Two brothers are separated when young. One becomes the pony express rider Clint Knox and the other the outlaw Ace Carter. Their next meeting finds Ace way-laying Clint as he delivers the mail. During the gold rush days a wagon train is attacked by a gang of renegades. John Knox is killed and one of his young sons, Asa Knox, is kidnapped by the renegade leader. The other son, Clint, and his mother Martha escape and reach St. Joseph, Missouri. Clint grows up and becomes a crack rider for the Pony Express. The kidnapped brother, now known as Ace Carter, has been raised by the outlaws with a contempt for the law. He is an unsuccessful rival of Clint's for the Pony Express job, which fosters enmity between them. Ace holds up a stagecoach on which Martha Knox and Clint's sweetheart, Mary West, are passengers. Clint takes the trail and runs him down. Clint later learns Ace's true identity and saves him from a lynch mob. Because of the circumstances, Ace's captors relent, and the two brothers and their mother are reunited. This film seems to have pretensions to be a 'historical' western, about the "greatest Migration in History," the westward movement after the discovery of gold in California; the beginnings of the Pony Express, and even news events of 1860 (although shown in superimposed titles over a Pony Express rider). Even the main title is a book cover, which opens to cast and production credits on separately turned pages. But these themes are more superficial than central.<br/><br/>The focus is really a redemptive Cain and Abel story with the young, handsome, but super bad Rex Lease (as Asa, "Ace" Carter) and his good, Bible carrying older brother, the alternately goofy looking / homely Hoot Gibson (as Clint Knox).<br/><br/>It seems like every year there was a movie about a lone family crossing the country in a covered wagon being ambushed by 'renegades,' usually with one or both parents being killed, and the two young children being separated, one going off to grow up to be an evil or revengeful outlaw.<br/><br/>'Rawhide Terror' (1934) an aborted serial converted to a different and confused feature had the older son seek revenge; 'Branded as a Coward' (1935), with a remake, 'Fast on the Draw' (1950), had Johnny Mack Brown become a shaking, frozen coward in dangerous situations, later finding his evil twin only at the end of the movie; and now in 1936 this one, in which the focus is squarely on the developing relationships among the two sons and also their widowed mother, played by Nina Guilbert, who has a strong matriarchal role in the film.<br/><br/>While the rather ancient looking Hoot Gibson had the kind of face that better belonged in the 'Our Gang' shorts as an adult doofus, he does a creditable and sincere job, especially in the scenes after he captures Ace, who had clearly wanted to get back at Clint by stopping him from completing his Pony Express route, and by robbing the stagecoach on which his fiancée was riding. When Ace shoots him dead on, the bullet is stopped by a Bible Clint carries in his shirt pocket, (Ace: "It saved your life!" Clint: "It's saved many lives…").<br/><br/>The film really picks up at this point. The mother's early scene with her boys where they all recite their 'personal prayer' ending with '…until I see His face' is recalled as Ace, on his knees, suddenly remembers and recites the last five words to Clint, who now realizing this is his brother, then attempts to redeem him (although we don't fully realize this until the last scene).<br/><br/>A note about Nina Guilbert. Playing a strong character, she gives an eloquent and stirring speech about the westward movement and the Pony Express to Earl Dwire, who replies, "The son of such a mother won't fail the Pony Express!" Her scene in the cabin talking with Ace, who faces a quick hanging for his crimes, in which she holds his head with her hands and kisses him on the forehead is a moving high point of the film. She treats him with love and forgiveness, even before she discovers he is her son. It redeems not only the movie, but as we see at the end, Asa as well.<br/><br/>The trial being held outdoors, there's a great shot of a hanging noose (not a halo) over Asa's head, as he tries to lie his way out of it. Due to a lack of evidence, Ace appears to be free, and the townspeople suddenly decide Clint was the 'road agent' (an old slang term for 'stagecoach robber,' replacing 'highwayman'), because the robber was riding a Pinto horse (Clint's Pony Express horse, that Ace had switched to when he robbed the stage). Quickly, pushing the crowd back, Asa faces the judge and admits his guilt in detail to save Clint.<br/><br/>As the crowd is about to hang Asa, Clint stops them with drawn six guns declaring that he should be forgiven for his crimes. He tells them how because he was captured by outlaws and made an outlaw, that's why he can't tell the difference between right and wrong, and that if things had been different it might have been me in his place. This well stated plea for tolerance and forgiveness seems not only rare in films of the 30s-50s, but is also something we should remember every day when we read, watch or listen to the day's news. How much should we be more understanding of all others as our sons and brothers.<br/><br/>Asa is redeemed as a person, with a job offer to rebuild his life, and receiving a joyful hug from his mother, we see and hear, "Here comes the Pony Express!" Life goes on, as we should forgive those who pass before us.<br/><br/>Harry Fraser's direction really works not only in the final scenes, but also throughout the movie. Everyone does a good job, even the barely tolerable comic relief. Earl Dwire has now gracefully transitioned into the Elderly Leading Citizen role. (We'll forget that Fraser may be better known for his infamous 1951 stinkers 'The White Gorilla' and 'Chained for Life').<br/><br/>Rex Lease, often the hero as in the serials 'Custer's Last Stand' (1936) and 'The Clutching Hand' (1936) looks like Joaquin Phoenix's brother or Gary Sinise and does a great job. He's really the central figure in the film. Although the Good Brother / Bad Brother conflict can be seen in literally dozens of westerns, 'Cavalcade of the West' is clearly one of the best of this type, and a good "B" film. A well done film with a message. (The only real weak point: the intrusive music track which barely fits the action.) I give the movie a 5. By 1936 the market was saturated with Westerns and Hoot Gibson found he had stiff competition from up and comers Rex Bell, Charles Starrett and John Wayne. "Cavalcade of the West" was one of the last Westerns Hoot made before he teamed up with a circus and his riding and stunts made him the star attraction. <br/><br/>Not a huge amount of action, the movie was more plot driven and told the story of two young brothers whose wagon train was ambushed by a gang of desperadoes. Unknown to the rest of his family, young Asa is kidnapped by the gang so by the time he makes his next appearance, twenty years later, it is as surly Rex Lease, dressed in black and eager to volunteer for the most dangerous route of the newly formed Pony Express. Quick with his guns, he is definitely making a bad impression in the town where his brother Clint Knox (Gibson) is the golden boy. Of course Clint gets that route but in the course of being held up by Asa, he realises that "Ace" is the brother who mysteriously disappeared long ago.<br/><br/>This proved to be Marion Shilling's last movie. Although initially promoted by MGM as an up and coming ingénue in "Lord Byron of Broadway" (1930) which proved to be the flop of the year, it was in Westerns that she is remembered. Initially awkward near horses, Buck Jones coached her until she was confident.
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