Durango sur les pistes de l'Ouest

I think I've seen all of the Durango Kid movies (most of them when I was a kid at the local theatre) & again on the Encore Westerns channel. The Durango Kid was always one of my favorite characters in movies. What was not to like about a masked man, dressed all in black, riding a magnificent white stallion, with a blazing sixgun? Unlike many of the cowboy stars of that period, Charles Starrett's "Durango Kid" character didn't sing a note, but he could ride, shoot and fight like a demon when the bad guys thought they were going to have an easy time of it with their nefarious plots. If, like me, you remember seeing all those wonderful B-Westerns, or even if you just like good action-packed movies, then make some popcorn, grab a Pepsi, sit down on the couch, turn on the DVD player, and watch any of the Charles Starrett/Durango Kid films. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

The right of way and mail contract for competing stagecoach lines is the reason for the conflict in Blazing The Western Trail. Steve Clark and Al Bridge run competing lines and just by the casting you know Al Bridge will be the villain.

Bridge did a lot more than westerns. He was a favorite member of Preston Sturges's stock company, probably best remembered as the prison warden in Sullivan's Travels. When Clark is killed his daughter Carole Matthews takes over. But she gets some aid from none other than Charles Starrett going incognito as the Durango Kid with Tex Harding and Dub Taylor as sidekicks.

The Durango Kid series was most popular for Columbia Pictures right up to the mid 50s. An exciting stagecoach race where Durango foils some homicidal bad guys is the climax. Those have been popular since Ben-Hur.

Fans of the Durango Kid series should like this.

Blazing the Western Trail (1945)

** (out of 4)

The government okays mail to be taken out West and of course this brings along several robberies as bad guys take their changes on a big score. Jeff Waring (Charles Starrett) goes out to investigate and soon he has to turn into The Durango Kid to locate the ones behind the crimes. If you're looking for the work of John Ford then you're certainly not going to find it here but those just wanting to kick back with a mindless but slightly entertaining Western should find this to be decent enough to sit through. Again, there's no question that this here is "C" material but for a low-budget Western it offers up enough interesting things to help keep the 60-minute running time moving at a good pace. The story itself really isn't anything original for a Western in general but not even for the series. Pretty much every new Durango Kid movie features the same story with only a slight change in the subject. That change here is the mail going out West but history buffs certainly aren't going to find any historical drama here. The majority of the entertainment comes from the gunfights, various chases and other Western settings. Starrett does a decent job in his role and Tex Harding and Dub Taylor add nice support.

Jeff Waring (Charles Starrett) and his friends Tex Harding (Tex Harding) and Cannonball (Dub Taylor) become involved in the affairs of two rival stagecoach lines, one of them headed by Mary Halliday (Carole Mathews) whose father (Nolan Leary) has been murdered by the gang of the rival line, Forrest Brent(Al Bridge.

Enjoyable Durango kid about competing stage lines, one of them - Brent - is crooked and causing accidents for the other line. Of course, Durango Kid comes to the rescue. Interesting aspect is that Starrett is deceptively working for Brent so he can find out what's going on.

There's plenty of action, a great pace, which isn't hindered by the four toe tapping songs. The exciting stagecoach race at the end rounds a lively entry.

There are some astonishing omissions here. For example, the chief bad guy is played by Al Bridge, the sheriff by Edmund Cobb, and they are just two of the dozens who don't get billing credit! Al Bridge was a favorite of Preston Sturges, and had a memorable voice and presence. Apparently there was some budget crunch that caused the cast listing to be so curtailed.

Charles Starrett plays the Durango Kid, who was the star of a long series, but who had several alter egos in that series. Here he is Jeff Waring, though he is Steve Martin, Steve Holden, Steve Ransom, Steve Reynolds, and many other names over the years. That seems odd, too.

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys take up a lot of screen time, and some of the musical instruments seem anachronistic; but this is not meant as a complaint.

Carole Mathews is the leading lady, and she is a real beauty. She has a fairly long list of credits, but I would rate her as worthy of even more.

Tex Harding was the sidekick, and the one who got the girl. He was good looking, sang one of the songs (although I think actually lip-synched), and was a good cowboy. Again, I think he deserved a longer and better career.

There are lots of minor characters, helping flesh out a rather minor script, and making this a very watchable movie. I like a movie more when there are lots of speaking parts, and it's one reason I give this a high score.