"Sagebrush Trail" is the second Lone Star Western that John Wayne did for the poverty row studio between 1933-35, although this time around he is not a singing cowboy. Directed by Armand Schaefer, this 1933 film has Wayne as John Brant, who is in prison for a murder he did not commit, which was a recurring notion in these westerns. Brant escapes and takes the alias John Smith, which is certain to fool everyone, and joins an outlaw gang. There, of course, he finds Joseph Conlon (Lane Chandler), who is not only the dirty scoundrel who actually committed the murder but who has also taken the alias of Bob Jones. Yes, that means that what we have here are the original "Alias Smith and Jones."

Actually, "Sagebrush Trail" takes an interesting turn here because Jones does not know that anyone was ever sent to prison for the crime he committed, which makes it hard for our hero to gun him down or even beat him up. Instead the two men become friends as our hero lets bygones by bygones. However, Fate is not done with these two because it turns out they both fall for the same shop girl, Sally Blake (Nancy Shubert). Besides, "Jones" is starting to suspect that "Smith" is not a real outlaw.

That should be enough to tell you how "Sagebrush Trail" plays out, but at least Lindsley Parsons's screenplay had the one twist on the obvious story, which makes it a notch above average. As is usually the case with these Lone Star Westerns the chief attraction ends up being the stunt work of the legendary Yakima Canutt, who actually plays the leader of the outlaw gang. Canutt does an excellent horse fall into a river, drives a team of horses like a chariot, and manages to get up on a stagecoach while starting flat on his back.