Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

classicsoncall John Wayne made six films under the Four Star Westerns banner, a unit of the Warners Studio, this was the fifth. I'd been on the lookout for all of them when they suddenly showed up on Turner Classics a couple weeks ago and they were shown one right after another in the order of original release date. Sometimes it pays to be patient.This one plays out like a preview for Wayne's stint as a member of the Three Mesquiteers, a series of flicks made by Republic during the 1938/1939 season. Wayne's character is John Bishop, and he's got a couple of partners going by Shorty (Billy Franey) and Riley (Frank Rice). The pair have a feuding gimmick of sorts, and they run a neat little scam on deputy sheriff Buzz (Pat Harmon) to break Bishop out of the local hoosegow when he was arrested on 'no charge' by the sheriff. It looked like Bishop might have had a stagecoach wheel tampered with to win a race, but that business got cleared up later on in the story.The picture also has a couple of female characters, a bit unusual for these early oaters since the story usually required only one female lead for the hero's attention. In this one, Bishop gets off on the wrong foot with the gals with that sabotaged stagecoach business, but eventually Mary Burton (Shirley Palmer) warms up to him and takes over the romantic lead. I'd have to say John Wayne's character pulled a pretty slick move teaching Mary how to handle the reins of a buckboard. In a way unusual story element, Wayne gets to kiss the girl well before the story's over, and not once but twice! In virtually every other B Western Wayne appeared in, he had to wait until the end of the picture to close out with a smooch.This might be the earliest picture in which I've seen Paul Fix, probably best remembered as the Sheriff of North Fork in the 'Rifleman' TV series. Fix's character is part of a gang operating south of the border, who was framed for a murder a couple years earlier. Since he's the son of Bob Leadly, the ranch owner Bishop works for, Bishop takes it upon himself to rescue Bart from the Monte Black (J.P. McGowan) operation before it's too late. See if you agree, Fix here looked a bit like a cross between Stan Laurel and Victor Jory.In all these Four Star films, Wayne rode a white horse named Duke, and the one downside to this picture was that he didn't have much to do. Duke was pretty talented but all he did here was pull on a warning bell letting the citizens of Paloma know that the bad guys were on the way. That did the trick well enough, as Bishop hooked up with the Mexican rurales to put away Black and his bad guys for good. For his trouble, he got one more kiss to close out the picture.

FightingWesterner After an old man helps John Wayne in the face of a rodeo accident frame-up, he travels to Mexico and town of the title, to find the man's long-lost (also framed) son, in order to tell him that he'd been exonerated. However, the young man is part of a gang of gringo bandits that only allow members to quit feet first.One of six B-movies the Duke made for Warner Brothers' Four Star Westerns, this isn't quite as memorable as other films in the series. It is okay though and really looks good, with some nice location photography.The action is a little weak this time around, but Somewhere In Sonora picks up a bit when Wayne infiltrates the gang, leading to a climax featuring stock-footage from one of Ken Maynard's old silent vehicles, possibly the 1927 of the same film.

wes-connors A Twin Forks (Arizona) "Stage Coach Race" mishap lands participating John Wayne (as John Bishop) in jail. Ranch boss Henry B. Walthall (as Bob Leadly) thinks Mr. Wayne is innocent, but attractive brunette Shirley Palmer (as Mary Burton) isn't sure. After escaping, Wayne decides to help the kindly Mr. Walthall by rescuing his son, Paul Fix (as Bart Leadly), from some southern border bandits. Coincidently, Ms. Palmer is also headed south, with annoyingly accented blonde companion Ann Faye (as Patsy Ellis)...The best thing to be said about Wayne's penultimate Warner Brothers western may be "he was still learning his craft". It doesn't help that "Somewhere in Sonora" is another sloppily pieced together re-make of an older "silent". Ken Maynard's 1927 version looks like it was more exciting, judging from the excised footage included here. Walthall (second-billed!) hasn't much to offer. Old boyfriends Frank Rice (as Riley) and Billy Franey (as Shorty) are amusing. Mr. Fix (a Wayne film regular) does well, in an early role. The part of the ending shootout with J.P. McGowan (as Monte Black) taking aim at Wayne is memorable.*** Somewhere in Sonora (5/27/33) Mack V. Wright ~ John Wayne, Shirley Palmer, Paul Fix, Henry B. Walthall

bkoganbing Henry B. Walthall goes to bat for John Wayne after an overzealous sheriff charges him with a crime during a rodeo. Henry likes Wayne's riding skill and he reminds him of his lost son who fled after being accursed of a murder and hooked up with a murderous gringo gang South of the Border. Wayne repays Walthall's kindness and goes to Mexico to search for Walthall's son played by Paul Fix.Paul Fix, very good friend of the Duke and father-in-law of Harry Carey, Jr., had more films with John Wayne than any other player. This was the second joint venture for the two of them and the last would be Cahill, U.S. Marshal, 40 years later. Fix is in a terrible fix, the gang who took him in is one of those once in, never out outfits. But Wayne with the help of his trusty horse Duke sets things to right. Of course Duke the horse plays a mighty big hand in the final showdown.Somewhere in Sonora entertained many a kid at the bottom half of a double bill for Warner Brothers on a Saturday afternoon. It still holds up pretty good today.