Customer Reviews

Blazing Across the Pecos [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this DVD for $9.99, and was pleased that Sony/Columbia has begun to put some of the Durango Kid releases on DVD. Blazing Across the Pecos is indeed entertaining. True, the plot is simple and tried, but unlike a couple of other reviewers, I believe this B-Western does hold interest, and, with such stand-outs as Smiley Burnette and Jock Mahoney, is fun to watch. You can't go wrong with a Durango Kid. Print quality is superb. Now, let's hope Sony will release a lot more Durangos [Bonanza Town is also out]. They've begun to put out some Randy Scott, Glenn Ford, and other "A" Westerners. During the late 1940s (with G. Autry and Ch. Starrett) and later in the 1950s (with Scott, Ford, and others) Columbia Pictures did justice to the Western movie genre. Now that Platinum Disc has released about 40 Hopalong Cassidy movies (all digitally remastered prints), Sony might think about putting out nicely-priced sets of Durangos....

I do wish someone at Warner would consider some of the 1950s Randolph Scott Westerns, as well. While they generally weren't as well-produced as the Columbias, several of them (e.g., Carson City, Seven Men from Now, Westbound, Fort Worth, Colt .45) are superior and deserve to be put on DVD....

The good news first, dvd quality is excellent throughout, both picture and sound. This Durango Kid feature is only 54 minutes but seems twice as long. Story is written around lots of stock footage and makes little sense. The lack lustre supporting cast just go through the motions, while Smiley Burnette is simply awful, and Charles Starrett looks bored. Jock Mahoney has a short scene as well as doing his usual excellent stunt work. At $17.95 it is very over priced. There are many far superior Starrett westerns let's hope that Columbia makes a better choice next time. How about two westerns to a disc.

This is a great dvd. others have said this is not. If you Know how these old westerns are they are all a little corny. But this durango kid is a very good one. charles is good and the story is good. the picture quality is great espically for an old black and white western. sure there are better westerns but,if you are a true durango kid this will not disapoint

Columbia Pictures present "BLAZING ACROSS THE PECOS" (1948) (54 mins/B&W) --- Starring: Charles Starrett (Steve Blake/Durango Kid), Smiley Burnette (Marshal Smiley Burnette), Patricia Barry (Lola Carter), Paul Campbell (Editor Jim Traynor), Charles C. Wilson (Ace Brockway), Thomas E. Jackson (Matt Carter),

Directed by Ray Nazarro

Our plot and story line has the masked defender of law and order The Durango Kid protecting the rights of Thomas E. Jackson against Charles C. Wilson from Indian attacks ... is Wilson trying to drive Jackson out of business on his trading post ... can The Durango Kid out smart the baddies in this exciting Columbia oater, is Marshal Smiley Burnette still trying to figure out who is the real Durango Kid ... never fear our hero will win out and with the musical talents of Burnette to help us over the bumpy trail ---- they just don't make 'em like this anymore and Columbia Pictures was one of the leaders of exciting B-Westerns and Serials.

Charles Starrett as the black masked Durango Kid of '40s and '50s B-Western trail, he became as synonymous with the character as Clayton Moore was with the Lone Ranger and William Boyd was to Hopalong Cassidy ... The Durango Kid was an immediate hit with Saturday matinee crowd and a decision was made to continue the character, which Columbia did for an unprecedented 64 series westerns over the next seven years ... when Starrett portrayed the black clad and masked Durango Kid, he rode an Arabian white steed named "Raider" ... don't miss any of the Durango Kid features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures.

* Special Footnote: - Charles Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the "Durango Kid" Columbia Pictures western series ... In 1933 he was one of the people who helped organize the Screen Actors Guild, and in 1936 signed with Columbia Pictures to become one of the top ten western stars, starring in 115 movies the following 16 years ... in playing assorted sheriff and rangers roles, Starrett gained notoriety for his role as the "Durango Kid", the first film in which he played his famous alter-ego character was known as "The Durango Kid", which was released in 1940, but for some reason, Columbia did not see fit to continue with the series at that time ... the character was revived in 1944 and lasted through 1952. Dub Taylor, as "Cannonball", worked with Starrett until 1946 ... at that time, Smiley Burnette, who had been a very popular sidekick to Gene Autry, was brought in to replace Taylor. Burnette, appropriately enough, played a character called Smiley Burnette ... "The Durango Kid" series combined vigorous action sequences - often with speeded up camera work and spectacular stunts performed by Jock Mahoney - and western music ... each film featured a singing group, and many gave free rein to Burnette's singing and playing ... Starrett, who was independently wealthy, ended his acting career at 48 age when the "Durango Kid" series ceased production.

BIOS:
1. Charles Starrett
Date of birth: 28 March 1903 - Athol, Massachusetts,
Date of death: 22 March 1986 - Borrego Springs, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 3 Stars
Performance: 3 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 3 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 54 min on VHS ~ Sony Video ~ (9/14/2004)

Good quality from 35 mm print.

Okay Durango Kid outing.

This western is up to the usual standard of Charles Starrett Durango Kid westerns and makes an entertaining hour. What struck me most was the excellent quality of the DVD. Sony to their credit did the telecine in HD and it shows. On the strength of this I bought the other Sony release of Durango Kid, again this was top quality. Although the Sony dvds are relatively more expensive than some other distributors, I for one am happy to pay extra for such a high quality transfer.

Voice over - "The greatest enemies to the civilization of the West were the white men" (on screen we see gun toting, whooping and hollering half-naked savages attacking an outpost) "who, through greed, armed the savages..."
It's been a long time since I've bailed out on a movie (that I've paid good money for, purchase or rental, that is) but I came close with BLAZING ACROSS THE PECOS, a Durango Kid western starring Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid. Starrett played the masked crime-fighter (with an unmasked alter ego, of course) well over 50 times in the 1940s and 50s. Think Roy Rogers or Gene Autry without the singing ability or audience appeal.
In any event, I watched the whole 55-minutes of this thing. A bad hombre and henchman are selling guns to the indians and trying to drive out the decent merchants in town in the process. Smiley Burnette, kind of a poor man's Andy Devine, plays town Sheriff Smiley Burnette. The story is interrupted, or relieved, or suspended, three times for songs by the western swing band Red Arnall and His Western Aces.
There are wagon train attacks, stagecoach ambushes, shoot outs with desperados, and any number of time fillers that are remarkably unexciting. Somehow, with Burnette in tow, the Durango Kid learns of the skullduggery and through great deeds of daring manages to foil the bad guy's nefarious plot.
It's not fair to judge a long series like this on just one episode, but it's one of less than a handful Columbia has released and they ain't asking peanuts for it, either. Unless you absolutely have to have a Durango Kid collecting dust on the shelf, you'd do better buying a cheaper, and more entertaining, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers set. Not recommended at all.