On the frontier, someone is raiding the homes of ranchers like Jim (Henry Hall) and Judy Barton (Paula Raymond). The Homeowners Association summons Steve Roper (Charles Starrett) to bring a stop to the raids. Everyone suspects that Cal Matson (Steve Darrell) and his son, Rob (Billy Halop), are behind the raids but Steve, as the Durango Kid, discovers that a third party is trying to set everyone at war with each other for his own benefit.
The entry in the Durango Kid series was Charles Starrett’s 103rd western. It’s not a particularly distinguished entry, relying heavily on stock footage. I did find the idea of the film’s bad guy trying to manipulate the Bartons and the Matsons into destroying each other to be interesting but the movie doesn’t do much with it and the identity of main villain will be obvious to anyone who watches the film. There is one good scene where Steve disarms three bad guys and then makes them walk all the way back to town without their boots on. Steve doesn’t mess around.
Smiley Burnette provides the comic relief and a few songs. This time, Smiley’s a dime store writer researching his next book. Musically, he is accompanied by The Sunshine Boys. 103 movies in and Smiley still hasn’t figure out that Steve and Durango are one of a kind.
Through the Shattered Lens 