King of the Pecos

John Wayne reprises many a role from his past as the man whom, as young boy, witnessed the murder of his parents. This time, it's the cattle baron "Stiles" (Cy Kendall) on whom he is fixated for revenge. He is now, though, a lawyer and so has decided to legitimately dismantle the extensive empire of his nemesis who would rather own the law than adhere to it. Initially dismissive of the young man's efforts, it's soon clear that In so doing he is risking life and limb, as well as those of the gal "Belle" (Muriel Evans). Nothing at all new here, just another 60 minute B-feature, but the Duke is on good form and Kendall makes for quite an effective, odious baddie. Joseph Kane keeps the pace hot, and there are plenty of brawls and galloping chases to keep it interesting, if hardly, challenging.

This film begins with an extremely greedy man by the name of "Alexander Stiles" (Cy Kendall) riding out to an isolated part of Texas and arrogantly declaring to his cowboys that the entire area is his by "right of discovery." Of course, being the dishonest man that he is, the fact that his claim has no legal basis doesn't concern him in the least. To that effect, in an effort to also control all of the watering holes as well, he then sends his men to a nearby ranch and demands that the owner sell his stake to him. When the owner refuses, he sends his men to murder both him and his wife. In the process, they also beat their young son and leave him unconscious on the ground while they ride off. The scene then shifts to 10 years later with a young man by the name of "John Clayborn" (John Wayne) riding in a stagecoach into a small West Texas town and declaring to the people there that he is a lawyer and intends to challenge Alexander Stiles' illegitimate claim of land in a court-of-law. Needless to say, this infuriates Alexander Stiles who becomes determined to prevent any such action--one way or the other. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be one of the better John Wayne films from his earlier days as it flowed much more smoothly from one scene to the next than many of his previous pictures. Naturally, as is quite typical for the time, it does have a few corny scenes here and there but even so I enjoyed it for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I have always enjoyed movies made prior to 60s and King of the Pecos is no exception. As a kid growing up in the 50s my hero was the Lone Ranger which I couldn't help but notice that the Lone Ranger and John Wayne both worn white hats and had white horses. I guess that was the norm for the good guys in those days.

John Wayne's acting in King of the Pecos and his early movies in general were a little bland, but it kept my interest. The story line could also have been a little more interesting but that was kind of the way many early Westerns went.

I noticed that there were a lot of horse related accidents in this movie. There were horses falling to the ground throwing their riders, and even horses running into other horses when a wagon goes over the cliff. It looked like there was a good chance that they may have been hurt, and wonder how concerned the producers and writers were in those days.

If you like early Westerns and John Wayne in particular it's worth watching.

An American Western; A story set in the 1870s in Pecos River country, Texas, about a criminal lawyer from Austin who witnessed his parents murdered by a land developer when he was a child. When a judge won't find the powerful developer guilty of another crime ten years later, the lawyer resorts to other methods of retaliation. This film has a morality theme about the strong and rich exerting their power over the weak have-nots and the rough justice it inevitably invites. Cy Kendall gives the most effective performance as a the mean, stern, ruthless developer who meets his match in John Wayne's hero. Arthur Aylsworth and Herbert Haywood provide some light comedy relief but it wears a little thin midway through. This routine short feature has a fairly uninvolving love interest too but otherwise it has an interesting revenge plot and has some good shootouts throughout the hot pace.

I wonder why this movie has a low rating? Of course with only 15 folks voting on it, there may be some bias. I found it funny, action filled, and not as cliche as most films from the thirties. I love the charismatic and tough, cocky, self assured character's Wayne played in the thirties, before becoming a bruting middle aged man. I say check this one out, it is worth it. Stiles as the bad guy is perfect. You really end up cheering for "The King of the Pecos", too take the bad guys down. 6/10