The Kid from Broken Gun

Interestingly mixing courtroom and flashbacks ( which were apparently taken from a previous Durango Kid film), The kid from broken gun is a well-paced, convulated time filler with plenty of action in between courtroom scenes. The Durango kid leaps off rooftops, swinging from it as well, and Jock Mahoney, playing a guy accused of murder and robbing Santa Anna treasure, also gets the show his athleticism in an energetic fight scene. It's a well-directed, however I found the Smiley Burnette singing it's the law a bit odd, especially when it abruptly appeared, cleaving through suspense, but the last Durango kid film soon got on track. A fitting end to the Durango Kid.

Charles Starrett ends his acting career, having spent seven years as 'the Durango Kid', one of the regulars on the Top Ten Western Stars list, with this fairly interestingly set up courtroom drama. Here he is on trial for murder and the events are shown in flashback. It's an interesting story-telling technique, weakened, however, by the fact that we know Starrett is a good guy and didn't do it. Costs on this one were kept down by using a single courtroom set for half the one-hour film and using footage from an earlier picture for the rest, which is why Jock Mahoney appears in two roles.

Columbia, the studio that produced Starrett's movies, was getting out of bread-and-butter westerns. The studio had dropped most of its movie series like BLONDIE and THE LONE WOLF and relegated its B production to the cheap Sam Katzman unit. Within a couple of years B movies would be the province of independents like AIP and the movie western would disappear under the onslaught of TV series. Writer Ed Earl Repp would move to TV, cinematographer Fayte M. Browne would be DP on one more movie and director Fred Sears would move to cheap sci-fi flicks... and the long history of genre westerns would end. Too bad.

Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid made his farewell appearance in this film The Kid From Broken Gun as Columbia Pictures put an end to the series. Television killed Durango and the rest of the B western cowboys as stuff like this one was getting for free at home.

Harry Cohn sure didn't splurge for this one as half the film was cannibalized from a previous Durango Kid feature. The same group of villains looking to steal a fortune in Spanish gold continue their pursuit, but the Durango Kid foils them at every opportunity.

This film has Jock Mahoney on trial for his life for the murder of one of the gang. What he doesn't know is how beautifully he's bit set up. Durango has to hold unofficial court to get the truth. In the real trial movie heavy Myron Healey is in the unexpected role as prosecutor.

Smiley Burnette who was sidekick to a number of Republic's cowboy heroes is also here. But I have to say he was more oafish than funny in this feature.

Aging Saturday matinée kids of all ages should like this.

This is disappointing in that the plot is incredibly convoluted for a short (55m) Movie. However, it's worth seeing for a few reasons;

1) The It's the Law I almost called it video with the seven faces of Smiley Burnette. It's almost surrealistic the way it happens. It's also the only music in the film.

2) It's the very last Durango Kid Movie.

3) The rooftop running and jumping scenes and some of the other action scenes are worth sitting through the rest of this hard to follow courtroom drama.

It is a shame that the last film of a generally fun Series like this is so woebegone.

This late entry in the long-running Durango Kid series is flawed by being told in flashbacks.

It gets rather muddled because people are shown knowing stuff they really couldn't have known.

Still, the cast is great, and it's star Charles Starrett's last movie, so it is a must see.

Myron Healey gets a chance at something unusual, too: Instead of a gun-carrying bad guy, he's the prosecuting attorney. (The other comment, at this writing the only other one, gets something wrong: It's not the Starrett character on trial; it's the title character, the Kid from Broken Gun.)

John Cason is one of the gun-carriers, and he is accompanied by some familiar faces who aren't listed in the credits, even here at IMDb.com, and that's a shame.

Tris Coffin does get credit, and he is such a smooth actor, I often wonder why he didn't get more fame and a closer approach to real stardom. He had good looks, a pleasing manner, even as a bad guy, and a beautiful voice.

Smiley Burnette has a strange musical interlude that seems to have been included just to pad out the movie ... yet it has its own charm, even if it seemingly drags down the movie.

The action is great fun to watch. My guess is Ted Mapes did the stunts (because he was Starrett's stunt double in the series' beginning, as well as Gary Cooper's and Jimmy Stewart's), but Jock Mahoney has a major part, and watching his athletic grace adds a lot to the general enjoyment.

He reminded me of David Sharpe in some of his movements, the way he vaulted over a hitching post, for example, instead of walking around.

Maybe it is a shame that Charles Starrett should end his career with such a poor script. He really deserved better. But there is ultimately more good than bad and "The Kid from Broken Gun" is, really, a must see.

(((This is added after seeing information about Ted Mapes at http://www.b-westerns.com/stunt12.htm: Likely he was not the stuntman; more likely it was Jock Mahoney.)))