AllMovie

Had it not been for the buffoonish villainy of Luis Alberni and George Humbert, The California Trail would have been an exemplary B-Western. As it stands, however, the film is irritatingly lopsided. While Alberni and Humbert mug shamelessly, comic opera style, a young child is mercilessly shot in the back and his father tortured. Happily, Buck Jones delivers a standout performance as the "Yankee Bandit" (the film's working title, incidentally) and there is a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal by Charles Stevens, a fine B-Western regular usually cast as cowardly "half-breeds." Director Lambert Hillyer keeps the pace at a fast clip and the final confrontation is staged for maximum effect. Supporting actor William Steele is for unknown reasons listed as "Robert Steele" in the opening credits, a mistake that has caused The California Trail to be credited to B-Western star Bob Steele.