Director: RAY NAZARRO. Original screenplay: Barry Shipman. Photography: George F. Kelley. Film editor: Henry DeMond. Art director: Charles Clague. Set decorator: David Montrose. Hair styles: Helen Hunt. Assistant director: Gilbert Kay. Camera operator: Gert Anderson. Grip: Al Becker. Stills: Don Christie. Set continuity: Wyonna O'Brien. Sound recording: Lambert Day. Sound engineer: Frank Goodwin. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Colbert Clark.
Copyright 26 November 1947 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 9 January 1948. No record of any U.K. theatrical release. Australian release: 25 August 1949. 4,981 feet. 55 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Framed into believing he has killed the local sheriff, a rancher is forced to fill the post himself.
NOTES: Charles Starrett's 95th western.
COMMENT: There's plenty of action in this entertaining Durango Kid western, including a spectacular stagecoach chase with running inserts and thrilling stunt-work (performed by Jock Mahoney, easily recognizable in Durango's garb). This footage is so good it was used again 3 or 4 years later in another entry in this series.
For once, the title has something to do with the script which casts Starrett in the meaty role of an unwillingly crooked sheriff. Hugh Prosser and Robert Wilke make a fine pair of villains. Nancy Saunders is an attractive heroine, though she has very little footage. George Chesebro is on the right side of the law, for a change. Smiley Burnette doesn't figure much in the early stages of the film, but he comes into his own later on, with his camera used in a thrilling development of the plot.
The musical interludes are pleasant, with Mr Curly Clements performing some mean tricks on a fiddle. The script uses narration effectively to maintain interest. Ray Nazarro's direction is capable and the location photography is often quite attractive.
Copyright 26 November 1947 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No New York opening. U.S. release: 9 January 1948. No record of any U.K. theatrical release. Australian release: 25 August 1949. 4,981 feet. 55 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Framed into believing he has killed the local sheriff, a rancher is forced to fill the post himself.
NOTES: Charles Starrett's 95th western.
COMMENT: There's plenty of action in this entertaining Durango Kid western, including a spectacular stagecoach chase with running inserts and thrilling stunt-work (performed by Jock Mahoney, easily recognizable in Durango's garb). This footage is so good it was used again 3 or 4 years later in another entry in this series.
For once, the title has something to do with the script which casts Starrett in the meaty role of an unwillingly crooked sheriff. Hugh Prosser and Robert Wilke make a fine pair of villains. Nancy Saunders is an attractive heroine, though she has very little footage. George Chesebro is on the right side of the law, for a change. Smiley Burnette doesn't figure much in the early stages of the film, but he comes into his own later on, with his camera used in a thrilling development of the plot.
The musical interludes are pleasant, with Mr Curly Clements performing some mean tricks on a fiddle. The script uses narration effectively to maintain interest. Ray Nazarro's direction is capable and the location photography is often quite attractive.
