The Hawk of Wild River (1952)

Pretty Good

Just perfect...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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

"The Hawk of Wild River" was one of the last of the long running Durango Kid series starring Charles Starrett and Smiley Burnette. This one has two of my favorite western actors, Jock (Jack) Mahoney and Clayton Moore in featured roles. Mahoney had been doubling Starrett in action scenes for some time but now had moved up the cast list to featured roles. He would soon star in TV's "Range Rider" series with Dick Jones. Moore on the other hand, had been starring in "The Lone Ranger" TV show but was in a contract dispute with the producers at the time and was temporarily replaced in the role by John Hart.In this film Moore plays a half breed named "The Hawk" who with his gang which includes Eddie Parker and John "Lefty" Cason, are terrorizing the town of Wild River with their raids on Express Company shipments. The Hawk is equally adept with a six shooter or a bow and arrow. Steve Martin (Starrett) is sent to Wild River to try and track down the loot that the gang has stolen. Martin learns that the express company manager that had sent for him has been murdered. Al Travis (Jim Diehl) has replaced him and refuses to cooperate with Steve. Could he be in cahoots with the gang?Sheriff Jack Mahoney replaces his father as sheriff after the elder Mahoney (Sam Flint) is murdered by The Hawk. Mahoney captures The Hawk with the aid of The Durango Kid and brings him to jail. Steve takes on an onorary persona to get himself arrested. In jail with The Hawk, he masterminds an escape gaining the Hawk's confidence and thereby being accepted into the gang. The sheriff gets up a posse to go after the outlaws. Durango arrives on the scene and the two confront the outlaws and..........................................Smiley Burnette has a couple of funny encounters with Yank-em-out Kennedy (Syd Saylor) resulting in Smiley being hypnotized. He also warbles a couple of forgettable tunes. Veteran Lane Chandler has a bit as the store keeper who aids the Hawk.Mahoney went through several name changes over his career at Columbia. He started out as Jacques O'Mahoney then became Jock Mahoney and lastly Jack Mahoney.

Well I've seen Jock Mahoney and Clayton Moore in several Durango Kid flicks, but never at the same time so this was somewhat of a treat today. Usually they're portraying bandits, but in this one Mahoney's on the side of the law when he becomes sheriff after his father is gunned down by outlaw Hawk's (Moore) henchmen. I thought it kind of curious that Mahoney's character in the story went by his real name Jack. Standing next to Charles Starrett, it was pretty obvious that Durango was reaching the end of the movie trail as his co-star was quite a bit younger and much better looking.If you're a Western movie fan, it might be easy to get this title mixed up with "The Hawk of Powder River". I almost did and had to do a quick check of my other reviews to be sure I hadn't seen this one yet. The Powder River story was an Eddie Dean flick and the Hawk in that one was a woman outlaw and leader of her own gang! I got a kick out of Syd Saylor in this picture, portraying a traveling dentist by the name of Yank Em Out Kennedy. He manages to hypnotize Smiley Burnette into thinking he's an Indian, Big Chief Granite Jaw. The gimmick is good for a few laughs, including a scenario where Smiley stumbles into the outlaw camp and Durango has to set him straight.Keep attentive in that scene when Durango as Steve Martin goes into the general store and picks out a bone handled 44-40 from the showcase. He loads two bullets into the chamber and proceeds to fire three shots! How did he do that? And say, when Martin plans his jail break with the Hawk, didn't it strike you as odd that there would be a window in their jail cell? They could just as easily have waited till night time and gotten out the window with no problem.But you know, the ending of the story was a baffler to me in as much as Durango managed to shoot The Hawk way too easy. It didn't even seem like a challenge once they finally faced each other. With the picture clocking in at fifty three minutes, you would think they could have come up with something a bit more dramatic.Anyway I had this thought. You know how Steve Martin rode a dark horse and Durango Kid rode a white one, presumably to further keep their identities more secret. Going to all that trouble, It seems to me that Durango could have had it a lot easier if he just put a mask on his horse.

The Durango Kid is sent to recover stolen gold from an outlaw gang headed by The Hawk who likes to skewer his enemies with a bow and arrow. A conventional matinée western, "Hawk" had the misfortune of bad timing. It came right at the end of the genre's popularity, when TV was taking over kids viewing. Actually, the movie signals the transition with future TV cowboys Mahoney (The Range Rider) 1953, and Moore (The Lone Ranger) 1949-1957 taking over from Starrett who was rooted in the matinée, this being one of his last films. Thus, it's a kind of look at two entertainment eras. Of course, there's also Autry favorite Smiley Burnette unfortunately appearing in one of his last movie roles.Actually, it's a decent matinée entry, with enough intrigue and action to keep fans like myself interested. Also, Burnette gets some extended comedic routines that are pretty funny. Too bad his antics often overshadowed what a hugely talented man he was. Maybe most unusual about the entry is the absence of a leading lady. In fact, there are almost no women at all. Frankly, I missed the eye candy. Anyway, the movie can be taken as part of an "adios" to that favorite of several generations-- the matinée western.

One of the best loved & most prolific of western movie series were the Durango Kid films. Charles Starrett starred as the black -masked cowboy hero, righting wrongs and fighting injustice in the old west. His regular sidekick was the great Smiley Burnette, finest of the western comedians !In this fun, action-filled movie, our two heroes are in all sorts of jams, eventually coralling the bad guy & saving the day. Two beloved western series stars are on hand in the great supporting cast. Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) and Jock Mahoney (Range Rider) are featured in this star-studded B-western !Enjoy this very entertaining tale of the Durango Kid !!!