The Kid from Broken Gun

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The Kid from Broken Gun
The Kid from Broken Gun (1952) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Screenplay by Barry Shipman
Ed Earl Repp
Produced by Colbert Clark
Starring Charles Starrett
Jock Mahoney
Angela Stevens
Tristram Coffin
Myron Healey
Cinematography Fayte M. Browne
Edited by Paul Borofsky
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • August 16, 1952 (1952-08-16)
Running time
55 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Kid from Broken Gun is a 1952 American western action film directed by Fred F. Sears, and starring Charles Starrett, Jock Mahoney, Angela Stevens, Tristram Coffin, and Myron Healey. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on August 16, 1952. [1] [2] [3] This was the sixty-fifth and final film in the Durango Kid series. [4]

Contents

Plot

After having threatened Matt Fallon, Jack Mahoney is on trial for Fallon's murder and the theft of a strong box. His friends Steve Reynolds and Smiley Burnette await the verdict. Mahoney's attorney, Gail Kingston, puts on a poor defense and Mahoney is jailed.

Doc Handy arrives with proof of ownership of the stolen box, but is killed before he can testify. Steve Reynolds (secretly The Durango Kid) tells of the discovery of hidden Santa Ana gold believed to be in the stolen strong box.

The Durango Kid gathers all interested parties in the courtroom and reveals the actual progression of events, thus exposing the real murderer.

Cast

Production and release

Since 1949 Columbia Pictures had been economizing on its series of Charles Starrett westerns. Every all-new production now alternated with a "cheater"—a lower-budget production that incorporated entire sequences from older Durango Kid features. In The Kid from Broken Gun, the new scenes take up only about half of the 55-minute running time. Scriptwriter Barry Shipman structured the film as a courtroom story, so the testimony from the witnesses could be related as flashbacks to the older scenes. The old footage is taken from The Fighting Frontiersman (1946) and West of Sonora (1948).

Charles Starrett retired after filming was completed, ending the longest string of starring films in motion-picture history. Starrett made 131 feature films between 1935 and 1952, exclusively for Columbia. The studio fell back on its usual practice whenever a series was discontinued: the character identification was dropped from the film credits and the promotional materials. Starrett received star billing, but The Durango Kid was no longer mentioned.

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References

  1. "The Kid from Broken Gun". afi.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  2. "The Kid from Broken Gun". AllMovie. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  3. "The Kid from Broken Gun". TCM.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  4. Blottner, Gene (2011). "The Durango Kid". Columbia Pictures Movie Series, 1926–1955: The Harry Cohn Years. McFarland. ISBN   9780786486724.