Wanderer of the Wasteland ** (1945, James Warren, Richard Martin, Audrey Long) – Classic Movie Review 11,503

James Warren replaces Robert Mitchum as RKO’s star cowboy in the 1945 American Western film Wanderer of the Wasteland.

The 1945 American Western film Wanderer of the Wasteland is directed by Wallace Grissell and Edward Killy, and stars James Warren in his RKO debut (replacing Robert Mitchum), Richard Martin and Audrey Long.

The screenplay by Norman Houston is loosely based on the 1923 novel Wanderer of the Wasteland by Zane Grey, about a young cowboy Adam (James Warren) searching for the man who killed his father when he was a boy. He travels the country with his lifelong friend Chito (Richard Martin), following his only clue of the crescent J brand on the killer’s horse.

[Spoiler alert] When he tracks down the now elderly murderer, he finds he cannot kill him because of his feelings for the old man’s kind-hearted daughter, Jeanie Collinshaw (Audrey Long).

Wanderer of the Wasteland is very much a minor support Western, running no longer than 67 minutes, lacking resources and ambition. But Warren, Martin and Long are are all good, and the film is entirely amiable and tolerable, not at all bad for a humble black and white B-movie of the era.

Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, it was filmed on location in the Alabama Hills of Lone Pine, California.

The main cast are James Warren as Adam Larey, Richard Martin as Chito Rafferty, Audrey Long as Jeanie Collinshaw, Robert Barrat as Uncle Jim Collinshaw, Robert Clarke as Jay Collinshaw, Harry Woods as Guerd Eliott, Minerva Urecal as Mama Rafferty, Harry D Brown as Papa Mike Rafferty, Tommy Cook as Chito as a Boy, Harry McKim as Adam as a Boy, and Jason Robards Sr as Crooked Dealer.

It was released in the US by RKO Radio Pictures on 28 September 1945 and re-released on 16 June 1951.

It is the third film of Zane Grey’s novel, first published as a serial in McClure’s magazine beginning in May 1920. The first adaptation was a 1924 silent made using an early Technicolor process, while Paramount produced a sound film in 1935 with Dean Jagger and Gail Patrick.

Richard Martin also played sidekick Chito Rafferty in 30 other Westerns, most of which starred screen cowboy Tim Holt.

The 1944 Western film Nevada is based on another Zane Grey novel and stars a 27-year-old Robert Mitchum in his first lead role as Nevada Lacy, with Richard Martin as Chito Rafferty.

James Warren took over RKO’s Zane Grey series from Robert Mitchum, now promoted to dramatic features. Warren starred in such films as Sunset Pass (1946), but his tenure as RKO’s cowboy star was brief as the studio’s resident cowboy star Tim Holt came home from military service and Warren returned to character roles.

Audrey Long (April 14, 1922 – September 19, 2014) made her screen debut in 1942 in The Male Animal playing a student and the same year played a receptionist in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

She acted mainly in low-budget films in the 1940s, including Tall in the Saddle (1944), Wanderer of the Wasteland (1945), Born to Kill (1947), Desperate (1947), Post Office Investigator (1949) and her last film, Indian Uprising (1952).

She was the widow of The Saint author Leslie Charteris. Her ashes were placed in a large urn along with those of Charteris, with an inscription that reads ‘Love Never Dies’.

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,503

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