Riding the Jubilee Trail

Once upon a time in a magic land called Hollywood there were entities called "Studios". They came in all sizes, from giant (MGM) to mite (PRC). The biggest Little Studio was called Republic Pictures and was home to stars such as John Wayne and Roy Rogers. The ruler of this studio was Herbert Yates whose talent involved getting a lot of product for a small amount of money. However, he was not as cheap as PRC and made motion pictures that looked good.

Herbert Yates had one fatal flaw; he fell in love with former Olympic skater Vera Hruba Ralston and married her. He also made her the star of many motion pictures (hereafter called pictures because your scribe is getting lazy). He had hoped to make her another Sonja Henie, but there was just so much you could do in a picture wearing ice skates, so he placed her in other movies. There were many actresses prettier and more talented than Vera, but there were also those much worse, but they tended to work for even smaller studios. (Exceptions usually involved a mogul giving his latest "discovery" roles in big pictures.)

Herbert Yates' obsession with making his beloved a Major Star did not set well with other contract players who found themselves as her costars. Her difficulty in learning English made working with her hard, and she had to learn much of her dialogue phonetically, but her directors said she worked hard at trying to learn her craft. That did not help and most of her movies lost money. But, enough of the Grimm treatment.

Around this time author Gwen Bristow penned a massive novel called Jubilee Trail. This sprawling novel followed the fortunes of Garnet Hale from New York to Spanish California. Along the way she encounters the mysterious Florinda Grove, survives an attack by Indians, sees her husband murdered and contends with her somewhat evil brother-in-law. California becomes part of the United States and gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill. It was the sort of story that made Edna Ferber a best selling author. Herbert Yates decided it would be the perfect vehicle for Vera Ralston, reportedly paying more for the rights than the average Republic production cost. Yates spent a lot of money on the production, more than average, but, compared to the major studios it still remained a B (second feature) picture. He also hired in a good cast. Vera was in the supporting role of Florinda despite top billing. Joan Leslie was the actual star as Garnet Hale. Incredibly handsome John Russell was Garnet's doomed husband Oliver with Broadway regular Ray Middleton as his unlikable brother. The actual leading man was Forrest Tucker as John Ives, Oliver's business partner. Pat O'Brien was cast as "Texas" a drunken doctor. (There were a bunch of drunken doctors in Hollywood's west, usually played by scene stealers such as Thomas Mitchell.) Buddy Baer, the strongman Ursus in Quo Vadis? is the Russian Nicolai Gregorovitch Karakozeff, dubbed 'Handsome Brute' by Florinda. Jim Davis (Jock Ewing on Dallas) was cast as saloon owner Silky. All in all it was a respectable cast. Joseph Kane, Republic's top director helmed the production and the score was by the great Victor Young.

So Republic released Jubilee Trail, calling it "The Greatest American Drama Since Gone With The Wind". Hyperbole in promoting movies was nothing unusual, but this was a bit much. It took in $1,300,000, a goodly sum for Republic, but not as much profit as the stock holders would have preferred. As expected most critics were unimpressed but that was to be expected.

I first heard of Jubilee Trail when I obtained a Victor Young LP entitled Hollywood Rhapsodies. This contained Young's theme for Jubilee Trail and I was quite entranced by it. When it came to composing lovely themes Young was hard to beat. I finally saw the movie about fifteen years later and liked it. There is not as much action as you would usually see in a Western, a lot of scenes were shot indoors and, in truth, it was what would be called a "Chick Flick" today.

It is a handsome film with good exterior photography and interior sets much more handsome than you would get in Westerns from some of the big studios such as Warner Bros. The Tru Color process was used to good effect and holds up well today. But what surprised me is Vera Ralston is quite good in the role of Florinda. She would never get any award nominations but her portrayal has a charm and, more important, she makes Florinda a likable character. She especially works well in her scenes with Buddy Baer (to Ralston's right in the picture above). Of course it has its detractors (check out the user reviews on IMDB) and some supporters. I will place myself with the latter group. For some reason Jubilee Trail works for me. I have watched it several times over the years and enjoyed it each time. It has a certain charm about it and, at least in this instance, Vera Ralston is in a suitable role. Another plus is the melodious score by Victor Young, one of the busiest composers in the industry. The main theme instrumental reappears later with lyrics by Sidney Clare as the wagon train approaches Santa Fe, in a party scene, and at the film's end. This is one soundtrack I would enjoy having on CD (anyone in the industy reading this please try to restore this lovely score).

Jubilee Trail is not a classic by any means and, compared to other studio's output, is a small movie. Yet it does have a certain appeal and provides a suitable role for Vera Ralston who tends to be the subject of much derision, sometimes being called "the worst actress" in movies. For me, at least, it works and is a pleasant way to spend time with a bowl of popcorn at hand. It is currently available from Netflix to watch on your computer or streamed to your TV. Give it a try, you might enjoy it. If not, it beats watching Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp.