Tonight, following our brief return to the high art and emotional depth of Kenji Mizoguchi, we welcomed back The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) in "Lightning Guns" (1950). The Kid's movies may never qualify as cinematic masterworks; they may never be released on Criterion, but they are always a lot of fun, and what's more - they deliver the Western goods, every time.
Here we have Smiley Burnette riding into town in Piute County, having remade himself as a bathtub salesman. Smiley is a born huckster to begin with, and he always has a song or two to promote whatever enterprise he is engaged in, which always changes with every movie. He may also have an advance copy of the script, because his bathtub business just so happens to coincide with a water war that is taking place between the two biggest landowners in the county, over the construction of a dam that is being built and financed by Landowner #1. A river runs through his property and that of Landowner #2, and #1 wants to build the dam to benefit all of the other ranchers and ordinary citizens of the valley, who don't have the benefit of a consistent water supply.
Landowner #2 objects because he feels the dam construction is being forced upon him, like an eminent domain type of deal. He comes across as a right winger at first, and there are some masked bad guys who are trying to dynamite the construction process who seem to work for him. At first, the entire issue is only a one-on-one conflict between the two ranchers. But then the "hired hands" kill a young man who was working at the dam site.
That's when "Steve" shows up, with yet another different surname (see other Durango Kid blogs about the "Steve" character). He attempts to persuade Landowner #2 of the dam's benefit for himself, and for the entire citizenry, but to no avail. The old coot is in a feud with #1. No amount of reason is gonna change his mind. What he doesn't realize, though, is that three of his employees (the "hired hands"), are plotting against him on behalf of a secret conspirator, who wishes to defeat both Landowners by causing a war of attrition between them, causing them to be killed or end up in jail so that he can wind up with all the land for himself.
A pretty good plot for a one hour film, eh? And that's what I mean by saying that these Kid movies really entertain from start to finish. There is a difference in scene length from standard releases running the normal 90 to 120 minutes. In a 60 minute film, every scene is based on action, meaning that the story is constantly being moved forward through short sequences based on investigative revelations.
A man is killed? Well, who did it?
The Durango Kid is already on scene, like a police detective, except that he is not constrained by organizational rules. He rides alone, though he is never unjust.
"Steve" is his everyday life alter ego, the Good Guy who relates to the public, and who also fires a fast gun. The Black Suited Durango does the dirty work of getting rid of the bad guys, but he does it in a clean way. And in the Durango Kid movies, as I have said before, you always get the comic relief and musical interludes of Smiley Burnette, who in this movie is paired with a fantastic cowboy singer named Ken Houchins. As a music fan, I must reiterate that - while I might not have this music in my cd player - I nevertheless think that these Western musicians and singers are fantastic musicians.....
As for the plot, in the past, in the movies, it was taken for granted that The Good Guys Always Won.
Every kid from my generation knew that, because we watched so many cowboy movies and cop shows and war films. And despite all the ambiguities that have cropped up philosophically in the decades since I was a kid, I think it is a hopeful thing to say, or wish for, that The Good Guys Always Win, just like they do in old Western movies.
I watched the interview of Andrew McCabe tonight, on the Lawrence O'Donnell show, and I think that The Good Guys will win this one, too, and when they do, the Bad Guy will end up in jail where he belongs. ////
I don't know about you, but I am done with this freezing cold weather. This has been the coldest winter for us cold wimps in recent memory, though I do recall one of similar horribility in 2007. Tonight it will supposedly go down to 32.
I do hope it ends soon, and I see a hopeful sign in the ten day forecast, of a possible 68 degree day in early March. Now, that doesn't exactly cut it. We used to have 80 degree days in January. But I'll take anything I can get at this point, because I am just not made for cold temperatures. Even 60 degrees would be a respite, lol.
Reading books, doing my job and waiting for Spring. :)
See you in the morning. Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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