Challenge of the Range (1949)
Charles Starrett once more dons the mask of mysterious do-gooder "The Durango Kid" in Columbia's Challenge of the Range. Wandering cowboy Steve Roper (Starrett) is hired by the Farmers Association to stem the activities of a group of gunmen who are driving ranchers off their land. The most likely suspect turns out to be innocent: the real culprits are within the Association itself. With the help of the chief suspect's son, Roper brings the crooks to justice.
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Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
This was Charles Starrett's 103rd western. Released in the U.K. as "Moonlight Raid", "Challenge of the Range" emerges as a pretty average "Durango Kid" entry. Admittedly, although production values are somewhat thin, there is still plenty of action, thanks to the wholesale use of stock footageThe story is old hat: "A mystery band of armed men are intimidating ranchers. The local Farmers Association hires Steve Roper to investigate." True, as noted above, most of this derring-do is beholden to Columbia's extensive library of stock footage, and some of the interior sets actually used in the film are, to say the least, extremely drab.In addition to these drab interior sets, the film is also saddled with instantly forgettable songs, contributed by the so-called "Sunshine Boys"! Director Ray Nazarro's work is strictly routine, save for one inventive shot when the camera tracks in on a crack in the door!It's sad to see a lovely woman like Paula Raymond mixed up in this bottom-of-the-bottle entry which has so little to recommend it.