Stanley Price | Through the Shattered Lens

When a gang of outlaws starts hijacking freight wagons and then ransoming them back to their owners, government agent Steve Langtry (Charles Starrett) is sent to investigate. He both goes undercover as an inexperienced traveler and as the masked Durango Kid. As always, he is accompanied by Smiley Burnette. In this installment, Smiley tries to invent a machine that can find silver and he also sings a few songs. His backing band, The Lone Star Cowboys, follow him everywhere that he goes but they don’t actually get involved in the action.

This is another Durango Kid movie, with all of the usual horse chases and shootouts. The same action montage that started Phantom Valley also starts this movie. As always, Charles Starrett is convincing when riding a horse or shooting a gun.

What sets this Durango Kid movie apart from the others is the main villain. Dr. Middleton (played by a regular member of the Durango Kid stock company, Fred F. Sears) appears to be a kindly man who serves as a middleman between the citizens and the outlaws. Actually, he is working with the outlaws and receives a commission of every ransom that he negotiates. The reason he can get away with it is because he’s drugged the Sheriff (George Cheseboro)! He attempts to drug Durango too but luckily, Smiley drinks the water instead.

While it won’t convert anyone who isn’t already a fan of the genre or the character, this is another entertaining outing for the Durango Kid.

Heldorado, Arizona is a frontier town with a problem. The Tullivers, led by Mike (Tom Tyler), keep robbing the bank and running off anyone who agrees to be the town’s marshal.

The Colonel (Raymond Hatton) and the Mayor (Fuzzy Knight) are at their wits end until a bison hunter named Lucky (Russell Hayden) comes riding into town in search of work. They hire Lucky to be their new marshal, paying him $200 a week and allowing him three free drinks a day.

They also give Lucky a cabin to stay in but when Shamrock Ellison (James Ellison), a dandy from up north, rides into town on a donkey, Lucky decides to rent him the cabin. When Ellison arrives at the cabin, he finds two Tulliver brothers looking for the stolen money that they hid in the fireplace. The brothers try to shoot Ellison but accidentally end up shooting themselves instead.

When Ellison says that he wants to keep a low profile, Lucky takes credit for killing the two Tullivers. When Mike shows up looking for revenge, Lucky has a change of heart and gives all the credit for Ellison. Lucky makes Ellison his deputy but what he doesn’t know is that Ellison is actually a government agent who has been sent to Heldorado to clean the town up.

This B-western does a good job of mixing comedy with action. It was one of many films that Ellison and Hayden made together and Hayden’s bluster plays off well against Ellison’s more serious performance. Much of the humor comes from Ellison having to keep the other townspeople from realizing that he’s a crack shot who knows how ride a horse as well as anyone in town. As well, Fuzzy Knight has his moments as the always drinking mayor. The action scenes are well-choreographed and there’s even a suspenseful scene where Ellison gets a shave from a barber who is actually a relative of the Tullivers. As always, the beautiful Julia Adams is a welcome addition to the cast as the Colonel’s daughter, who falls for Ellison. For fans of the genre, there’s plenty of entertainment to be found in this brisk, 50-minute western.