Lewis Stone

(On Cable TV, January 2020) While probably best remembered as the precursor to the 1948 feature film starring John Wayne, this earlier version of Three Godfathers (the fifth of seven recognized adaptations of the original novel) does have a few interesting features compared to the later, better-known version. It starts with a rather long prologue in which the three titular men are introduced against a backdrop of civilization. From their interactions with citizens of a small town in the American west, it’s clear that the protagonists are scum—a liar, a cheat, a thief and a killer. The story gets going after the gang of three completes a bank robbery and goes off in the desert, where they find a dying woman and her baby. Tasked with bringing the baby to safety, they find themselves in desperate circumstances, miles away from water and civilization. Much of the film is an elimination contest, as those bad men (headlined by Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, and Walter Brennan) sacrifice themselves to save their charge, all the way to a melodramatic and rather satisfying finale. While not without lulls and technical limitations, I found this version of the story far more satisfying than the watered-down 1948 version that I saw immediately after this one. (I also attempted to record Hell’s Heroes, an earlier version of the story, for a triple bill… but the DVR ate it.)  It’s got a better redemption arc, more interesting material in the prologue and an unspectacular black-and-white cinematography that focuses more on the moralistic aspects of the tale than its place as a western.