Other Cowboy Stars — Roy Rogers in “Down Dakota Way”
January 28, 2011
When he was still calling himself Leonard Slye, Roy Rogers appeared in a couple of Charles Starrett’s films as a member of the musical group Sons of The Pioneers. In 1951, right around when Starrett was hanging up his spurs, Rogers made the move to TV with “The Roy Rogers Show.”
In between, he made pictures like “Frontier Pony Express” and, in 1949, this one.
“Down Dakota Way” features a mature Rogers, a sure-footed cowboy star comfortable in front of the camera. It also features ALOT of re-used footage from a previous Rogers vehicle? I can’t figure which one it is. A little help?
Another former Sons of the Pioneers band-member, Pat Brady, plays the comic relief. Brady learnt his comic stylings from the worst, Mr. Smiley Burnette. Here, he’s doing a recycled Burnette bit, taking a correspondence course in detecting. Brady would do 35 films with Rogers before joining him on his long-running TV show. That’s him mugging in the yellow hat.
The plot involves a former schoolteacher of Rogers’ and her errant son. Roy plays Roy Rogers, who is on his way to a Wild West show in Cheyenne. It’s set in the modern day, but Roy and co. still travel by horse.
Montie Montana plays Sheriff Holbrook. Montana was a rodeo star who appeared in a couple dozen westerns, mostly in uncredited roles. Besides his debut in “Circle of Death”, this is perhaps his meatiest character. He’s filled out a bit since that film and retains his authentic drawl and ease in the saddle. He also benefits from the much higher budget of this film (“Circle of Death” was pure Poverty Row.) He looks good in color, actually Trucolor ©.
The Many Moods of Charles Starrett
January 23, 2011
Other Cowboy Stars — Bill Cody in “The Border Menace”
January 15, 2011
Pick a Durango Kid film. Any Durango Kid film. It’s almost certainly going to begin with some variation on the following legend, either appearing on a title card or read aloud:
“During the gold rush of 1871, most prospectors dug in the ground for the precious metal, some sought it over gaming tables, others chose to get theirs by outlawry. But, when the focus of violence became a flaming menace of the law — there appeared a mysterious masked rider known as THE DURANGO KID!”
Here is the opening of 1934’s “Border Menace” starring Bill Cody.
Under this final image Bill pats his horse. “Hey Buddy, it’s great to be back on the old home range again.”
Unlike the Durango Kid who clocked in 48 appearances between 1940 and 1952, the “Shadow” didn’t take off. Bill Cody would play many “Bills” over the years, but never again would he play Bill the “Shadow” Williams. It’s not clear if he even played the “Shadow” here. Cody is never referred to as the “Shadow” in the film. No one mentions the “Shadow.” The general idea of shadows doesn’t even come up.
This is a remarkably bad film. It’s pure Poverty Row. It sinks below the generally poor quality of those films. More on that later.
We meet “Shadow” on the run from a posse of lawmen. It’s a ruse to allow him to get in with a gang of outlaws. He’s a Texas Ranger, see. There’s a ticking clock of a former confederate on his tail. It all ends with a damsel in distress and an explosion.
Bill Cody is Mr. Sunshine, once again making with the smiling and the chuckling, even when he’s trying to impress the bad guys that he’s a bad ass desperado who is out for bloody revenge. Cody was a minor silent cowboy star and he brings a jaunty Douglas Fairbanks style of mirthful bravado to his later films. At this point in his career, he split his time between stints in Hollywood and performances with traveling Wild West shows. “Border Menace” marks his return to the screen after a three year absence. He was 43.
This Aywon Films production is my number one contender for the “Plan Nine From Outer Space” of B-Westerns. Clumsy tracking shots and jarring cuts are the tools of this genre’s trade, but “Border Menace” finds new ways to confound and confuse. The plotting is bizarre, featuring an oddly-placed series of flashbacks told from a jail cell by a mumbly-mouthed narrator. Stock footage repeats again and again while never quite fitting the action of the film. The damsel in distress struggles to make her poorly tied shackles seem believable.
This picture is just weird.
Despite this, the director Jack Nelson, (who helmed one of the worst-ever horror western hybrids, “The Rawhide Terror“), seems pretty proud of his work on “Border Menace.” Check out how he signs his name.