John Wayne plays Dare Rudd, a friendly rogue who aspires to be the best poker player west of the Mississippi.  When he and his sidekick, Dinkey Hooley (Syd Saylor), ride into Montana, they meet up with Dare’s cousin, Tom Filmore (Johnny Mack Brown, billed as John here).  Filmore needs some help on his cattle drive and Dare sure does like Tom’s girl, Judy (Marsha Hunt).  Dare replaces Lynn Hardy (John Patterson) as head of the cattle drive and Lynn teams up with rustler Bart Hammond (Monte Blue) to try to get revenge.  While Dinkey tries to sell lightning rods, Dare moves the herd and even finds time to play poker with notorious gambler Buck Brady (James Craig).

This is another one of the B-westerns that John Wayne made before John Ford made him a stars by casting him in Stagecoach.  This one is interesting because Wayne is not playing his usual stolid do-gooder or even an expert marksman.  Instead, Dare is impulsive and reckless and he’s ultimately not as smart a card player as he thinks he is.  It’s rare to see John Wayne need help from anyone but that’s what he gets from Johnny Mack Brown, who shows up in time to reveal that Dare is getting cheated in his poker game.  For fans of the genre, this short oater is worth watching for the chance to see two western icons acting opposite each other.  Johnny Mack Brown and John Wayne would both go on to appear in a countless number of westerns.  Wayne became a superstar, appearing in big budget studio films.  Brown remained a mainstay on the B-circuit.  They’re amusing to watch in this film as they bounce dialogue off of each other and continually try to steal scenes from one another.  Brown is playing the type of no-nonsense, hard-working westerner who would later become John Wayne’s trademark character.

Based on a novel by Zane Grey, Born to the West is a fast-paced western featuring two of the best to ever ride a horse.