Charles Starrett

In 1935, Columbia Pictures wanted to replace its incumbent western star Tim McCoy with a younger actor. Starrett heard about this and interviewed with Columbia producers. Starrett recalled that studio chief Harry Cohn was indifferent, caring about only one thing: "Can he ride a horse?" Starrett could, and got the job. His first western was Gallant Defender (1935).[6] Starrett ultimately signed four contracts with Columbia, becoming the studio's number-one cowboy star. He cast an appealing figure with his tall stature (6' 2"), strong jawline, confident voice, and air of quiet authority.

Starrett hadn't planned on making an entire career out of westerns, and agreed to make them for two years, with the understanding that his bosses would then cast him in plainclothes roles. When they didn't, he walked out on his contract after the two years. "I sat out the waltz one year, thinking I'd like to make a change from westerns. That waltz cost me $60,000 [the dollar value of his original agreement]. But you know when you're raising a family -- I had two young boys, twins -- you can't always do what you want to do... And I think an actor's life is very much like an athlete's. It's youth. You've got to make it while you can. So after that year, I went back and went along with it."[7] Theater exhibitors around the world were attracting big crowds with Charles Starrett westerns, so Columbia gave him a new contract with the actor insisting on appearing in a non-western. He finally got his chance—once—in 1937, for the collegiate musical comedy Start Cheering (released 1938). In a curious reflection of his own situation, Starrett played a disenchanted movie hero who wanted to do something different with his life. But Starrett's success in westerns established him firmly in outdoor fare and sealed his fate professionally. For the rest of his career he made Columbia westerns exclusively.

The musical westerns of Gene Autry inspired every Hollywood studio to have its cowboy personalities use their musical talents—but not Charles Starrett. He could carry a tune but left the songs to professional vocalists (his vocals in Start Cheering were dubbed by Robert Paige). Columbia solved the problem by hiring an entire singing group to support Starrett: the Sons of the Pioneers.

Charles Starrett made two dozen westerns under his new contract, and they tend to resemble each other because the production unit was very close-knit. The same company of technicians and players worked in film after film: almost always Iris Meredith as the leading lady, Dick Curtis as the villain, Hank Bell as the sidekick, Edward LeSaint as the senior character of father, rancher, marshal, etc., and the Sons of the Pioneers as the chorus. Very occasionally, Columbia reassigned Meredith to other productions, so various contract starlets took the ingenue roles, among them Lorna Gray and Ann Doran.[8]

When Starrett's new contract lapsed in July 1940,[9] he withdrew from westerns[10] and Columbia disbanded the unit. Iris Meredith left the studio,[11] and the Sons of the Pioneers moved to Republic Pictures, where they reunited with their former lead singer Roy Rogers.

Again, exhibitors petitioned Columbia for more Charles Starrett westerns, so the studio came through with a new contract at an increased salary. Starrett finally accepted his permanent cowboy status, and returned to Columbia in March 1941 as "The Medico": Steven Monroe, cowboy doctor.[12]

The Medico series lapsed after only three features. Columbia then added former Hopalong Cassidy co-star Russell Hayden and comedian-musician Cliff Edwards to the Starrett company, following the "trigger trio" format popular at the time: three name stars in a western series, like The Three Mesquiteers, The Rough Riders, and The Range Busters. Hayden and Edwards were featured alongside Starrett during the 1941-42 season. Columbia gave Hayden his own starring series in 1942; Edwards left Columbia for RKO to work with Tim Holt.

After playing assorted rancher, ranger, and sheriff roles, Charles Starrett was cast as The Durango Kid in 1940. The character was an upright citizen known and liked by the townsfolk, but he masqueraded as a notorious, black-garbed horseman to terrorize the local criminals and foil their plans. The film was successful but not much different from some of Starrett's earlier good guy-chasing-bad-guy roles.

The character was revived five years later in The Return of the Durango Kid, which caught on very quickly. Starrett played an amiable cowpoke named Steve (the last name varied but he was always Steve to his friends), who would become angered by an injustice and go after the villains as the mysterious, elusive Durango Kid. Steve's paint horse was named "Bullet" and Durango's white horse was "Raider." A follow-up film was made, and then a series. One favorite device became a signature: the masked Durango Kid suddenly materializing like Superman, always catching the villains by surprise. The Durango Kid rejuvenated Charles Starrett's career, winning him a new generation of loyal fans, a new five-year contract, and even a comic-book adaptation, Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid (1949-1955), published by Magazine Enterprises.[13] The film series was also a useful training ground for novice actresses and fashion models, who would be signed to six-month contracts and cast as cowgirls in Starrett westerns.

Dub Taylor, as comic sidekick "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 films combined vigorous action sequences—often with spectacular stunts performed by Ted Mapes and later Jock Mahoney—and western music. Each film featured musical specialties by Burnette, and by a guest artist or group from records or radio.

By 1949, the series faced a challenge. Production costs kept rising, but the financial return was limited. So Columbia resorted to shooting less new material, and borrowing scenes from older Durango Kid pictures to coax the running time up to the usual length. Columbia was starting to use this same recycling gambit in its adventure serials and Three Stooges comedies. Sometimes the scripting and editing were very clever, most memorably in Cyclone Fury (1951), in which footage from four older Starrett westerns is worked into the plot. The final Durango Kid feature was The Kid from Broken Gun (1952), with the new footage set in a courtroom and the old footage illustrating the testimony of the various characters.

Charles Starrett retired at age 48, when his last Columbia contract lapsed.[14] As Starrett had once taken over Columbia's westerns from Tim McCoy, Jock Mahoney took over the reins from Starrett, co-starring with Smiley Burnette in a new series. The pilot feature was completed but never released,[15] so Columbia's long history of B westerns ended with Charles Starrett. Columbia serviced the still-strong demand for Starrett by reissuing his 1937-1940 westerns with the Sons of the Pioneers. These proved just as popular as the Durango series, and Columbia kept dozens of the Starrett features in theaters for several years.