The Star Packer

Several reviewers have praised the stunts. I hope they are referring to stunts done by the actors and not the horses. These were the days of trip wires being used to cause horses to fall. While running full speed they make dramatic falls on camera, but they often crippled or killed the horse. Fortunately, for the most part, the practice was stopped in the early 50s. (But I did see movie made in 1952 where a trip wire was used.) Other than this criticism, it was pretty standard early John Wayne stuff.

The reason I like these matinée westerns from this era is probably because they make me feel like a kid again but I have other reasons that I think are pretty good. For one thing they are utterly without pretense. They do not pretend to be anything but entertainment for kids and unpretentiousness is real hard to find. There may be some out there but if you look for it you will find that it doesn't grow on trees. And they're just fun. The female lead is always charming, and the horsemanship, these films are always loaded with extras that are real cowboys. Apparently the reduction of manpower needed on the large cattle ranches coincided with the rise of the film industry so all these unemployed cowboys went to Hollywood. And could they ride. They just tore around like a house on fire and the ease and control that they demonstrate with these horses is a wonder to watch for a tenderfoot like me. But the plots get a little monotonous, I think there's only about two of them or three, maybe. You have to kind of overlook that. Anyway Star Packer is no exception. What makes it stand out is for one thing it has George "Gabby" Hayes one of the greatest character actors ever. But the main thing is that it has one of my Hollywood favorites, Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo champion and pioneer stuntman Yakima Canutt. Now John Wayne made a lot of westerns in this era and Yakima Canutt was in every one of them as Wayne's stunt double. He was also in practically every one of the as one of them as one of the bad guys, usually the leader. What makes this movie special is that, as far as I know, this is the only time he ever appears as a good guy.He has a very entertaining part as John Wayne's Tonto-like side kick. This includes an extremely charming and hilarious final scene in which he completely enthralls Wayne's young son with his Indian dancing and attempts to corrupt him into becoming an Indian himself. This is much to the amusement of Wayne and his wife, Verna Hillie. I have noticed that a bunch of these John Waynes have been colorized. My brother won't look at them but I think that as long as I have access to the original, I like having them. The landscapes are particularly beautiful. It's the sound that's bad. They dub in new voices that are terrible. And the music, it's some kind of spaghetti western sounding stuff that has nothing with the charm of the era. View at your peril.

Pretty fair oater from the Duke's early years has some unusual casting. Yakima Canutt has his idea of some "skookum fun" as a good guy for a change from his normal villainous role, and Gabby Hayes plays against type as the bad guy. Canutt's part would seem to be an early model for another famous Indian buddy of a lawman, namely that of "Tonto." (Note also the Duke's horse could pass for "Silver.") As a resident from the same part of Yakima Canutt's home state, I was pleasantly surprised when Wayne as Travers identifies one of the Shadow's gang as a "lifer from Walla Walla" which is the site of Washington's maximum security state prison. Incidentally, Walla Walla is about an hour and a half's drive from Colfax, where Canutt was raised, and whose hometown he shares with Turner Classic Movies' host Robert Osborne. Fellow gangster Loco Frank, shown in the same scene, turns out to be Glenn Strange, who later had a famous role as Kitty's bartender in "Gunsmoke." The action scenes are not particularly outstanding, although the climactic chase scene is very distinctive involving the villain's canoe being chased downriver by the Duke on horseback. Although the title's a misnomer in that the Duke is never seen with a badge, that's the biggest fault in what I'd otherwise heartily recommend for something a bit out of the ordinary in the Duke's apprentice stage of his career. Dale Roloff

Definitely the best of John Wayne's million early films, although the acting and production values were of the usual B Western standard the plot was probably more cohesive than usual and more watchable. And almost believable, too! The Lone Star Saloon in Lone Star Town also had a good part in this one.

It's pretty obvious who the baddie will turn out to be (yet again!) - you can almost hear the boos from the kids in the audience from the mid-'30's when he makes his appearance, again as a beardless two-faced sidewinder. I assume here that unlike nowadays kids back then knew the difference between good guys and bad guys and right and wrong. Yakima Canutt is playing a Tonto character in here, Wayne is as dashing as always, the chases and ambushes are everything to be desired, in fact especially hair-raising. However, I can't actually remember now Wayne actually packing a Star, if he did he didn't make the same song and dance about it as he did in Rio Bravo! And everything is corny, contrived and creaky - but I love it just the same.

As far as I'm concerned it's a very pleasant way to fill an hour - a lot is "packed" into an hour. If you forced yourself to watch Star Packer in its entirety and found it dreadful you'll never get that hour back, but my friendly observation is you certainly won't like any of Wayne's other films for Lone Star.

On the surface this looks like a mundane 30s oater meant as a filler during matinees. But it really is much more than that. Besides the pleasure of seeing a young John Wayne after "The Big Trail" and before his breakout role in "Stagecoach", you have the talents of Yakima Canutt as Wayne's native American assistant, one of the best stunt men in the business who lived to the ripe old age of 90. Oh, and he wasn't actually native American, as many articles falsely say.

Wayne plays a federal man meant to clean out a gang led by "The Shadow" that has been brazenly carrying out all kinds of crimes in and around a town and killing all of the sheriffs. Wayne shows up and takes the job as The Shadow has just killed the last one. Strangely enough his henchmen talk to him through what looks like a wall safe in a back room in the jail house. You have to wonder how the first conversation between this guy and a criminal got started, but I guess that's another story.

The heroine is not just some helpless gal that shrieks, although Duke does have to rescue her from a runaway stage in the beginning. But later she shows her toughness as she is harassed through her bedroom window at night by a stranger. She just calmly gets out of bed, grabs her gun, shoots the peeping tom, and goes back to sleep. There's a little lady who knows how to handle a home invasion!

Oh, and some hints for evil doers. If you are caught in the act and asked in the plain light of day who the ring leader is don''t respond with a lengthy prologue like "OK, OK, I'll tell, I'll tell...". This gives the Shadow time to shoot you.

My title comes from the fact that the final chase on horseback - there always is one in these old westerns - has Duke and the men of the town all wearing white head scarves to differentiate themselves from the Shadow's gang that is coming to attack the town. The thing is, they are not scarves they are head bandages,so they all look like head injury victims. It really is a humorous scene.

Recommended for an early John Wayne, a rather clever plot with some unusual twists and turns, and the great Yakima Canutt, stuntman and second unit director extraordinaire.