Reviews

As a boy, Johnny witnesses the massacre of his family by outlaws, but he does nothing even though he held a gun in his hand. Years later he is known as a coward until a bandit called, "The Cat" comes to town.

Branded a Coward is a solid western with unusual touches such as the fact the hero (Johnny Mack Brown) suffers from occasionally gun-shyness, his nerves gets the better of him a couple of times, though later on he's fine, taking on the bad guys, but Johnny Mack Brown brilliantly expresses trepidation every time he has to face danger. He suffers from a childhood trauma which isn't normally covered in westerns. In addition to this, the sidekick -Sid Saylor does indeed overdo the stuttering - bites the dust and the identity of the cat surprised me. It was a great twist. The pace can be slow at times, but it suits the ambience of the film and there's sufficient gunplay to keep things enjoyable.

The Durango Kid, a.k.a. Steve Martin (Charles Starrett), is sent to the town of Wild River to take care of a gang led by the ruthless Hawk (Clayton Moore, TV's "The Lone Ranger"). He infiltrates The Hawk's gang looking to return stolen gold to Wild River.

The most interesting thing about this Durango Kid entry is that you get Charles Starrett, the Lone Ranger and Jock Mahoney ( the Range Rider) in one film - Clayton Moore is the bad guy called Hawk and Jock Mahoney plays a good guy, the sheriff. It's a pacy entry and has some moments of liveliness. Smiley doesn't sing too many songs and they aren't too good.

Bandit Pop Ryland and his two sons, Clint and Dave, are planning their biggest job; the printing and distribution of territorial bonds. The elder Ryland contracts a hired gunman, McCall, to dispose of his stepson, Tommy, who knows what his step-family members are up to. The Durango Kid captures McCall, takes the letter and presents himself, Steve Lacey, as the hired killer. He stages a fake killing, and discovers the Ryland's scheme. Cling ambushes Durango and is killed in a gunfight, and Durango also shoots McCall who has made an escape. Cash-Register salesman Smiley Burnette aids Steve/Durango in rounding up the remaining villains.

Pop Ryland and his broods ( his real sons and not his stepson who he wants to bump off) are a mean bunch and they lend an edginess to the breeziness of this Durango Kid entry. There's some nifty subterfuge with Durango faking the stepson's death as well as getting him to play Durango in order to fool the boy's evil stepdad and stepbrothers into thinking that Steve (aka Durango) is doing the job they had hired him to do, plus they know he isn't the Durango kid.

It's 1873 and the disbanded Texas Rangers have been replaced by the corrupt Texas State Police. Steve Lanning arrives posing as a wanted outlaw to get in with them in his attempt to have them replaced. His inside work helps the Durango Kid break up the State Police raids but he is in trouble when his secret identity as Durango becomes known to them.

The Durango Kid take on the Texas State Police and Fred F Sear's scheming villain in this standard yet enjoyable entry which has some good toe tapping songs and a better than average comedy routine by Smiley Burnette who tinkers a lot as a tinkerer who is plumbed tinkered out by the end of the film.

Federal agent Steve Lawton -alias the Durango Kid- works undercover with his assistant, Smiley Burnette, to track down an outlaw gang that is raiding government gold shipments bound for Fort Navajo.

Frontier Outpost has its fair share of intrigue, duplicitous characters and a deserted fort is a back drop for most of the time. It's another action-packed Durango Kid - it's simple yet fun. Smiley Burnette does what he does best -act like a buffoon. His hollering can be annoying at times. Ends with a lively finale. Formula stuff but done with energy. Not many songs - the plot is too busy to accommodate Smiley's warbling.

It has been almost five years since the outlaws have stolen the army payroll from Lt. Raymond D'Arcy. While claiming that he gave the money to Major Bishop, neither the money or Bishop have ever been found and Raymond was convicted of the theft. Now he is at the abandoned fort, an escaped convict with a letter, looking to find the truth about the robbery. Members of his old command are also there and Rocky shows up to return Raymond to prison.

Love a mystery element in a western, it's one combination that is quite enticing, and Sheriff of Wichita starring the dependable Rocky Allan Lane is one solid mystery-western with noir-like qualities and a close attention to the intrigue which unravels smoothly. Letters from a major implicated -along with Lieutenant - in an army payrolls theft draws a group to a deserted fort. Plenty of suspense and action follows.

Power-hungry mayor Ace Brockway (Charles Wilson) is trying to drive trader Matt Carter (Thomas Jackson) out of business by having Indians attack his trading posts and supply wagons. Steve Blake (Charles Starrett), alias the masked Durango Kid, arrives in town, signing on as deputy to the inept marshal (Smiley Burnette), and making friends with the local newspaper editor (Paul Canpbell) and Carter's daughter (Patricia Barry). Blake works to foil Brockway's scheme, starting with his supplying of rifles to the Indians.

The Durango Kid pow-wows with the injuns, dives through windows and leaps on horse as he fights against the nasty mayor and his crony in this fast-packed and action-packed entry. It's a good entry where you see Smiley Burnette swipe a cloth with glasses on top! To enjoy the Durango Kid I think you have to be a kid at heart /a perpetual matinee kid!

An outlaw gang is trying to stop the reopening of a mine as they look for the money left there by the famous outlaw Dusty Morton. After a ten year absence, Morton has apparently reappeared and Steve arrives looking for him. He finds his son who also wonders if his father is still alive. With the gang soon after him, the Durango Kid goes into action and Steve tries to learn who the real Dusty Morgan is.

There's a little mystery in this fairly engaging entry featuring that masked hero in black on top of his white horse and as well as being action-packed there's some nice acting by the kid and a little twist at the end. Only problem there's too many songs.

Steve Holden, a secret service agent, is suspended when his boss becomes suspicious of his activities as The Durango Kid. Can Steve prove his innocence? Let's hope so- but he gets involved in his own case, even joins the bad guys in order to stop them.

For once, the villains figure out that Steve is the Durango kid but only being hoodwinked for while after hiring him as a lawyer and then they find the horse Raider and evidence proving Steve is the Durango Kid. There's plenty of action in this one, with Durango ducking in and out of the town, the bad guys on his tail. Dub Taylor is good as the sidekick.

Government Agent Steve leases land to Masters so he can bring in horses for the Army. Henley has obtained a forged lease for the same land and Steve is unable to prove it's a fake. While Steve checks with Washington, Henley plans to roundup and ship the horses. Masters also intends to roundup the horses and he has the Durango Kid on his side in the battle with Henley.

The plot has more twists than a pretzel and is busy with gunplay but I found it overlong!! I know it's running time is 52 minutes. Maybe the plot was stretched out too much, not sure. Still watchable - there's something reassuring and charming about a man dressed in black with a mask astride a white horse appearing out of nowhere and saving the day.

When Sheriff Jeff Connor of Powder River cannot stop the crime wave, his young son, Larry, writes to the Durango Kid for aid. Taggart, the saloon owner, is the secret head of the outlaws, while Connor's brother Bill is in cahoots with him. Steve Randall, the Durango Kid, and his pal, Smiley Butterbean, arrive in time to stop a stagecoach holdup, and Steve is made a deputy sheriff. Taggart has one of his men, Slade, pose as the Durango Kid and while he is speaking to the townspeople, the rest of the outlaw gang pillages the town, and this somewhat damages the Durango Kid in the eyes of Larry and his sister Doris. Steve suggests that Sheriff Connor visit the government about a railroad project, and Taggart instructs Slade and the gang leader to kill Connor on his trip back.

A fairly standard Durango Kid entry with nothing really setting it apart from the others, but it's hard not to be entertained by the Durango kid and Smiley Burnette. Some of the songs are ok, placed in the right places and not getting in the way of the action.

Kindly Mrs. Mahoney is actually the mastermind behind a scheme to acquire all the ranch land in the valley. Her sons and their henchmen use violence to get the ranchers to sell with her son Chick impersonating the Durango Kid who leads the attacks on the ranchers.

Charles Starrett is back as Steve and the Durango Kid in this better than average, thanks to Mira McKinney as the villainess, a kindly old woman who is actually anything but that. She and her broods are after land and they concoct a scheme, which includes luring Durango kid in the fold by pretending to be him. There is some fine twists, the usual hard ridin' and shootin' and a cool scene of Durango running across the rooftops.

U. S. Marshall Dave Willis (Johnny Mack Brown) and Sandy Barker (Milburn Morante), traveling incognito to investigate the robbery of a shipment of Mexican Government gold, rescue Kathy Martin (Jane Adams) from an outlaw ambush, after her father Joel Martin (Steve Clark), publisher of the Latigo newspaper, has been wounded. Later, Martin is killed, and Bull Jackson (Marshall Reed), who claims to have seen the crime, accuses Dave of the murder.

Johnny Mack Brown is looking a little older and tubbier but not any less charming and meaning business in this formulaic western that ticks the right boxes, but not as sharp as the other Johnny Mack Brown westerns I have seen. It's still an ok piece of entertainment.

In the heart of the Wild West, a mysterious cowboy rides into a small town and is mistaken for his notorious twin brother, wanted for murder. As accusations fly, he must navigate a treacherous path to clear his name and get the varmint who framed him for killing an old rancher.

Johnny Mack Brown plays "twin" again in this snappy western that has a strong plot fitted with enough humour, action and villainous schemes. Fuzzy Knight lends the humour with his magic hair tonic (wish I could have one of those!), Bob Baker is a singing lawyer and Anne Gwyne adds glamour as a schoolteacher. There's a good line when one of the main villain's crooked lawyer (Earle Hodgins) is ordered by Brown to get out of town and to keep riding to Death Valley, and the lawyer replies, "That's illegal," and Brown replies, "well you'll be right at home."

A judge leads a crusade against the illegitimate governing of a gold rush town by gamblers intent on cleaning out the prospectors. At the urging of some of the townsfolk, he does the cleaning out instead.

There's another ghost town featured in this western, but only briefly before gold is found and it becomes a thriving town with some lawlessness to boot, and here Harry Wood's crooked shenanigans take root. Que: Johnny Mack Brown who rides in looking for his ranch hands and ends up fighting and shooting and romancing Penny Moran. Pleasant action western with a smooth plot, nice songs and clean entertainment.

When two of their Marshal friends are killed, the Rough Riders are sent to investigate. They have to find the killers in a ghost town where the houses and an old mine are interconnected by secret passages and tunnels.

Ghost town, creepy house, creepy injun servant, eyes peering through the curtain, passageways and silhouette in the window - these things you find in Ghost Town law, an interesting western due to the atmosphere- there's a little sense of clarity to what's happening ( to be fair, that's down to the crackly audio and faded picture quality of the copy I had seen) but it gets better as it goes along. Has some good fights, rambunctious action and the real villain gets revealed. The set pieces - the ghost town and mansion is well done.

A gang of outlaws takes over El Dorado, a ghost town, just before gold is rediscovered there. With the boom comes easy money for Gils Brandon and his henchmen. Meanwhile, vigilantes, seeking to curb the lawlessness of the town, offers the job of Marshal to Steve Rawlins. On the day that Gil's fiancée, Ellen Randall, arrives in town, Gil is shot when he makes an attack on the new Marshal. Discovered in a dying condition by his twin brother, Buck Brandon, Gil regrets his outlaw past and asks Buck to make El Dorado a decent place. Steve learns of the relationship and enlists the aid of Buck in cleaning up the town.

Cheyenne Roundup is a fun western, a little farfetched with a twin angle but I actually liked that aspect, especially when we get to see Johnny Mack Brown as a bad guy, at least for the first half before his brother takes over as a good guy in the guise of his bad brother in order to tame the town, with the help of Tex Ritter. Yes it's fairly convoluted but all the fun for it. Then there's some good humour from Fuzzy knight who, in the beginning, is a storekeeper, sheriff and judge all rolled into one as the sole person in a ghost town, that's before the bad Johnny Mack brown and his pards take over, reinstating the ghost town into a thriving town. Quite plot driven than the usual shoot em up B oater and ends with a lively shootout and brawl.

Ward Bailey arrives as the new Marshal of lawless Gunsmoke, where Citizens of Gunsmoke are being intimidated by Lon Curtis (Harry Woods) and his gang who are preventing an election to vote on a township charter, and a corrupt defense lawyer makes the pursuit of justice very difficult. Complicating the matter that he's the marshal's brother.

Tex Ritter is the Marshal of Gunsmoke and predictably is here to clean up a town called, eh, Gunsmoke, and that's an aptly named town as there will be plenty of gunsmoke before his job is done. His job is complicated by the arrival of his lawyer brother who works for the villain (to be fair, he had hoodwinked the lawyer into it) but there's no taxing brother vs brother subplot - Russel Haydn as the brother soon gets on the right side. Not after a frame-up, nefarious schemes and an election where the bad guy could win by crooked means.

Marshal of Gunsmoke is a breezy, fun western with all the right ingredients- some nice songs sung by the charming Jennifer Holt, energetic gunplay, impressive stunt work like Ritter leaping from his horse on two escaping riders and a Stagecoach scene with Fuzzy Knight on top bellowing at the top of his lungs as the horse-less Stagecoach goes out of control. Nothing taxing for the brain with deep studies into the realm of the mind, just breezy western action for pleasant viewing.

The Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight of 1897 draws to Carson City every outlaw of the territory, eager for the pickings. But Brett Stanton has bigger ideas! Like robbing the box office of a high profile prizefight.

City of Badmen is an unusual western, mainly due to its setting - a prizefight- as well as being a caper. It's a fairly intriguing western with enough conflict and some intelligent dialogue. A little talky at times and it takes a little time to get going, but it does draw you in, at least mildly. The best acting is from Dale Robertson who has a conscience and is conflicted over his criminal life - he clashes with his brother (Lloyd bridges) as well as Richard Boone, who, in no surprise, is the heavy. If you like unusual westerns with a unique setting and characterisation, then City of the Badmen is right up your creek.

A great deal of care has been taken to ensure authenticity in the settings of the period and details concerning the fight. The boxing style itself has changed so radically since 1897 that John Day and Gil Perkins, who are seen as Corbett and Fitzsimmons, trained industriously for their boxing scenes to create the authentic style. A veteran stuntman, Gil Perkins has staged some of the most exciting fights in screen history (John Wayne and Randolph Scott brawl in The Spoilers comes to mind)

A Texan (Jeffrey Hunter) robs a train in an effort to prevent his father ( who is blackmailed into doing so) from committing the crime. A young girl (Mitzi Gaynor) attempts to help him after learning about the theft. A cowboy friend (Keefe Brasselle) demands a share of the money, but Jeff wants to return the money to the railroad. Keefe joins up with the villains and Jeff goes after them to clear his and his father's name and also to try and save Keefe from the bad hombres (don't know why he's one stupid and irritating character with a whiny voice!)

Three Young Texans is quite an interesting and engaging western with good performances, location and good photography all round. The title makes it sound like a fluffy story with young leads, but it has a noir-like suspense due to a dilemma - how does Jeffrey Hunter prevent his father from robbing the railroad's payroll? Simple, rob it himself and then return it to the authorities, but it isn't as simple as his avaricious friend steals the hidden money, hence spiralling the drama and action into one compelling western. Sometimes it's good to have low expectations, which I had for this western, thinking it was fairly average stuff, as it's nice to be surprised by a solid film.

Red Ryder, Buckskin, the Duchess and Little Beaver go to the help of an old rancher who has been threatened by the gang of a crooked saloon keeper. They run into his revenge-seeking daughter who's quick on the draw.

Comparisons to the previous Red Ryders featuring Wild Bill Elliott and Rocky Allan Lane are inevitable and I do love those films but the Fighting Redhead featuring Jim Bannon isn't too bad - it still has the enjoyable elements of the Republic Red Ryders such as the villainous schemes, the engaging plot and Jim Bannon makes a decent Red Ryder, even though he isn't as good as the aforementioned actors. Still he has a natural charm.

When they learn that their brother Matt Denton (Ross Latimer) is awaiting trial in California, charged with train robbery, deputies Tom Denton (Preston Foster) and Fred Denton (Jim Davis) leave their home in Fort Grant, Texas and head west. They arrive in Tulare just in time to rescue Matt from being hanged, but a guard is killed during their escape. Ed Larkin (Rory Mallinson) who framed Matt, falsely accuses them of a long list of crimes. They return to Fort Grant so that Tom can see his sweetheart Laura Brook (Virginia Grey). They encounter outlaw Bill Devlin (William Haade) who persuades them to hold up a train which Laura unwittingly told them would carry a large payroll. Soon the whole territory is enraged at their deeds. They return to Fort Grant to hold up the two banks that are filled with huge sums of cattle money.

Three Desperate Men has a standard "good guys turn into outlaws by cruel circumstances" western plot which is given a lift by the presence of Preston Foster and Jim Davis, some lively shoot em up action and a fast pace. The finale features a real intense shootout- quite impressive. I think originally it was meant to feature the Dalton gang, but instead it was decided to have the desperate outlaws as fictional, which is a good idea. Notice that Denton isn't too far a stretch from Dalton.

Famous outlaw and bank robber Jesse James is lured from his comfortable retirement in St. Joseph, Missouri, to commit one more robbery to retrieve gold from an abandoned mine in Colorado, but the affair will go wrong...

The Great Jesse James Raid isn't a bad western, it's an adequate time passer, at least once you pass the first dull ten minutes. Once the motley gang is formed, shootouts beckon and they enter the mine things pick up. Some of the acting is good such Tom Neal who looks like he could kill a rattler just by glancing at it and Willard Parker does well as a conflicted Jesse James. The dialogue can be bland at times, the pace a little laborious, but it has enough good moments to keep you watching. Maybe it would've been better if it didn't feature Jesse James and a longer running time to flesh out the plot, especially in the last fifteen minutes, to make it less slapdash.

An outlaw gang's hopes of a pardon are threatened when they're framed for crimes they didn't commit.

Promised their freedom if they keep out of trouble; paroled bank robbers Cole (Morris); Jim (Bruce Bennett) and Bob Younger (James Brown) join kid brother Johnny (Hutton) in Cedar Creek; Minnesota; unaware that their troubles have already begun. Set up by Daniel Ryckman (Fred Clark); an ex-Pinkerton cop who claims they cost him his job; Johnny is falsely accused of murder; while sultry bandit Kate Shepherd (Paige) robs a bank and makes Cole her fall guy.

The Younger Brothers travels a well worn trail in the "outlaw" western genre - and here the brothers are trying to keep on the straight and narrow, but this being a western with a modicum of chases and gunsmoke, for them that's going to be hard to achieve- especially with a vengeful ex-Pinkerton man and Janis Paige - a lady bandit - trying to scupper their chances to change. These two are the most interesting characters and what drives this rather routine yet efficiently made film. However, it's fuse doesn't always burns bright, it lacks a little punch, the colour tone is too dark, but it's entertaining with some good acting and a sufficiently constructed plot.

The Younger brothers, Cole, Bob and Jim, return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.

Following the success of Jesse James (1939) comes another western based on the exploits on a real life outlaws - the Younger brothers - and it's not as epic or on the same budget scale, but Badmen of Missouri, in b-western fashion, is fast, action-packed with some great stunt work such as the one involving a Stagecoach and it has also a healthy dose of humour, especially from a character called Pettibone. It's much lighter than what the subject matter would warrant but it's great fun and has a busy plot. You get good villainy in Victor Jory who plays a scheming -what else?- land grabber and his criminal activity is backed up by Howard Da Silva as his thug/sheriff.