Stampede

Stampede features Charles Starrett before he did the Durango Kid series. Reading Les Adams' plot summary, I discovered that Stampede was filmed in Canada. Perhaps that is why the story is supposed to take place in Montana. The outdoor scenery is beautiful.

Charles Starrett was a good actor, but some of the later Durango Kid movies were so cheaply made that they spoiled any talent on the screen. With its typical western plot, Stampede was well done within the context of B movies. At times the movie does not look cheap, and the cast was excellent. Starrett played a few scenes with a seriousness that I have not seen in other western heroes. At other times the movie feels like it was on a budget. As the story reaches its climax the movie feels a little more like a standard issue western. It was, but it tried not to be.

There was little to complain about, but I feel that the ending left at least one loose end. One of the conspirators, Brooks, did not get his punishment at the end. He was just left out of the action. We just "know" he was found out and treated accordingly. Apparently the rule about the townsman in the suit going to jail at the end wasn't written in stone yet, and it was already 1936!