In 1940, Columbia Pictures' B unit released a typically unassuming Western called The Durango Kid. Directed by Lambert Hillyer, it starred a Dartmouth College football star turned Columbia contract player, Charles Starrett, along with Luana Walters and Kenneth MacDonald. At the time, that was pretty much it, just another B Western from Columbia.

Five years later, Columbia returned to the character (or at least the name), changed things around, and came up with The Return of the Durango Kid (1945). The titled Durango Kid, Starrett's alter ego, the masked, black-clad avenger struck a chord with the Saturday matinee kids--and this is where the series really took off.

Starrett's character's first name is usually Steve, but his last name changes from film to film. (He's Bill in Return.) Steve usually has that vague government agent job a lot of B Western stars had on their resume. Steve rides Bullet, but when he becomes the Durango Kid, he changes to a white horse, Raider.

For the first year of the series, Tex Harding appeared alongside Starrett, with Dub Taylor on hand as Cannonball. Taylor's Cannonball character made its way through several Western series. In 1946, Smiley Burnette joined the cast as Smiley, naturally, a role he played till the end of the series.

For over seven years, from 1945 to 1952, Columbia, Starrett, Smiley and crew worked at a frantic pace, making a total of 64 Durango Kid pictures. Only a fraction of them are available on DVD.

Fighting Frontiersman (1946)

Directed by Derwin Abrahams
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Helen Mowery, Ernie Adams, Robert Filmer

The Durango Kid is called upon to help a prospector swindled out of a fortune in gold. A lot of footage from this one turns up in The Kid from Broken Gun (1952), the final film in the series.

Blazing Across the Pecos (1948)

Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Helen Mowery, Ernie Adams, Robert Filmer

The mayor of Pecos Flats, Ace Brockway, supplies the local Indians with guns to attack his business rival. Steve and Smiley come arrive on the scene to help out. Ray Nazarro is a master at this type of film, directing several times in this genre.

Lightning Guns (1950)

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Gloria Henry, William Bailey

Ranchers are fighting over water and the building of a dam, and Steve (the Durango Kid) and Smiley ride right in the middle of it all. Fred F. Sears directed a number of Durango Kid pictures, and he appeared as a heavy a few times, too (although not in this one).

Streets of Ghost Town (1950)

Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Mary Ellen Kay, George Chesebro

Steve, Smiley, and the Sheriff come to Dusty Creek looking for missing gold. Steve tells the story of Bill Donner who double-crossed his partners and made off with the gold. Donner, now blind and in jail, refuses to reveal the gold's whereabouts.

Trail of the Rustlers (1950)

Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Gail Davis, Tommy Ivo

This is a good one, with someone masquerading as The Durango Kid and causing all sorts of trouble. Gail Davis, soon to be Annie Oakley on TV, has a part. Tommy Ivo, playing the Kid, would go on to become a real icon in drag racing. The Mahony gang cooks up an elaborate plan to not only take land away from the neighbors, but to get rid of the Durango Kid once and for all.

Bonanza Town (1951)

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Fred F. Sears, Robert J. Wilke

Steve Ramsey works for the Treasury Department, and he's trying to locate 0,000 stolen in a Dodge City holdup. Marked money leads him to Bonanza Town, where the Durango Kid heads up a posse to expose the corruption.

The Hawk of Wild River (1952)

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Jock Mahoney, Clayton Moore

Steve Martin rides into the town of Wild River, sent to investigate a gang led by the ruthless Hawk (Clayton Moore). He infiltrates the gang looking to return the stolen gold to Wild River. The cost-cutting efforts are beginning to show. This one uses quit a bit of stock footage. Later films have the Kid appear in most of the action scenes, making it easier to conceal stuntman Jock Mahoney.

Laramie Mountains (1952)

Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Jock Mahoney, Fred F. Sears

Bad guys are trying to start an Indian War because with the Native Americans out of the way, they can get a hold of the gold on the reservation.

The Kid from Broken Gun (1952)

Directed by Fred F. Sears
Starring Charles Starret, Smiley Burnette, Angela Stevens, Jock Mahoney

In the last film of the series, and a weird entry at that, Steve finds himself on trial for murder.

Like most of the series Westerns, the Durango Kid was killed off my television. First, Columbia cut the budgets before shutting down the series altogether. Charles Starrett, who was independently wealthy (his father founded the Starrett Precision Tool Company), saw this as the right time to retire. He was just 48.

Today, we tend to forget that Starrett worked for years as a contract player at Paramount and Columbia before the Durango Kid took over his career. And for years, the Durango Kid films were hot items for film buffs and collectors. Luckily, they're starting to make their way to DVD.

Toby Roan watches a lot of cowboy movies. His blog, 50 Westerns from the 50's, proves that point.