El que lleva la estrella

On the surface this looks like a mundane 30s oater meant as a filler during matinees. But it really is much more than that. Besides the pleasure of seeing a young John Wayne after "The Big Trail" and before his breakout role in "Stagecoach", you have the talents of Yakima Canutt as Wayne's native American assistant, one of the best stunt men in the business who lived to the ripe old age of 90. Oh, and he wasn't actually native American, as many articles falsely say.

Wayne plays a federal man meant to clean out a gang led by "The Shadow" that has been brazenly carrying out all kinds of crimes in and around a town and killing all of the sheriffs. Wayne shows up and takes the job as The Shadow has just killed the last one. Strangely enough his henchmen talk to him through what looks like a wall safe in a back room in the jail house. You have to wonder how the first conversation between this guy and a criminal got started, but I guess that's another story.

The heroine is not just some helpless gal that shrieks, although Duke does have to rescue her from a runaway stage in the beginning. But later she shows her toughness as she is harassed through her bedroom window at night by a stranger. She just calmly gets out of bed, grabs her gun, shoots the peeping tom, and goes back to sleep. There's a little lady who knows how to handle a home invasion!

Oh, and some hints for evil doers. If you are caught in the act and asked in the plain light of day who the ring leader is don''t respond with a lengthy prologue like "OK, OK, I'll tell, I'll tell...". This gives the Shadow time to shoot you.

My title comes from the fact that the final chase on horseback - there always is one in these old westerns - has Duke and the men of the town all wearing white head scarves to differentiate themselves from the Shadow's gang that is coming to attack the town. The thing is, they are not scarves they are head bandages,so they all look like head injury victims. It really is a humorous scene.

Recommended for an early John Wayne, a rather clever plot with some unusual twists and turns, and the great Yakima Canutt, stuntman and second unit director extraordinaire.

Several reviewers have praised the stunts. I hope they are referring to stunts done by the actors and not the horses. These were the days of trip wires being used to cause horses to fall. While running full speed they make dramatic falls on camera, but they often crippled or killed the horse. Fortunately, for the most part, the practice was stopped in the early 50s. (But I did see movie made in 1952 where a trip wire was used.) Other than this criticism, it was pretty standard early John Wayne stuff.

Mystery, excitement, big shootouts, and a hard riding hero. So what else could a grown-up kid ask for. Yeah, I know it's gotta have a girl, but at least Wayne doesn't have to kiss her-- what mush!

Great Lone Star action fare. Some good touches-- the river canoe, the white bandannas, and even the dangerous tree stump. George Hayes has a "straight" role here, showing what a talented creation his "Gabby" was. Okay, I didn't know it then, but those are "trip wires" that make the horse go hind-quarters over head. They made for thrilling spills, but they often broke legs and we know what happens then. I'm really glad the business was made to wise up and quit them. A lot of 30's Westerns had mystery-man masterminds behind the bad guys. This one does too. But he's hardly a secret since they tip his hand early.

Anyway, I gladly plunked down my dime in those B Western days and still think those are the best dimes I ever spent.

Pretty fair oater from the Duke's early years has some unusual casting. Yakima Canutt has his idea of some "skookum fun" as a good guy for a change from his normal villainous role, and Gabby Hayes plays against type as the bad guy. Canutt's part would seem to be an early model for another famous Indian buddy of a lawman, namely that of "Tonto." (Note also the Duke's horse could pass for "Silver.") As a resident from the same part of Yakima Canutt's home state, I was pleasantly surprised when Wayne as Travers identifies one of the Shadow's gang as a "lifer from Walla Walla" which is the site of Washington's maximum security state prison. Incidentally, Walla Walla is about an hour and a half's drive from Colfax, where Canutt was raised, and whose hometown he shares with Turner Classic Movies' host Robert Osborne. Fellow gangster Loco Frank, shown in the same scene, turns out to be Glenn Strange, who later had a famous role as Kitty's bartender in "Gunsmoke." The action scenes are not particularly outstanding, although the climactic chase scene is very distinctive involving the villain's canoe being chased downriver by the Duke on horseback. Although the title's a misnomer in that the Duke is never seen with a badge, that's the biggest fault in what I'd otherwise heartily recommend for something a bit out of the ordinary in the Duke's apprentice stage of his career. Dale Roloff

This is a real B movie, right down to the historical imprecision of a location featuring both stage coaches and telephones, its clichéd dialogue, a totally predictable plot straight out of the comics and enough protracted chases and gunfights to fill in the gaps left by a very thin script.

The Duke and his entourage provide plenty of ironic laughs but, if you want to take the movie at face value, it is quite enjoyable. The good guys win, the bad guys get their comeuppance, the Duke gets his gal and Yakima Canutt shows his tricks all in a setting that engrossed generations of schoolboys over most of the 20th century.

The Star Packers should also be of interest to students of cinema as its structure encapsulates the early movement of silent film into the talkies.