Smiley Burnette

The Phantom Empire, starring Gene Autry the Singing Cowboy, was a 12-chapter 1935 Mascot serial that combined the western, musical, and science fiction genres. The first episode is 30 mins, the rest about 20 minutes. This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy. (Wikipedia)

A master criminal called The Spider puts the famous detective's brother under a hypnotic spell and turns him against Dick. (imdb)

After a five year absence Gene returns home to find his father murdered and his boyhood pal accused of the dastardly deed. (imdb)

In his starring debut Roy gets elected to congress in order to bring water to the ranchers in his district. (imdb)

At the Texas Centennial in Dallas Autry confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double. (imdb)

Sabateurs are blowing up government warehouses (during World War II). Roy and his pals work undercover to put an end to their operations. Songs include "A Gay Ranchero," "Ride 'Em Cowboy," "Ride, Ranger, Ride," "Red River Valley," and "I'm an Old Cowhand."

Gene Autry is robbed and thrown off a train by outlaw Wolf Benson. Autry is jailed when he is mistaken as the outlaw, and he and his friends undergo a series of trials in their attempts to clear his name and track down the real outlaw.

After Gene discovers copper on his ranch, Bennett tries to get control of the fortune by framing him in a jail-break. (imdb)

When her competitor gets too rough rodeo owner Jennifer gets help from Gene. (imdb)

After Pat Garrett kills Billy the Kid, Billy's look-alike Roy Rogers arrives and is mistaken for him. Although a murderer, Billy was on the side of the homesteaders against the large ranchers. As Billy's death is unknown, Roy gets Garrett to let him pose as Billy to continue the fight, but without the killing. (imdb)

Autry follows a clue written on a rock by a dead man to get to a smuggling operation near the Canadian border. (imdb)

When new owner Spud arrives from England, Autry convinces him not to sell the ranch but to raise horses for the Army. When both Autry's and Neale's bids are the same, the Colonel calls for a race to decide the winner. But that night Neale has Autry's stable. (imdb)

Gene heads some cattlemen who have been swindled by McCoy. McCoy needed their money to pay off his gambling debt. (imdb)

After the evil Wheeler robs plantation owners of their land, Gene sets out to right the wrong. (imdb)

Gene and his buddies discover that the ranch they bought is really a dairy farm. And worse, it's subject to intimidation from a protection racket that prevents dairy products from safely reaching the market. (imdb)

His horse Champion steals the show from Gene when what's at stake is a horse race and a bull fight. (imdb)

Gene goes after a gambling ring and learns it is headed by McKenzie's father. (imdb)

After the bad guys swindle the good folk of Sage City, Gene and Frog chase them to Mexico where they are now trying to rob a rich Mexican ranchero. (imdb)

A bunch of businessmen are out to kidnap a former partner's son so he won't squeal on them. Guess who must stop them. (imdb)

When war breaks out between oilmen and cattle ranchers, Gene sides with the ranchers until he learns that oil will bring a railroad to town. (imdb)

As executor of the owner's will, singing ranch foreman Gene must see that the daughter/heiress doesn't marry without his approval. (imdb)

Circuit judge Gene must judge a man who claims he's already done time for the killing he's accused of. (imdb)

After being framed for murdering the sheriff, Gene proves his innocence, then gets elected sheriff to go after the baddie who framed him. (imdb)

Lambert owns the trucking line that ships cattle to market. When he raises his rates Roy decides to ship the cattle on the River Boat. When Lambert and his men are unable to stop the boat, they rustle the cattle. (imdb)

Gene and Smiley help an all-too-proper girl Connie in her attempt to run a cattle ranch. (imdb)

Singing radio cowboy Gene helps out a former employer now in trouble with his failing rodeo. (imdb)

Border inspector Gene makes certain no diseased animals make it into the United States. (imdb)

A deputy sets out to prove that a respected judge, who had once been a criminal, is being framed for crimes committed by a crooked saloon owner. (imdb)

Gene runs into opposition from a bunch of ranchers when the U.S. army send him to buy up land for bombing maneuvers. (imdb)

Ex-Pony Express rider Autry ties to protect his US mail franchise as the Pony Express gives way to stage coach mail and the telegraph. Gene's last film appearance as a singing cowboy. (imdb)

When nasty land developers try to bilk honest ranchers who don't know their land holds lots of gold, Gene puts a stop to it. (imdb)

Gene and Frog set out to find out who has been causing the accidents at a dam construction site. (imdb)

Gene goes after the badguys after they kidnap the baby he should have been babysitting. (imdb)

Badguys interested in oil profits attempt to take a mission away from poor Mexican children, but Gene and Frog save the day. (imdb)

Standard western fare: Gene has to save the ignorant and naive from underhanded land grabs by the baddies. (imdb)

Autry and his buddies have a horse selling business which is threatened by a tractor company which claims horses are out of date. (imdb)

As the sheriff of a small western town, Autry sings his way into a relationship with Eleanor, a singer from a Chicago nightclub who earlier witnessed a murder. (imdb)

Poachers are harassing toll road owner Jen Larrabee. They want her land because it holds valuable minerals. Autry and the Cass County Boys, mistaken for Texas Rangers, help out. (imdb)

Baddies McLain and Riker charge settlers what the traffic will bear for supplies. When Autry attempts to help out, the outlaws go after him. (imdb)

The dying outlaw Barton gets Gene to be the guardian of his three boys. The three troublemakers arrive on the Barton ranch from Chicago where they soon uncover Welsh's smuggling operation located there. So Welsh adopts the boys and boots Autry out. Gene counters by bringing three other boys and getting the Judge to declare them to be the real Bartons. (imdb)

Rustlers using modern technology (airplanes, shortwave radios, refrigerated trucks) are Gene's target. (imdb)

Kay and her eastern clan go out West to run the ranch left her by her grandfather. Bad guys are out to ruin the ranch's irrigation system, so Autry lends a hand. (imdb)

Gene is the foreman at the ranch owned by wealthy rodeo owner Maureen. She will lose her rodeo contract unless sales improve. (imdb)

Gene is a Texas Ranger working under cover to protect an Army wagon train full of ammunition and supplies. The Army doesn't believe him at first, until the Commanches arrive. (imdb)

Overly shy cowboy Gene inherits a meat-packing plant, then faces stiff competition from snooty Ann Randolph, rival owner determined to do him in. (imdb)

When the showboat hits town, two men use the parade as a distraction to rob the bank. Their accomplice is Pop, the clown from the showboat. He leaves the money on the boat and tells his daughter Patsy to bring it to him at a later stop on the river. When Patsy arrives without the money, both her and her father are made prisoners. So she sends her trained dog back to the showboat for help. (imdb)

Gene and Frog, out to stop a bunch of cattle rustlers, assume the identities of what they believe to be dead bandits, which soon gets them in big trouble. (imdb)

Gene and Frog arrive with a herd of horses for Gene'e brother, a diamond prospector whose work has attracted the interest of a bunch of badguys. (imdb)

As a congressman, Gene exposes a crooked politician who is delaying passage of a flood control bill. (imdb)

Ranger Gene and sidekick Frog trail a murderer, with time out for lots of songs. (imdb)

Hamilton's Rangers, led by our hero Gene, must keep the Indians in the northern Michigan territory from attacking the settlers. (imdb)

Gene is a government inspector looking into what's killing cattle. The ranchers want to burn the area to clear of a poisonous weed, but Gene favors chemical spray from an airplane. (imdb)

Roy's boss has inherited a very large ranch but the will keeps him from selling it although his widow could. Lucky Miller is out to get control of the ranch so he has a girl come west to marry him. Then after the wedding he has his henchman kill the owner. Roy is nearby and when the murder gun is switched with his, Roy finds himself in jail. (imdb)

When Gene's boss is murdered, the bosses daughter is seriously injured. To raise money for her operation, Gene and the ranch hands enter the new medium of television as singers. When they do well the bank agrees to lend them the needed money. Martin is after the ranch and he was the murderer. Now he has to make sure the daughter doesn't get the operation so he sends his henchmen out to wreck Gene's equipment. (imdb)

If a young lady gives up her inheritance the local ranchers will lose their free grazing land. (imdb)

Tex rides to the rescue when badguys led by LaCrosse and Utah Joe kidnap Lettie. (imdb)

Federal Agent Gene Autry and his sidekick Frog are sent to Mexico to prevent foreign powers from gaining control of Mexican oil refineries and fomenting revolution among the Mexican people. Gene falls in love with Senorita Dolores but finds he must leave for the island of Palermo, where her uncle, Don Diego, is being prevented from transporting his cattle to market by the foreign agents, who have co-opted Dolores' brother Andreo into joining them. (imdb)

Ranch owner Sandra, fresh from animal husbandry school, brings a flock of sheep into cattle country. The local ranchers don't like it, and ranch foreman Gene must deal with it. (imdb)

The foreman of a mining company is out to steal the mine from its owners, and Gene must stop him. (imdb)

By stripping all the timber from the land, a lumber baron threatens everyone with flooding. Gene won't let that happen (imdb)

Gene inherits a gold mine and a whole lot of trouble as well. (imdb)

Knowing that is contains valuable helium gas, a gang of baguys first tries to purchase the ranch which Gene straw-bosses. When that fails, they lay a hidden pipeline to snag the gas. (imdb)

One of a bunch of gangsters trying to push the old protection racket on western ranchers turns out to be Gene's younger brother. (imdb)

The old west range war story transported to Georgia, with Autry as the hero. (imdb)

To combat the lawlessness in her town, school teacher Carrie Stokes writes to her former students in search of a lawman. Johnny Revere arrives and starts to clean up the town. But things go bad when he is hit on the head and loses his memory. (imdb)

A gambling czar's efforts to take over the town are foiled by the Durango Kid. (imdb)

When a border patrolman catches their spoiled daughter smoking in a no-smoking area, parents hire him to watch over her. She then runs over to Mexico and gets involved with jewel thieves and he has to go save her. (imdb)

The election to determine if Texas will become a state is near and men opposed are running contraband across the border. Sunset and Frog are Border Patrolmen and have an agent that tips them off by carrier pigeon. The Army arrives and the commander is Sunset's brother. When the agent is found out and murdered, his fake replacement then leads the soldiers astray. (imdb)

Sunset Carson's first western and, despite the misleading video box that indicates otherwise, he was billed as Sonny Carson and was billed 2nd behind Smiley Burnette. Republic dropped the "Sonny" but he was also billed beneath Burnette in three more films---Bordertown Trail, Code of the Prairie and Firebrands of Arizona---released between July and December of 1944, when Burnette and Republic parted company and Carson was given his own series that featured no continuing sidekick actor. (imdb)

The Durango Kid exposes a gang making attacks on a band of surveyors laying a new railway line. (imdb)

Wanted outlaws have mysteriously disappeared. Ranger Captain Henley and Steve have a plan to find them. Steve becomes a wanted man by faking the killing of Henley. Not only is he now in trouble as both the Rangers and the Mexican Rurales are after him, but Smiley knows him and may expose his masquerade to the bad guys. (imdb)

The Rangers are after Hadley and his men and have planted Johnny Revere into his gang to warn them of his raids. But Hadley realizes he has a spy in his group and gets Trigger Dolan to join the Rangers. It's not long before Trigger spots Johnny as the spy. Johnny is captured and a fatal accident is planned to finish him off. (imdb)

Old Mike Brady built Brady Town and was a leader, but a bullet from an unknown assailant has ended his life. When the will is read, it leaves the bulk of the property to Kirk, the gambling son of Mike. This upsets Sam, the hard working son, but not gambler Full House who always beats Kirk at cards. But even the Sheriff is suspicious of the will, but he needs proof and the Durango Kid will find the proof. (imdb)

A man's pursuit of some wanted criminals is hindered by the interference of a crooked judge. (imdb)

Steve arrives looking for the person printing counterfeit bonds. He finds his man in Pop Ryland who has two sons and a stepson. The stepson doesn't want to be an outlaw like the other sons and helps Steve out by posing as the Durango Kid when needed and then leading him to the evidence he is looking for. (imdb)

Mysterious outlaws are raiding the farm of Jim Barton and his daughter Judy, when Rancher's Protective Association man Steve Roper shows up to take a hand. Barton and other small ranchers under attack suspect Cal Matson and his son Reb as being behind the raids to run them off their land. Steve, in his guise of The Durango Kid, with the aid of his pal Smiley, learns that there is a third party behind the land-grabbing scheme. (imdb)

In the Oklahoma panhandle, Professor Graham, the town barber, is the head of an outlaw gang. When an ex-Marshal spots his picture on a wanted poster, the Professor kills him. Frog is a photographer and sneaking around behind the barber shop his camera takes a picture that he is unaware of and it will be the key to the Professor's downfall. (imdb)

Johnny is a young Indian boy who falls heir to thousands of wild horses when his adoptive white father is murdered by henchmen of the town's leading citizen, Grat Hanlon. With the aid of his protector Steve Reynolds, he acquires an Army contract to deliver 300 horses a month to the cavalry. Hanlon, desiring the contract himself, and his men set out to keep the contract from being fulfilled. (imdb)

Falsely accused of robbing the army payroll, Steve hopes to clear his name with the help of Tom Jarvis, but finds Tom dead. He soon finds that Tom's brother was also killed and Mary Ann now runs the ranch. Tredway is trying to get Mary Ann to sell the ranch, but Steve wants her to keep it until he finds out why someone wants it and who robbed the payroll. (imdb)

Silver is being smuggled across the border and the secret passage goes through Betty Long's basement. When Steve arrives he gets tangled up with the rustlers who are now going to have the Durango Kid to contend with. (imdb)

Charles Starrett returns as The Durango Kid in Columbia's El Dorado Pass. It all begins when Durango, in his everyday guise of Steve Clanton, is falsely accused of robbing a stagecoach. The genuine criminal is not only a thief but a coin collector, searching for a valuable specimen by staging holdups. (allrovi.com)

Cimarron has found a lost treasure and the outlaw gang knows about it. They have made him a prisoner and are trying to get the location from him. However, he has sent for his friend Steve Reynolds and the Durango Kid will soon be on the job. (imdb)

While camping outside of town, the sheriff tries to arrest Froggy and Sunset, but a gang of outlaws help them get away. When they get to Medicine Springs, AZ, Froggy is arrested. Froggy and Sunset think that Poppy is behind all the commotion, but they do not know that Froggy is a dead ringer for Outlaw "Beefsteak" Discoe. Sheriff Hoag plans on a hanging, whether it is Discoe or Froggy. (imdb)

Steve Drake/The Durango Kid is commissioned by the Army to track down a band of desperado's who have escaped from the stockade at Fort Savage. The gang is led by ex-army Captain Craydon who is embittered as he blames the Army for his young son's death. A pompous young Lieutenant, son of the fort commander Colonel Sutter, is placed in charge of the bandit-chasing group that includes Steve, his pal Smiley and an old scout known as Old Cuss. (imdb)

Steve Lawton, aka The Durango Kid, U.S. Army undercover man, and his assistant Smiley, are sent to Santa Fe by Army investigator Copeland to deliver a gold shipment and check on the strange disappearance of Captain Tanner from Fort Navajo. Copeland is murdered by Forsythe, a fake government agent,who orders Krag Benson and his other henchmen to ambush Steve and Smiley and steal the gold shipment. (imdb)

The cattle herds of some Arizona ranchers are being stampeded and stolen, so the Arizona Stockmen's Syndicate sends ace investigator Steve Reynolds in to find out who is responsible. Steve poses as a vicious gunslinger named Buck McCloud to work his way into the gang, and then becomes the Durango Kid to disrupt the activities he learns about. Jud Temple is the loyal fiancée of town banker Grat Hanlon who turns out to be the brain-trust behind the gang. (imdb)

A United States Marshal, Steve Landry, is appointed to serve in the town of Rim Rock, which he quickly finds is ruled over by a lawlessness element who prefer the town be wide open. When the outlaws are out of his jurisdiction, he assumes his role of "The Durango Kid" to bring them to justice. But he leaves tracks that appear to be just what the gang needs to rid themselves of both the marshal and Durango. (imdb)

Steve Martin is sent to Wild River to recover stolen gold and finds the town is being terrorized by The Hawk and his outlaw gang. The Hawk attempts to murder Sheriff Jack Mahoney and is captured and jailed. Steve, in his guise as The Durango Kid, helps the Hawk break jail and thus makes contact with the bandit gang. He sends a bungling photographer, Smiley Burnette, to warn the sheriff that the gang plan to rob the express office. (imdb)

Dakota Indian Agent Steve Reynolds receives a copy of the Bonanza City Nuggett from Jim Mallory and reads a story blaming the Durango Kid for recent gold mine raids. Steve, also the Durango Kid, and his pal Smiley head for Bonanza City to contact Mallory and Rance Hudson, his partner in the mining machinery business. Mallory sells his interest in the business to Hudson for $50,000 and heads for California. (imdb)

U.S. Marshal Steve Saunders, searching for the killer of a government surveyor, interrupts a gun battle between the feuding Grant and Webster families, who fell out when Chris Grant was killed and the Grants blame the Websters. Ellory Webster, blamed for the killing of Chris, ostensibly perishes when he is trapped in a barn fired by the Grants. Phineas Grant suspects that Ellory is still alive and hiding at the Rocking Moon ranch. (imdb)

Columbia's "Durango Kid" series was winding down to a close by the time Junction City went before the cameras in 1952. Durango, aka Steve Rollins (Charles Starrett) rides into town with saddle pal Smiley Burnette. The boys go to the rescue of pretty Kathleen Case, who is being victimized by greedy relatives. Much of the film is related in flashback, giving Columbia an excuse to utilize miles and miles of stock footage from earlier "Durango Kid" efforts. (allrovi.com)

Treasury agent Steve Ransom (Charles Starrett) is given the mission of unmasking Jonathan Cole (Fred Sears), head of a gang of smugglers operating near the Mexico/Texas border which is not within the length of three eastern seaboard states of Amarillo but Columbia title writers were never good at geography. (imdb)

Charles Starrett makes his final appearance as The Durango Kid, this time as Steve Reynolds, a postal inspector who has gone underground to catch the bad guys. His longtime sidekick, Smiley Burnette appears as an itinerant optometrist who is hardly in the plot line of the film. Jock Mahoney plays Jack Mahoney, an eastern educated dude who has come back home. The Durango Kid teaches Jack how to draw and fire a six-gun, and the two ultimately work together to bring the outlaws to justice. (imdb)

A businessman during the Great Depression discovers that his partners are crooked con-men, and he tries to make things right for the stockholders, but gets framed. (imdb)

The daughter of a notorious cattle thief falls for a stranger at a dance. The stranger is really a lawman who is after her father. (imdb)

A cowboy steps in when cattlemen try to force a sheepherder off the range. (imdb)

Dr. Lawrence Baxter, working with the Bureau of Pure Foods and drugs, uses radio broadcasts to expose a number of fraudulent patient medicines, with his bitterest attacks being aimed at Kennedy Radium Products the manufacturer of a tonic called 'Radium Rejuvenating Tablets," which Baxter claims is a slow cause of death. This leads the manufacturer to try every means to defeat and discredit the young doctor. (imdb)

In this touching tale, an elderly British woman saves up enough money to visit her son in the U.S. She believes that he is doing well, but he is actually a prisoner in San Quentin. (imdb)

A heartthrob singer, Tony Paige, also known as "America's Boyfriend" decides to wed a Swedish actress. His manager doesn't want this because he is afraid of Tony losing female fans so he takes up a 300 hundred thousand dollar insurance policy if Tony does in fact wed. Tony soon meets a girl name June Delaney on a bus who doesn't swoon over him like other girls. He falls for her but doesn't know her true identity. Hilarious film! (imdb)

Gangsters take control of a record company and use toughguy tactics on unwilling performers. (imdb)

In "Landrush", Steve Harmon arrives in Border Plain to survey the land, known as the Spur, which is to soon be opened to homesteaders. The area is a natural haven for a desperado gang led by Claw Hawkins, already under suspicion of murdering a Pony Express rider. Hawkins' gang wrecks the newspaper office of Jake Parker, but Hawkins loses a marked $100 bill he had stolen from the Express rider. Jake finds it and sends for Steve and Sheriff Tim Collins. (imdb)

A major Indian uprising is expected and Wyoming military posts are alerted. Colonel Dennison (Fred Sears) is meeting with Chief Eagle (Shooting Star) and his son Running Wolf (Jay Silverheels) when Chief Eagle is mysteriously shot. (imdb)

Markham and his men have found gold on the Indian reservation and are trying to get rid of them by starting an Indian war. Dressed as Indians they are attacking the soldiers. Steve Holden is the Indian agent sent to prevent a war. After finding proof that white men posing as Indians were responsible, he is able to locate the gang's hideout but quickly becomes a prisoner slated to be killed. (imdb)

Rafadan finds nothing but trouble when he and Frog go to settle the ranch that Bill Smith traded for his California ranch. On the trail, they find the dazed Jim Terrill who is accused of killing Smith. But Rafadan believes that Jim is innocent and works to free him and catch the true killer. (imdb)

Outlaw Lucky Thorpe has been caught and hung but his $100,000 stolen from the U. S. Government has not been found. Treasury Agent Steve arrives looking for the money and in flashback tells the story of Lucky Thorpe. Also arriving is Thorp's daughter by his first wife who wants to return the money, and his second wife who wants the money for herself and whom Steve says is as dangerous as Thorpe was. (imdb)

Freight wagons are being stolen and ransomed back to their owners. Government agent Steve Langtry (and his alter ego the Durango Kid) is sent break up the Hood Gang that's behind the robberies. (imdb)

Luke Atkins and Captain Dan Saunders are ranchers in Piute Valley and are at odds with each other over a dam that Atkins is constructing to help the valley people. Their feud does nothing to help the romance of Saunders' son, Sheriff Ron Saunders and Atkins' daughter, Susan . The opposition to the dam that Saunders has led, makes him the prime suspect when the banker who is going to lend Atkins the money for the project is murdered, and Sheriff Saunders is forced to arrest his father. (imdb)

Reb Russell (Reb Russell), undercover agent for the Cattleman's Protective Association, goes into the stronghold hideout of rustler chief Bull Thompson (Fred Kohler) posing as an outlaw. He falls in love with Marion, Bull's step-daughter. Juan (Dick Botiller), a gang member once jailed by Reb, reveals Reb's true identity, but he will be given his and Marion's freedom to leavy the valley if he can beat Thompson in a fight. (imdb)

Steve Driscoll arrives to help a friend who is trying to bring in an oil well. He finds that the well has been blown up and the workers have quit. He gets the workers back on the job and orders a new drill bit . When the drill bit is stolen he organizes the townspeople to invest in the well. But when the money is collected, a fake Durango Kid shows up to take it and flee. (imdb)

Re-edited feature version of serial The Phantom Empire (1935). Singer Gene Autry discovers a race of advanced humans living beneath the earth. (imdb)

Kate Flannagan (Louise Fazenda) and Belle Dugan (Maude Eburne)operate a downtown coffee shop and, while dispensing their locally-famous doughnuts, engage in their favorite pastime, friendly quarreling between themselves. This changes when Belle suddenly becomes heir to a small fortune which allows her to crash high-society and make her daughter,Joan, a débutante. This creates a rift between the two former partners, with the result that the proud Kate refuses to accept her friend's good fortune. (imdb)

The misadventures of the family staff of The Shady Rest Hotel and their neighbors of Hooterville. (imdb)

Steve becomes a Deputy to help find the outlaw Black Murphy whose one hand is a hook. Although the Sheriff and Murphy are grandfathers to the same little girl, they are bitter enemies. Meeting Murphy, Steve is not convinced he is the man they want. He is right as the Sheriff's brother has a hook he uses to place the blame on Murphy. When the little girl becomes owner of a valuable mine, the brother now plans to get rid of the Sheriff, Murphy, and the girl.

Steve Holden arrives looking for his old friend Big Jack only to find he runs the town and is greatly disliked. However the cause of the conflict is Big Jack's chief henchman Fulton. Steve becomes Sheriff and he and the Durango Kid then battle Fulton as he goes after the miner's gold. (imdb)

Hatching a scheme to sell rifles to the Indians as a protection against the white settlers, Jim Haverly works both sides against the middle by having his henchmen masquerade as Indians and raid the settlers. With the ranchers preparing for retribution against the Indians, Haverly's plan is working well until Steve Reynolds/The Durango Kid shows up and begins the process of uncovering the actual villains.

Steve Forsythe/The Durango Kid is trailing holdup man Sam Bartonfrom Texas, but Barton is found first by hotel owner Ace Conley who has his henchmen kill Barton and hide the 1000 $20 gold pieces he has stolen in an abandoned mine. (imdb)

The Durango Kid tries to help a man framed for murder and stop a range war between sheepmen and cattlemen. (imdb)

Steve Blake, a novice Indian agent, is sent out to investigate a series of mysterious murders.

Steve Carson, a former Texas Ranger Captain, shoots a fleeing hold-up bandit and is framed on a murder charge. He escapes with the help of his pal Smiley and they hire out as cowhands on a ranch owned by Toni Eaton. Steve, as the Durango Kid, learns that Buck Prescott has been fleecing the local ranchers by paying low prices for their cattle that have been stampeded by his henchmen. But he has no proof and his alter ego Steve is still wanted on the murder charge. (imdb)

Marshal Steve arrives in Phantom Valley to try and find out who is causing all the trouble between the ranchers and the homesteaders. He finds three suspects and when one of them is shot, he finds evidence implicating the other two. But some one releases the two from jail and tries to kill them. The Durango Kid breaks it up and Steve then identifies the real culprit by comparing handwritten notes.

Red Butte saloon owner Duke Catlett (Lane Chandler) is the secret owner of a large sheep flock which he grazes on surrounding cattlelands. A range war occurs between the cattlemen, led by Bart Mason (Zon Murray), and the sheepherders. Karen Kemp (Barbara Pepper) and her younger brother Rocky (Elvin Eric Field), a young city tough, enroute from Chicago to buy a half interest in a Catlett enterprise are held up by two of the latter's gunmen and lose $30,000. (Charles Starrett)

When Sheriff Jeff Connor of Powder River cannot stop the crime wave, his young son, Larry, writes to the Durango Kid for aid. Taggart, the saloon owner, is the secret head of the outlaws, while Connor's brother Bill is in cahoots with him. Steve Randall, the Durango Kid, and his pal, Smiley Butterbean, arrive in time to stop a stagecoach holdup, and Steve is made a deputy sheriff. Taggart has one of his men, Slade, pose as the Durango Kid and while he is speaking to the townspeople.

When the sheriff is murdered, Steve Gordon, his deputy and alter ego of the Durango Kid, takes over his job and exposes swindler Brady, who's bilking the town's citizens by salting a local mine with diamonds.

World War II is raging and the manpower shortage has hit the range since every able-bodied cowboy of military age is off fighting for Uncle Sam. Dad Mathews, a rancher with a huge government contract order for beef, has trouble with the cattle rustlers, led by Henry Judson and Lefty Lewis, who are taking advantage of the situation to steal his herds. John Paul Revere, Special State Investigator, arrives, and upon meeting Mathews' daughter,

When the ranchers of Bearcat are plagued by rustlers, Big Jim Grady offers to buy their herds from them at low-ball prices. Steve Haley suggests to the ranchers that they band together and drive their herds to Abilene, Kansas and get full price. Steve's friend Smiley "joins" the rustlers to learn who their leader is. Grady henchman Doc Walker asks Steve to help break up the cattle drive, and he agrees in order to keep tabs on the rustlers.

Henry Hardison covets Jon Avery' Flying A Ranch so he can control River Bend's water supply, but when he refuses to sell, Hardison fakes a stage holdup and kills him. When Avery's children resist too, the Durango Kid comes to their aid.

Steve Bolton, a Department of the Interior agent, has given young "Bronc" Masters a lease to 50,000 acres of range land. Several months later "Bronc" discovers a strange notice on the land, warning off trespassers. He thinks that Steve has leased the same land twice, grabs a gun and heads for town, although his level-headed girl friend, Ann Bradford, attempts to stop him. Steve pacifies him, and they both ride out to the range and discover a gang of men rounding up the wild horses.

A saddle-weary Steve Larkin (Charles Starrett), also the Duranko Kid, rides into Red Mound, a town filled with cattle rustlers. Cafe owner Smiley (Smiley Burnette), befriends Steve and fills him in on the activities. Steve angers the rustler's leader, Flip Dugan (Jim Diehl) when he purchases the old Atkins ranch which is supposedly haunted. Flip and his henchmen try to prevent the recording of the deed, but the Durango Kid and Deputy Marshal Tug Carter win the gun battle.

An outlaw band is searching for the hidden loot of notorious outlaw Dusty Morgan who's whereabouts is a mystery to everyone including his thirteen year old son whose guardian is the town drunk.

Decker uses a trick gun loaded with blanks to make Steve Norris think he killed the Sheriff. Then he makes him Sheriff and forces him to take orders. Things look bad for Steve so it's time for the Durango Kid to appear.

Dan Parks is framed by his partner in their freight hauling company by using assets to smuggle stolen government gold, but T-men Steve Ellison and Smiley Burnette work to expose the real culprits.

Steve Downing, aka The Durango Kid, comes to Nugget City to investigate the murder of his brother-in-law, owner of the Carr Mine. Molly Tavish warns him to leave town or get killed because her brothers are the leaders of a ranching clan in a conflict against the miners. Sam Ashton, the miner's leaders, starts the rumor that Tommy Tavish killed Steve's relative' then Tommy is killed and Steve's hat is left at the scene of the crime.

The Durango Kid battles a gang of outlaws that trick people by calling themselves the "Texas State Police."

Produced by George Pal, "Birth of An Oil Field" was directed by Duke Goldstone and released in 1949 by the Shell Oil Company. This film, part of a series of outstanding movies on the petroleum industry produced by Shell, explains and demonstrates methods, procedures, and equipment used in the drilling of oil wells and delivery of petroleum products worldwide.

Widow Mahoney, the best cook in town and hotel proprietor , along with her larcenous sons, is trying to take control of the town's water supply so she can acquire the valley ranchland cheaply.

Steve, Smiley, and the Sheriff come to a ghost town looking for missing gold. In flashback, Steve tells the story of Bill Donner who doublecrossed his partners to get the gold. Donner, now blind and in jail, refuses to tell where the gold is hidden.

Actor Joe E. Brown narrates this compilation of film clips and behind-the-scenes footage of some of the screen's most famous comics, ranging from Ben Turpin and Fatty Arbuckle to W. C. Fields and Andy Clyde.