Overrated and overhyped

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

One of the early Republic John Wayne westerns. As usual, he's the tall, handsome, well spoken, westerner with a white hat and white horse. Here, he's a triple threat, with his law degree, as well as his firsts and gun. He's out to get even with Alexander Stiles(the obese Cy Kendall), whom we might label as 'The King of the Pecos', since he controls much of the land and nearly all of the water holes in his part of the Pecos. Wayne holds him as ultimately responsible for the shooting deaths of his parents and leaving him unconscious, 10 years ago. Actually, it was some of Stiles' henchmen , headed by Ash, who did the dirty work. Ash also shoots the father( (Ed Hearn as Eli Jackson) of his girlfriend: Belle(Murrel Evans). , during the rush to claim land and water holes, after Wayne convinced the judge that most of Stiles' claims weren't valid. The exception was the critical water hole at Sweetwater, which was the only source of fresh water for many miles. It was especially important when other herds were being driven to Abilene to load in cars. If Stiles refused to allow their cattle to drink here, or charged an outrageous fee, their cattle would die unless they sold them to him for worthless script. The same was true for the other water holes Stiles' claimed were his. In preparation for this cattle drive, some of Stiles' men had rustled the cattle of a number of ranchers before shooting them dead when they complained. The King of the Pecos is dethroned and eliminated, along with most of his henchmen, at the Battle of Sweetwater. Wayne has a special desire to kill Ash, since he blames him for his parents deaths. Wayne gets his chance in a one on one......I'll point out that the death of Belle's father symbolically opens wider the gate for a young man(Wayne) to replace her father as her significant other. This symbolism is quite common in westerns. ......One of the ranchers, I assume played by Herbert Heywood, is hard of hearing, and often thinks he hears the wrong word. This serves as a running gag throughout most of the film. .....Famed stuntman , rodeo rider and director of secondaries, Yakima Canutt, played a small role as a henchman. ....I found the film interesting, with a good mix of strategy and action....See it at YouTube.

Iconic director Joseph Kane shows here why he is rated so highly by western and film aficionados. Republic (I like the sound of that word) and Kane and John Wayne are simply unbeatable.In addition to a superlative story by Bernard McConville, an excellent cast and beautiful scenery create a nearly perfect western.One bonus is the lovely Muriel Evans, one of the, in fact, loveliest heroines of B westerns in Republic's history. She showed, besides looks, a lot more personality than most of the B heroines.When Turner Classic Movies showed, on 20 August 2015, a marathon of Mae Clarke movies, one of Ms. Clarke's premier performances came in a little-known film titled "Fast Workers." Muriel Evans had one scene, as a nurse, in which she mostly looked on, then had a few lines.And in that small part, she didn't quite steal the movie, but sure did make an impression, with a fascinating performance.She shows even more personality here, in "King of the Pecos," a fairly routine western, perhaps, but with such a sterling cast and superb directing and scenery that can and should make you want to pack your bags. Watch her in scenes where she might be only entering or leaving and you can't help admiring her presence and control.She has an expressive face and eyes that enthrall.John Wayne stands tall, demonstrates his personality that led him to be Hollywood's biggest star of all time, but isn't really stretched as an actor.He is aided by two unknown but immensely talented character actors, playing "Josh" and "Hank," who do generally steal every scene they're in. And praise be, their humor is not the usual silly stuff so often found in B westerns.The three chief bad guys are among the best in Hollywood history, Cy Kendall, Yakima Canutt, and Jack Clifford, of whom I blush to admit I know almost nothing -- except he is GREAT in this role.There are several versions of "King of the Pecos" at YouTube and I picked the longest one. Don't you make that mistake. It's longer because whoever posted it tacked on several minutes of the ending twice.It's a beautiful print, in brightness and contrast, but there are some strange technical glitches that cause the background to wave and wobble. Still, the extraordinarily high quality of the production makes such stuff irrelevant. I highly recommend "King of the Pecos."

If you see this title and wonder what 'the Pecos' are, don't worry--I had the exact same thought. Apparently, the Pecos river begins in Eastern New Mexico and runs along the Texas border--emptying into the Rio Grande.Unlike many of John Wayne's early B-movies, this one is not in the public domain and the copy I saw was very crisp and clean. It also appears to have a higher budget than his earlier films for tiny production companies such as Schlessinger. Now it might surprise you to see Wayne in such a film, but through the 1930s, practically all the films he made were B-westerns. It wasn't until after successes in films such as "Stagecoach" and "They Were Expendable" that Wayne graduated to A-pictures and became a top star.The film begins with a typical baddie deciding that he's entitled to everyone's land. So, when one farmer won't sell out to him, the baddie and his henchmen kill the farmer and his wife--leaving the young boy an orphan. Naturally, the boy grows into a man (John Wayne) intent on exacting justice for his folks. Still, a decade later, the baddie is still forcing people off their land--giving them worthless promissory notes and controlling all the water. Now Wayne is a lawyer and plans on using the law to stop this jerk. Will the law be enough or will Wayne have to resort to his fists and guns? Considering that the baddie controls EVERYTHING, it's not a huge surprise where the film goes next.The film is nicely polished and watchable. The only negative is that in many of Wayne's early films he had lovable sidekicks--like Gabby Hayes. Here, despite a great villain (Cy Kendall), the supporting cast for the good guys is a bit dull. I missed the usual sidekicks, such as Gabby Hayes, as the deaf guy and his friend were a bit dull. Also, while not exactly a negative, the plot is a bit too familiar--as Wayne and many other western heroes made similar films over the years.By the way, in a sad note, you see a horse trip and throw its rider near the end (I think this was reused from an earlier film). This is sad, as to get this sort of stunt in the old days, they used trip wires to literally rip the legs out from under the horse--and usually broke the horse's legs in the process!! Fortunately, such things have long ago been outlawed--as it was a terrific waste and morally suspect!

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.