“Harmonica Bill” Russell | Through the Shattered Lens

College student Jack Mahoney (Jock Mahoney) returns to his hometown on the frontier to pay a surprise visit to his father, Old Henry (Edgar Dearing). Old Henry owns a local stagecoach line and is being targeted by outlaws. When Jack reaches his father’s house, he discovers that someone has shot Henry in the back. With the help of Steve Baldwin (Charles Starrett) and Betty Coulter (Anne James), two of Henry’s employees, Jack Mahoney tries to bring his father’s killers to justice.

Also helping is the masked Durango Kid, who tells Jack that Henry was an old friend of his. Durango, who is never present at the same time as Steve for some reason, teaches Jack how to handle a gun. When Steve is framed for murder, Durango works even harder to help bring the outlaws to justice.

This late Durango Kid entry has more of an edge that some of the other Durango films. Both Durango and Jack are out for vengeance and their grim determination sets this one apart from some of Durango’s other, more jokey adventures.

Even with Durango in a serious mood, Smiley Burnette is around to provide some humor. This time, Smiley is a traveling “specs specialist” who goes from town to town and sells people glasses. (He also sings two songs while accompanied by Harmonica Bill.) At the end of the movie, Smiley breaks the fourth wall, puts on a pair of glasses that he says allow him to see the future, and he lets us know whether or not Durango, Jack, and Betty are going to be safe. Smiley says that he can see himself singing but he can’t hear the song because he only has the glasses. “Looks like a good song, too.”

One final note: this movie actually features Jock Mahoney in two roles. Not only does he play college student Jack Mahoney but he was also Charles Starrett’s stunt double in the movie’s action scenes.

After spending the past few years cleaning up the west, Steve Leary (Charles Starrett) rides into the town of Red Mound and says that he is ready to buy a ranch and settle down. What Steve finds is an unfriendly town that is divided between law-abiding citizens on one side and cattle rustlers on the other. The cattle rustlers want to prevent Steve from purchasing the old Atkins ranch and they’ll do anything to keep the deed from being signed over. It’s a good thing that Steve also happens to be the legendary Durango Kid.

This is a standard entry in the Durango Kid series. To me, it’s interesting to see that, even though Steve seems like he wants to settle down and live a peaceful, ranching life, he still can’t bring himself to give up his secret identity. It is also interesting that Steve cannot escape Smiley Burnette. This time, Smiley is the owner of Red Mound’s restaurant and he’s accompanied by Texas Jim Lewis and the Lone Star Cowboys. It seems like Smiley sings even more than usual in this entry.

I liked the opening of The Stranger From Ponca City, in which Steve rides into town and all of the townspeople demand to know which side of Red Mound he supports. Smiley even explains that food made on one side of the town cannot be taken to the other without it leading to violence. After the opening sequence, The Stranger From Ponca City focuses on all of the usual horse chases and gunfights that showed up in all of the Durango Kid films. Most of the Durango Kid stock company shows up as well. Keep an eye out for Jock Mahoney, playing a bad guy with Kermit Maynard.

Director Derwin Abrahams keeps things moving, even if his direction is not up the level of the work of Durango’s usual directors, Ray Navarro and Fred F. Sears. This isn’t the best of the Durango Kid films but fans of the genre should enjoy it.