A young John Wayne (“The Searchers”, “The Alamo”) stars in “Hell Town” (or “Born To The West”). This is a harmless Western movie that is not bad but you certainly do not need to be trying to hunt this one down.

In “Hell Town”, Dare Rudd (Wayne) is known for being reckless and getting into trouble but his cousin is prepared to give him a chance to prove that he has matured by putting him in charge of a cattle drive. However, some pesky cattle rustlers are out to make things all the more challenging. If Dare can succeed, he will not only win the approval of his cousin but the love of Judy (Marsha Hunt “Raw Deal”).

John Wayne is of course one of the greatest Western actors of all-time but at this point in his career, he had not quite established himself as the genre’s king (or the ‘Duke’). He does a good job here and I cannot fault his performance as he delivers his lines with a great amount a wit and a large dose of charm. The Judy character is okay but not terribly interesting. The other characters are rather bland and you definitely will not be remembering the villainous cattle rustlers.

“Hell Town” is not another “The Searchers”, “El Dorado” or “Red River” or any of the really popular John Wayne films. This is an early film that feels like a warmup for Wayne’s movies that would come. If you a really big John Wayne fan and eager to see as many of his films as possible then “Hell Town” is worth a look and it’s not even an hour long. I think most people are going to find this film a little bit dull and considering John Wayne has done so many films, why bother with this one?