masters (Leila Bennett). The action in the story was provided by a couple of Indian attacks against the pioneers, instigated by villain Murdock (Monte Blue) who was hired by fur traders to prevent them from reaching their destination. With Randolph Scott on hand however, the settlers prevail to continue on their journey to a better life than the one they left.

The print for this old western is only fair and unfortunately it does not have any sort of captioning---either closed captioning or DVD captions.I chose to watch this film because it starred Randolph Scott--and I never turn down a chance to see another one of his westerns. Compared to the average film in the genre, Scott's always seem a bit better--much of it due to Scott's seemingly effortless acting. Even here, early in his career, his gentle yet rugged persona is intact--and quite enjoyable in this rather short B-movie. Another reason, it turned out, to see it was young Billy Lee--one of the cutest child actors I can recall--and not in a cloying and saccharine manner.Not surprisingly considering the title, "Wagon Wheels" is about a wagon train that is heading to Oregon but must deal with the elements as well as American-Indians that are being stirred up by a jerky half-Indian (Murdock). Scott and his two very scruffy looking friends are in charge of getting these settlers to their destination.As for the story, it's very straight-forward---without a lot of the sentiment and clichés you'd normally find in a 30s B-movie. As a result, the film does seem a tad rushed but is otherwise pretty watchable.By the way, for historical purists out there, while the story is supposed to be set around 1850, the guns are clearly newer--with the settlers using what appear to be cartridges--which were not readily available at that time in history. Also, while popular in films, American-Indians did NOT make a habit of attacking wagon trains--in fact, it was a very, very rare occurrence.