At the outset of his career, following the box-office failure of The Big Trail, John Wayne found himself relegated to the ranks of B-western stars, in between small roles in bigger-budgeted, more mainstream movies. It was at Warner Bros., in a handful of low-budget oaters (that were mostly sound remakes of films that Ken Maynard had done as silents) that he first got his chance in the genre. He's pretty good in Ride Him, Cowboy, Wayne showing that he already knows a little bit about dramatic entrances when he rescues Duke the horse (who was his co-star in all six of the Warner Bros. movies) from a court-imposed destruction order. And that movie, uniquely among these ultra-low-budget productions, has him cast with a very pretty leading lady in Ruth Hall -- also aboard are Otis Harlan, providing comic relief, and Henry B. Walthall providing some dramatic heft. The source print looks and sounds great, and The Big Stampede also looks good and sounds better; but Haunted Gold apparently hasn't been preserved quite as well, to judge from what was used here. It's more than passable, and better quality than one its used to from low-budget westerns of this period, but there are also flaws in evidence at various points, and some of the reel-change points look rough; and the sound isn't as strong as on the other two titles. As with the films themselves, there are no frills on the DVD -- no bonus features and barely any chapters. But for John Wayne completists, this will be a satisfying budget-priced disc.
