From 1933 to 1935, John Wayne made a series of sixteen sagebrush yarns for Monogram Pictures under their Lone Star production unit. In 1935, Monogram along with Mascot, Consolidated Film Laborites and others merged into the Republic Pictures fold. Wayne, with producers Trem Carr and Paul Malvern moved over to Republic in the deal, and made another eight films there. Republic raised the bar ever so slightly over the Lone Star flicks, with bigger budgets and better production values. Better stories helped also, and "King of the Pecos" is an example.
I was lucky to catch the film this morning on AMC's all star Western weekend; I've never seen this movie available on tape or DVD. Set in 1870's Texas, it follows Wayne's character John Clayborn using the typical formula of a young boy growing up after his parents have been killed by the movie's villain, in this case, Cy Kendall as the land grabbing Alexander Stiles. Stiles' ploy is making claim on all the available water holes in his stretch of the Pecos River Valley, and granting settlers cattle which he buys back with worthless notes when they can't afford to pay for the water.
There's a neat scene where a lot of fuss is made over a newly designed safe Stiles brings in cross country. It's called a 'Salamander' - it can go through the hottest fire and never melt! Interestingly, Stiles is later referred to as Salamander by his henchmen a few times, which sort of works as he fancies himself immune to heat when the going gets tough.
Wayne's character makes a rather questionable transformation from a boy of about ten witnessing his parents' death, to a young man who's already a lawyer in the space of ten years. The math doesn't work, but that aside, Clayborn manages to hone his shooting skills along with his legal work to hang a shingle in the town of Cottonwood. There he collides with town boss Stiles and his gang in order to set things right for the local ranchers who've been swindled by the Salamander. Along the way, the territorial judge finds against Stiles, putting all but one of his water right claims back into the public domain.
One of Wayne's good friends from the Lone Star days is along for this ride, Yakima Canutt in a low key role as a Stiles henchman. The female lead is provided by Muriel Evans, a mainstay in a bunch of Buck Jones movies. There's also a comedic tandem using a slightly overdone hard of hearing gimmick who back up Wayne's play at each turn. It's worth mentioning too that John Wayne is often seen riding atop his trusty white horse, appropriately named 'Duke', though that name isn't mentioned in the story.
Speaking of horses, keep an eye on the team of white horses pulling Stiles' wagon as he attempts to make a getaway during the shootout near the end of the film. Just before the wagon breaks away, the lead horses take about the nastiest spill you'll ever see in any movie to this day. I'm always amazed at how they managed to film those scenes.
For anyone who hasn't sampled a range of Wayne's early work, "King of the Pecos" might come across as an uninspired Western, but if you've viewed his pictures from Columbia and Lone Star, you'll note the gradual progression of his skill, honed during the ten year span of the 1930's. Believe it or not, Wayne made just over fifty films during this period. Obviously the hard work paid off, and not just in terms of a future career. In the Lone Star flicks, Wayne's character usually got the girl at the end of the film, but here he winds up marrying her as well!
I was lucky to catch the film this morning on AMC's all star Western weekend; I've never seen this movie available on tape or DVD. Set in 1870's Texas, it follows Wayne's character John Clayborn using the typical formula of a young boy growing up after his parents have been killed by the movie's villain, in this case, Cy Kendall as the land grabbing Alexander Stiles. Stiles' ploy is making claim on all the available water holes in his stretch of the Pecos River Valley, and granting settlers cattle which he buys back with worthless notes when they can't afford to pay for the water.
There's a neat scene where a lot of fuss is made over a newly designed safe Stiles brings in cross country. It's called a 'Salamander' - it can go through the hottest fire and never melt! Interestingly, Stiles is later referred to as Salamander by his henchmen a few times, which sort of works as he fancies himself immune to heat when the going gets tough.
Wayne's character makes a rather questionable transformation from a boy of about ten witnessing his parents' death, to a young man who's already a lawyer in the space of ten years. The math doesn't work, but that aside, Clayborn manages to hone his shooting skills along with his legal work to hang a shingle in the town of Cottonwood. There he collides with town boss Stiles and his gang in order to set things right for the local ranchers who've been swindled by the Salamander. Along the way, the territorial judge finds against Stiles, putting all but one of his water right claims back into the public domain.
One of Wayne's good friends from the Lone Star days is along for this ride, Yakima Canutt in a low key role as a Stiles henchman. The female lead is provided by Muriel Evans, a mainstay in a bunch of Buck Jones movies. There's also a comedic tandem using a slightly overdone hard of hearing gimmick who back up Wayne's play at each turn. It's worth mentioning too that John Wayne is often seen riding atop his trusty white horse, appropriately named 'Duke', though that name isn't mentioned in the story.
Speaking of horses, keep an eye on the team of white horses pulling Stiles' wagon as he attempts to make a getaway during the shootout near the end of the film. Just before the wagon breaks away, the lead horses take about the nastiest spill you'll ever see in any movie to this day. I'm always amazed at how they managed to film those scenes.
For anyone who hasn't sampled a range of Wayne's early work, "King of the Pecos" might come across as an uninspired Western, but if you've viewed his pictures from Columbia and Lone Star, you'll note the gradual progression of his skill, honed during the ten year span of the 1930's. Believe it or not, Wayne made just over fifty films during this period. Obviously the hard work paid off, and not just in terms of a future career. In the Lone Star flicks, Wayne's character usually got the girl at the end of the film, but here he winds up marrying her as well!
