Blu-Ray News #372: Devil’s Doorway (1950).

Directed by Anthony Mann
Starring Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond, Marshall Thompson, James Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan

One of John Alton’s pictures making its way to Blu-Ray is a reason to celebrate — so get out the champagne, here comes Devil’s Doorway (1950) from Warner Archive.*

This Anthony Mann picture — one of the first of what we’d come to label “50s Westerns” — is terrific in every possible way. Robert Taylor is great as the Indian who returns home from the Civil War with a Medal Of Honor, only to find the typical respectable townspeople (Louis Calhern is one of ’em) trying to take away his father’s land. It’s short, tight, tense — all the usual Mann stuff.

For somebody you’d never really think of as a Western actor, Robert Taylor sure made some great ones: this one, Westward The Women (1951), The Last Hunt (1956), The Law And Jake Wade (1958), etc. Devil’s Doorway one comes highly, highly recommended.

* I’d like to think that Blu-Ray technology was developed just so us movie nuts could better watch the work of cats like William Clothier, Gregg Toland, Stanley Cortez and, of course, John Alton.

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Play Ball!

Today’s Opening Day for major league baseball — and the home opener for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The thing around here is to mark the first game at Dodgers Stadium with the great John Ford sporting a Dodgers cap.

Let’s go Dodgers!

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Bob Madison, Tom Mix And The Wild West Christmas.

Bob Madison’s book Tom Mix And The Wild West Christmas has been named the Spur Award Finalist for Best Juvenile Western by the Western Writers of America. Bob writes as Scott McCrea. You can get a copy here.

In addition to being my friend, Bob is a huge Westerns fan and a big supporter of this blog. Congratulations, Bob!

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DVD Review: Lightning Guns (1950).

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Produced by Colbert Clark
Screen Play by Victor Arthur
Based on a story by Bill Milligan
Director Of Photography: Fayte M. Browne
Film Editor: Paul Borofsky
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Cast: Charles Starrett (Steve Brandon/Durango Kid), Smiley Burnette (Smiley), Gloria Henry (Susan Atkins), William Bailey (Luke Atkins), Edgar Dearing (Capt. Dan Saunders), Raymond Bond (Jud Norton), Jock O’Mahoney (Sheriff Rob Saunders)

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Pulled out Mill Creek’s two-disc The Durango Kid Collection again the other day. This time, it was Lightning Guns (1950).

Ranchers in Piute Valley are fighting over water and the building of a dam, and Steve Brandon (Charles Starrett) and Smiley ride right in the middle of it all. A local banker, who was going to approve a loan to get the dam built, is murdered and soon sheriff Jock O’Mahoney has to arrest his own father. 

Steve and Smiley (and Durango) sort it out, revealing that the local grocer is the murderer. There’s a lot of riding and shooting, and a cool thread involving a rare .41 caliber pistol — and Smiley is a traveling bathtub salesman, logging a heavy tub from scene to scene.

Gloria Henry did Lightning Guns between a couple of key Western pictures — Strawberry Roan (1948) with Gene Autry and Fritz Lang’s Rancho Notorious (1952). Jock Mahoney (billed here as O’Mahoney) had been doubling for Charles Starrett on the series and was making the transition to actor. He acted in a number of the later ones.

The Durango Kid is cool, but he never really seems to fit in his own films. For one thing, it’s hard to fathom how Starrett can travel from town with two horses (Steve’s Bullet and Durango’s Raider) without getting found out. I loved these films as a kid, but always wondered how he pulled it all off.

Fred F. Sears worked as a character actor and dialogue director on the series before climbing into the director’s chair. Here, he keeps things moving at a quick pace and handles Smiley Burnette’s comedic scenes well. Smiley’s stuff seems a bit intrusive (or tacked on) in some of these pictures. 

From 1945 to 1952, Columbia, Starrett, Smiley and crew (including directors Sears and Ray Navarro) worked at a frantic pace, making a total of 64 Durango Kid pictures. Lightning Guns is one of the 10 movies in Mill Creek’s budget-friendly set, The Durango Kid Collection. The transfer looks wonderful. It’s a nice little set, and it comes highly recommended. (Wish they’d get around to a volume two!)

Mill Creek has come through with some terrific multi-picture sets over the last few years. They’re often made up of Columbia pictures — with sets dedicated to William Castle, The Whistler, Jungle Jim, Randolph Scott, Hammer Films and more. (Some are released through Critic’s Choice.) Many of the titles have been available singly or as MOD releases, but the prices can’t be beat, and they’ll save you space as we watch our collections gobble up our real estate. 

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