Heritage of the Desert

Randolph Scott and Sally Blane made several films together for Paramount in the early 1930s, this their first western, based on the Zane Grey novel.

This was Scott's first official western, but Blane got more attention because she played opposite legendary Tom Mix in three of his action films during the late 1920s. And if she could ride a horse and keep up with Mix, she was a natural for the part. Here, Scott plays an earnest land surveyor who is hired by ranch owner J. Farrell MacDonald to protect his property, which may be snatched by an unscrupulous land baron --who just happens to be wooing Sally! She catches the attention of Randy, or vice versa, and you know what comes next.

Action and some good fistfights are guaranteed, but its the romance angle that gets equal time, and rightly so. Behind the scenes, Randolph Scott and Sally Blane were a Hollywood item, on the front pages of fan mags of the era, making the cover of TRUE ROMANCE in 1933, which is now a collector's item.

Director Henry Hathaway, who made his debut with this film, cleverly let the cameras roll on their romantic scenes together... and they seemed to be havin' fun. HERITAGE OF THE DESERT was also notable for its on location photography, which for a lower budget film, was a smart move. With the success of this western, Paramount immediately produced Zane Grey's WILD HORSE MESA, which may have attracted even more of attention because of Sally Blane's PRE-CODE low cut dress on several posters and studio publicity shots. They are still in circulation! Whether this had anything to do with their on screen/off screen relationship, who knows, but audiences loved it.

More over, in a juicy bit of gossip... Sally was later criticized (by conservative organizations) of dressing too casually on film. These crazy, young Hollywood kids! "Be young, be foolish, but be happy."

Thank you, Randy and Sally, for blazing the trail. Always on dvd, collectors box released via Alpha Video 2006.