Durango Kid, the hero with many aliases

[cinemalover]

I was wondering if anyone watched any of the Durango Kid films this morning. I'm familiar with most of them from the Western Channel. I think Charles Starrett makes an okay hero, though by the end of the series he was looking like he was rode hard and put away wet.

In most of the films the Durango Kid's alias was Steve Fill-In-The -Blank. He must have had a dozen different last names to go with his steady first. I never knew if it was a lack on continuity, if the studio just didn't care and figured the kids wouldn't notice, or the conspiracy theory holds that the Durango Kid was his real name and Steve Whatisname was the true hero.

[mrsl]

Chris:

I too, am familiar with The Durango Kid from the Western Channel, and I have to say Thank the Lord for Anthony Mann who finally came along and helped the western movie grow up.

I truly love the old westerns, especially the John Wayne circa 1930-1939 and get a real kick out of them, but occasionally I wonder at how the studios let them stay so amateur looking. They had no idea what a goldmine they had in their midst. Take a 1945 western like the Durango Kid, and compare it to 1945 G.I. Joe for lighting, camerawork, acting talents etc. and the western loses hands down. Looking at a Gene Autry re-furbished movie, it probably looks better than it did the first time around.

The amazing thing is so much of later movies is taken directly from those westerns. They pioneered so many scenarios. Today's 'buddy' movies are simply updates of the old side kicks, the only difference is both actors get equal billing now. Some women were coming into their own like Roy Rogers gave Dale equal billing and Gail Davis was right under Gene Autry's name in some of their work.

I guess you have to be a real fan to watch a lot of them, but I am, so I enjoyed the a.m. I hope some who have never seen Spencer Tracy as the Father of the Bride got a chance to catch it this afternoon.

Anne

[cinemalover]

You're so right, Anne. Many of the B-westerns do play like amateur hour when compared to some of the other studio product. But they were mostly aimed at a less discriminating, younger, matinee audience. They mostly used these films to either break in new directors, hide the less talented directors, or to slip a few crumbs to once competent directors that were on the backsides of their careers. The success of the B-westerns, at least for me, depends on the charisma of their stars and their chemistry demonstarted between the stars and side kicks. I can overlook cheap sets and hackneyed plots if the two heroes are fun to watch. Buster Crabbe and Fuzzy St. John come to mind. Their pictures together were strictly low-rent, but it really looked like they were having fun and it was contagious for the audience.