PROFILBARU.COM

California Straight Ahead!
California Straight Ahead!
Directed by	Arthur Lubin
Written by	Herman Boxer; Scott Darling
Produced by	Trem Carr
Starring	John Wayne
Cinematography	Harry Neumann
Edited by	Charles Craft; Erma Horsley
Production; company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	April 16, 1937 (United States);
Running time	67 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

California Straight Ahead! is a 1937 American action film about truck drivers starring John Wayne and directed by Arthur Lubin for Universal Pictures. The action movie features a memorable cross-country race between a caravan of trucks and a special train.^[1]

Plot

A trucker named Biff Smith (Wayne) wins a contest between his caravan of trucks and a special train, the two competing against each other in a race to see who can deliver a load of aviation parts to an ocean liner before a labor strike takes place.

Cast

John Wayne as Biff Smith
Louise Latimer as Mary Porter
Robert McWade as "Corrigan"
Theodore von Eltz as James Gifford
Tully Marshall as "Harrison"
Emerson Treacy as Charlie Porter
Harry Allen as "Fish" McCorkle
LeRoy Mason as "Padula"
Grace Goodall as Mrs. Porter
Olaf Hytten as "Huggins"
Monte Vandergrift as "Clancy"
Lorin Raker as a Secretary

Production

The film was known as Short Haul. John Wayne was meant to have made a film Maid of Orleans or Adventure's End but that was delayed due to the maritime strike. Universal then put him in Short Haul which was to have begun filming in November 1936.^[2] However filming on that was delayed due to a teamsters strike.^[3] It was to have been shot in San Francisco but that city had labor troubles so the script was rewritten so it could be shot in Los Angeles. Filming eventually took place in January 1937.^[4]

The movie was the first in a series of films directed by Arthur Lubin starring John Wayne.^[5]

Lubin recalled, "We had six days to shoot. There was no time schedule, as there is today, where if you go late at night or start early in the morning, you have to pay more. In those days, you could shoot twenty-four hours a day."^[6]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it a "fair supporting feature".^[7]

References

^ "California Straight Ahead". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 4, no. 37. London. Jan 1, 1937. p. 78.
^ DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (Nov 15, 1936). "VIEWING THE HOLLYWOOD RUSHES". New York Times. p. X5.
^ "Miss Graves Breaks Betrothal; Will Bans Marriage as Minor". Chicago Daily Tribune. Nov 27, 1936. p. 17.
^ "HELEN JEPSON SIGNS FOR SERIES OF FILMS AT GRAND NATIONAL". Los Angeles Times. Jan 8, 1937. p. 10.
^ Vagg, Stephen (14 September 2019). "The Cinema of Arthur Lubin". Diabolique Magazine.
^ Levy, Emanuel (June 12, 2006). "Adventure's End: John Wayne's Feature, Directed by Arthur Lubin". Emanuellevy.
^ Schallert, Edwin (Apr 8, 1937). "Spectacular Musical Film Opens". Los Angeles Times. p. 14.