King of the Pecos (1936)

The Worst Film Ever

Thanks for the memories!

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

. . . as he torches his childhood home, back-stabs the Fat Cat Billionaire (adjusted for inflation), and guns down "Ash's" horse. Many if not most John Wayne movies from the 1930s are similar to KING OF THE PECOS, exposing the fact that up to 100% of the Super Rich One Per Centers are Sociopathically Corrupt Leeches sucking the very Life Blood out of Society. "Alexander Stiles" has his attorney assassinated, rather than giving him a nickel. The only Real Life American I've ever heard of Evil, Foolish, and Brazen enough to gyp, cheat, and welsh out on HIS OWN lawyers is Donald Trump (who probably saw KING OF THE PECOS when most of his peers were fighting in the Vietnam War). No doubt Trump is running for POTUS in the Belief that he can hire Secret Service Agents who will murder his lawyers and other business associates (such as the Contractors who build all of his Trump Towers) who refuse to play along with his Art of the Steal. Hopefully, Trump will not be as successful as Stiles in robbing and terrorizing the Average American.

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!

From 1933 to 1935, John Wayne made a series of sixteen sagebrush yarns for Monogram Pictures under their Lone Star production unit. In 1935, Monogram along with Mascot, Consolidated Film Laborites and others merged into the Republic Pictures fold. Wayne, with producers Trem Carr and Paul Malvern moved over to Republic in the deal, and made another eight films there. Republic raised the bar ever so slightly over the Lone Star flicks, with bigger budgets and better production values. Better stories helped also, and "King of the Pecos" is an example.I was lucky to catch the film this morning on AMC's all star Western weekend; I've never seen this movie available on tape or DVD. Set in 1870's Texas, it follows Wayne's character John Clayborn using the typical formula of a young boy growing up after his parents have been killed by the movie's villain, in this case, Cy Kendall as the land grabbing Alexander Stiles. Stiles' ploy is making claim on all the available water holes in his stretch of the Pecos River Valley, and granting settlers cattle which he buys back with worthless notes when they can't afford to pay for the water.There's a neat scene where a lot of fuss is made over a newly designed safe Stiles brings in cross country. It's called a 'Salamander' - it can go through the hottest fire and never melt! Interestingly, Stiles is later referred to as Salamander by his henchmen a few times, which sort of works as he fancies himself immune to heat when the going gets tough.Wayne's character makes a rather questionable transformation from a boy of about ten witnessing his parents' death, to a young man who's already a lawyer in the space of ten years. The math doesn't work, but that aside, Clayborn manages to hone his shooting skills along with his legal work to hang a shingle in the town of Cottonwood. There he collides with town boss Stiles and his gang in order to set things right for the local ranchers who've been swindled by the Salamander. Along the way, the territorial judge finds against Stiles, putting all but one of his water right claims back into the public domain.One of Wayne's good friends from the Lone Star days is along for this ride, Yakima Canutt in a low key role as a Stiles henchman. The female lead is provided by Muriel Evans, a mainstay in a bunch of Buck Jones movies. There's also a comedic tandem using a slightly overdone hard of hearing gimmick who back up Wayne's play at each turn. It's worth mentioning too that John Wayne is often seen riding atop his trusty white horse, appropriately named 'Duke', though that name isn't mentioned in the story.Speaking of horses, keep an eye on the team of white horses pulling Stiles' wagon as he attempts to make a getaway during the shootout near the end of the film. Just before the wagon breaks away, the lead horses take about the nastiest spill you'll ever see in any movie to this day. I'm always amazed at how they managed to film those scenes.For anyone who hasn't sampled a range of Wayne's early work, "King of the Pecos" might come across as an uninspired Western, but if you've viewed his pictures from Columbia and Lone Star, you'll note the gradual progression of his skill, honed during the ten year span of the 1930's. Believe it or not, Wayne made just over fifty films during this period. Obviously the hard work paid off, and not just in terms of a future career. In the Lone Star flicks, Wayne's character usually got the girl at the end of the film, but here he winds up marrying her as well!

I wonder why this movie has a low rating? Of course with only 15 folks voting on it, there may be some bias. I found it funny, action filled, and not as cliche as most films from the thirties. I love the charismatic and tough, cocky, self assured character's Wayne played in the thirties, before becoming a bruting middle aged man. I say check this one out, it is worth it. Stiles as the bad guy is perfect. You really end up cheering for "The King of the Pecos", too take the bad guys down. 6/10