Radio review – Lux Radio - “The Virginian” (1936) **1/2

The original novel helped popularise the Western, in particular key elements of the genre: the silent hero, shoot out between goodie and baddie at high noon, frontier justice. The Virginian is a cowboy who is forced to lynch an old mate because the mate is a thief; this upsets the Virginian’s girlfriend, but she eventually comes to realise a little lynching is needed in the old West and she’s on his side when he has a shoot out with Trampas, one of the best-named Western villains of all time. This also has the classic line, “when you say that, smile”. The cast of this is strong, including Gary Cooper in the title role and Charles Bickford as Trampas.