The Wagon Master

The Wagon Master is a 1929 American sound part-talkie Western sound film starring Ken Maynard, directed by Harry Joe Brown, and written by Marion Jackson and Leslie Mason. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Western Electric sound-on-film system. The film was edited by Fred Allen and the cinematographer was Ted D. McCord. Maynard's character in the film was referred to as "the Rambler." There is a whip fight in this kinetic film. Maynard is believed to have been the first onscreen "Singing Cowboy" in this movie, succeeded by John Wayne as "Singin' Sandy" Saunders in Riders of Destiny (1933) and Gene Autry after Wayne eventually declined to flourish a dubbed singing voice in future endeavors; Autry "auditioned" for the mantle in the 1934 film In Old Santa Fe, starring Maynard.