Tag Archives: Smiley Burnette

Buckaroo From Powder River (1947, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Pop Ryland (Forrest Taylor) is a frontier outlaw who makes law-breaking a family business.  With his two sons, Pop is planning on flooding the territory with counterfeit bonds.  His stepson, Tommy (Paul Campbell), doesn’t want anything to do with any criminal activity so Pop sends for McCall (Frank McCarroll), an assassin.  In a letter, Pop explains that he wants his stepson murdered.  When federal agent Steve Lacey (Charles Starrett) captures McCall, he finds the letter.  Steve heads into town and goes undercover, pretending to be McCall.  He also uses his other identity, the Durango Kid, to thwart Pop’s plans.

More than usual, this Durango Kid film leans more into the undercover aspect of Steve’s work.  What’s interesting is that, after Tommy fakes his own death, Tommy also disguises himself as the Durano Kid and keeps his stepfather from suspecting that Steve is actually a member of law enforcement.  It’s actually pretty clever, as far as these movies go, and it answers the question of why no one ever wonders why Steve and Durango are never in the same place at the same time.

Smiley Burnette shows up as Steve’s sidekick and he sings a few songs with the The Cass County Boys.  Along with Smiley’s antics, this film has all of the horse chases and gunfights that we expect from a Durango Kid movie.  Most of the usual stock company is present, including Ted Adams and Kermit Maynard.  As always, Charles Starrett looks authentic riding horse and handling a gun.  If you’re not into westerns, this film won’t convert you.  But, for fans of the genre, this is another entertaining outing for the Durango Kid,

Smoky Canyon (1952, directed by Fred Sears)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

There’s a $2500 dollar reward out for the masked bandit known as the Durango Kid but little do the residents of Timber Rock know that the Kid is actually Steve Brent (Charles Starrett), a Treasury agent who puts on a mask whenever he needs to go undercover and discover what the bad guys are doing.

A range war has broken out between the sheep farmers led by Jack Mahoney (Jock Mahoney) and the cattlemen led by Carl Buckley (Tristram Coffin).  To broker a peace and discover which side is the most to blame, Brent works for the cattlemen while the Durango Kid sides with the sheepmen.  It turns out that Buckley’s to blame here.  He’s using the war to thin out his cattle so that an Eastern beef syndicate can keep prices high.  When Mahoney gets too close to the truth, he is framed for the murder of Mr. Woodstock and it’s up to the Durango Kid to prove that Mahoney is innocent.  Meanwhile, Carl wants to blow up an entire mountain so that it will really thin out his cattle herd.

This is a typical Durango Kid movie, entertaining if you like B-westerns and probably boring if they’re not your thing.  It has all the usual gunfights, horse chases, and dynamite explosions that are promised by every Durango Kid film.  Starrett was always one of the most convincing cowboys on screen, even if his use of the Durango Kid alter ego didn’t always make sense.  All the usual members of the Durango stock company show up, all playing different characters than they did in the previous Durango Kid film.  Mahoney gets to play one of the good guys for once and his spirited girlfriend is played by the lovely Dani Sue Nolan.  Smiley Burnett shows up to provide comic relief.  This time, he’s a singing tour guide.  He sings a song called It’s Got To Get Better.  Let’s hope so.

Challenge of the Range (1949, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

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.

Pecos River (1951, directed by Fred F. Sears)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

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.

Roaring Rangers (1946, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Another frontier town is in trouble.

Sherriff Jeff Conner (Jack Rockwell) is having trouble ridding his town of outlaws so his son, Larry, (Mickey Kuhn) writes a letter to his hero to ask for help.  He addresses the letter to “Durango Kid, Texas.”  That’s all it takes for Steve Randall (Charles Starrett) and his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, to show up in town.

Steve and Smiley apply to be deputies but Sheriff Conner explains that someone is circulating a petition to get him fired.  Steve dresses up as the Durango Kid and pressures the citizens to give the Sheriff another chance.  Realizing that the Durango Kid is making them look bad, the outlaws decide to dress up one of their own as Durango and make the Kid look bad.  With the town turning on Durango, will Durango and Smiley be able to save Sheriff Conner from an assassination attempt?

This Durango Kid film is different from the rest of the series in that, for once, Steve is hired to be a deputy instead of a sheriff.  This really is Sheriff Conner’s story, as he tries to win the respect of the town and keep its citizens safe, even while his own brother (Ed Cassidy) is working with the outlaws.  There are all the usual horse chase and shootouts but this time, Durango and Smiley are mostly around to provide support to a man who is trying to do the right thing.  B-western fans will enjoy it.

Smiley sings a few songs, as always.  This time, musical accompaniment is provided by Merle Travis and his Bronco Busters.

Landrush (1946, directed by Vernon Keays)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Steve Harmon (Charles Starrett) rides again!  This time, he’s investigating the murder of a Pony Express rider.  The murderer is outlaw leader Claw Hawkins (Bud Geary), who is working with rancher Kirby Garvey (Steve Barclay) to cheat the local homesteaders out of their land.

When local newspaper editor Jake Parker (Emmett Lynn) is attacked for trying to expose Claw Hawkins, Steve puts on a mask and dark clothing and, as the Durango Kid, he moves Jake to the carpentry shop owned by Durango’s old friend, Smiley Burnette.  While Jake continues to spread the word to the homesteaders, Durango works to prevent Claw and Kirby from taking all of the land for themselves.

This is a typical Durango Kid film.  This is not the first time that I’ve seen the Durango Kid protect the rights of homesteaders and, as usual, the main villain is not the outlaw that everyone fears but the respectable citizen who is controlling him.  Along with the usual gunfights and horse chases, Landrush has an exciting sequence where Durango and the homesteaders have to deal with a series of fires that have been set by Claw to keep the homesteaders from reaching their land.  Charles Starrett is as authentic a cowboy as ever.  Unfortunately, Bud Geary and Steve Barclay aren’t very interesting as the villains.  People who have watched several Durango Kid films will regret that series regulars Frank Fenton and Jock Mahoney weren’t cast in the roles.

As usual, Smiley Burnette provides comedy relief and sings two songs.  This time, he’s accompanied by Ozie Waters and His Colorado Rangers.

Six-Gun Law (1948, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Steve Norris (Charles Starrett) has moved to a new frontier town and is making a good living as a cattle rancher.  The sheriff (Ethan Laidlaw) takes a dislike to Steve and even accuses him of being a cattle rustler.  Steve is so angered that he plays right into the hands of Decker (Hugh Prosser), a corrupt businessman who secretly puts blanks into Steve’s gun and then tricks Steve into thinking that he has shot and killed the sheriff.

Decker appoints Steve as the new sheriff but demands that Steve do exactly what Decker orders him to do.  If Steve actually enforced the law, Decker will turn him in as the first sheriff’s murderer.  Steve may not be able to do anything about Decker’s crimes but his alter ego, The Durango Kid, can!  As always, working with Steve is his loyal sidekick, Smiley Burnette.

The stand-out set piece of this Durango Kid film is an exciting stagecoach chase, which features the Durango Kid (in the form of legendary stuntman Jock Mahoney) making some thrilling moves.  The scene was so exciting and popular that it was used in a dozen other Durango Kid films.  These movies were never shy about reusing good scenes, effective stunts, and plot twists.  (It’s easy to lose track of how many times Steve has been appointed as sheriff of a town.)  This was also neither the first nor the last time that Hugh Prosser and Robert Wilke would play bad guys in a Durango Kid movie.  However, this is the only Durango Kid film to feature the Rodeo Rangers providing musical accompaniment  to Smiley Burnette’s songs.

Six-Gun Law will be best appreciated by fans of the western genre.  Charles Starrett is as tough and authentic a cowboy as always and the storyline has some nice twists and turns.  For once, with Steve being blackmailed by Decker, it makes sense that Steve would put on his disguise and solve his problems as the Durango Kid.

Gunning For Vengeance (1946, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Steve Landry (Charles Starrett) rides into another town and is once again named the new sheriff.  Luckily, Steve’s old friend Smiley Burnette is working as the town’s blacksmith.  Steve makes Smiley his deputy and then sets about trying to break up a gang of cattle rustlers.  When Steve learns that his jurisdiction does not extend beyond the city limits, he dons the disguise of his alter ego, The Durango Kid, to go after the outlaws.

Has Steve met his match in Belle (Phyllis Adair), the saloon owner who is the secret leader of the outlaws?  She notices that The Durango Kid’s boot tracks are the same as Steve’s boot tracks.  I’m surprised that no one has ever noticed that before.  Steve went through a lot of trouble to disguise himself as Durango but he never bothered to change his boots.

This entry in the Durango Kid series features a lot of Smiley Burnette so your enjoyment on the film will depend on how much tolerance you have for Smiley’s songs and his style of humor.  Each film featured Smiley being followed around by a different group of musicians.  In this one, Smiley is accompanied by The Trailsman.  When Smiley accidentally locks himself in a jail cell, the Trailsman stand on the other side of the bars and sing a song about how Smiley can’t get out of the cell.  Smiley does eventually get out but, later on, he’s knocked out cold during an attempted jail break.  Smiley’s not much of a help in this one.

This has all of the typical Durango Kid elements, including the stock footage of the stampeding cattle that appeared in nearly all of his films.  There’s another saloon fight and a gunfight towards the end.  Durango rides out of town alone, leaving Smiley behind, but we know they’ll soon be reunited in another adventure.

The Desert Horseman (1946, directed by Ray Nazarro)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Steve Godfrey (Charles Starrett) is in trouble again.  He has been accused of stealing another payroll and the only man who can clear his name has just been murdered.  Steve thinks that he is being set up by outlaws who want to take control of the dead man’s ranch, which is now owned by Mary Ann Jarvis (Adele Roberts).

Luckily, Steve’s old friend, Smiley Burnette, is working as a cook at the Jarvis Ranch.  When Smiley isn’t singing songs with the Colorado Hillbillies, he tries to help Steve clear his name.  He explains that Mary Ann Jarvis won’t listen to Steve but maybe she’ll listen to Steve’s alter ego, The Durango Kid!

Durango rides again in this movie, though, the majority of the hour runtime is made up of Smiley Burnette singing songs and making jokes.  Smiley Burnette is not for everyone.  I enjoy the broad humor he brought to these films but I can understand why others might not.  Whenever Smiley sings a song, it does bring the action to a halt but that’s true of every Durango Kid film.  If you’re a fan of the series, you either like Smiley or you can at least tolerate him.  Smiley does do more than just sing in this movie.  He also throws black pepper in the eyes of one of the bad guys.

Even with all of the attention paid to Smiley, The Desert Horseman delivers all of the expected horse chases and gunfights.  The story is a little more interesting than usual.  Steve has been framed for not one but two crimes that he didn’t commit and that adds some urgency to the proceedings.  Charles Starrett, as always, is a believable western hero and he takes the role seriously.

 

The Stranger From Ponca City (1947, directed by Derwin Abrahams)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

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.