Riders of Destiny (1933)
Government agent Sandy Saunders poses as a hired gun to infiltrate the operation of a water baron squeezing every rancher in a drought-stricken valley, turning the villain's own contract against him before a flood of his own making finishes the job.
Riders of Destiny opened the run of sixteen Lone Star Westerns Monogram cranked out with John Wayne between 1933 and 1935, saddling him with the “Singin’ Sandy” gimmick meant to cash in on the singing-cowboy craze — his vocals dubbed, since Wayne famously couldn’t carry a tune, and the gimmick dropped almost as fast as it arrived.
Background
Riders of Destiny was the first of the low-budget Lone Star Westerns that Monogram Pictures made with John Wayne over the next few years. Robert N. Bradbury directed, and George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Cecilia Parker and Al St. John appear in the cast. The film gave Wayne the ‘Singin’ Sandy’ gimmick, an attempt to cash in on the singing-cowboy craze of the period. His singing voice was dubbed by another performer, and the gimmick was dropped quickly.
What to watch for
Government agent Sandy Saunders poses as a hired gun to infiltrate the operation of a water baron who is squeezing every rancher in a drought-stricken valley. Watch how the plot turns the villain’s own contract against him, and how the film builds toward the flood that finishes the story. The singing sequences are the curiosity of the picture, reflecting the gimmick the studio tried with Wayne. The film is a short, fast Western, with action built around horses and simple set pieces, and its plot is driven by undercover deception rather than by spectacle.
