The Stranger From Ponca City

A sheriff tracking a gang of rustlers discovers that one of them is the brother of his fiance.

A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.

Charles Starrett plays The Durango Kid in the 1950 Columbia western Texas Dynamo. As a novelty, Starrett not only plays Durango and his "alter ego" Steve Drake, but also takes on a third identity, that of a hired gun in the employ of the film's bad guys. As one critic noted, this may be the only western in which the hero is obliged to chase himself. Jock O'Mahoney -- later known as Jock Mahoney -- plays a secondary role, and also doubles for Starrett during the riskier stunt sequences.

Our Hero is accused of a crime he didn't commit. Once again, he breaks jail to find the real culprits. And once again, he dons his Durango Kid disguise, whereupon stunt-double Jock Mahoney swings into action. Outcasts of Black Mesa is distinguished by the presence of a relative newcomer to the film game, leading lady Martha Hyer.

The plot finds Steve/Durango attempting to capture ex-Civil War guerilla fighter Miller who may be the man who's been going around knocking down telegraph wires.

Jim Stewart comes to Mesa City and buys a ranch from publisher Matt Edwards, who is confined to a wheelchair. The area is terrorized by an outlaw gang known as The Phantoms. When Jim's cattle herd is rustled and his ranch foreman Pop Evans killed, he takes an active hand against the gang in his guise as the Durango Kid.

The Durango Kid fights to catch the rustlers who killed an Army officer.

The Durango Kid rides again in Lightning Guns. As ever, the masked Durango (alias Steve Brandon) is played by Charles Starrett, who this time around is on the trail of a gang of cold-blooded killers. Rancher Dan Saunders (Edgar Dearing) is held responsible for the killings because of his opposition to a politically expedient dam project. Durango believes that Saunders is innocent, and he intends to prove it.

Rancher Clay Hardin arrives in San Antonio to search for and capture Roy Stuart, notorious leader of a gang of cattle rustlers. The vicious outlaw is indeed in the Texan town, intent on winning the affections of a beautiful chanteuse named Jeanne Starr. When the lovely lady meets and falls in love with the charismatic Hardin, the stakes for both men become higher.

Outlaws of the Pandhandle was the last of Charles Starrett's "formula" westerns for Columbia: hereafter, Starrett would be seen only in the guise of frontier medico Steven Monroe or masked do-gooder The Durango Kid. For the moment, however, the star is cast as Jim Endicott, bound and determined to put an end to the underhanded activities of gin-mill operator Faro Jack Vaughn (Norman Willis). The villain's strategy is to get the local cowpunchers tanked up on rotgut that they'll prove to be easy pickings for a gang of rustlers-and will be unable to complete work on a railroad spur which will bypass the outlaws' hideaway.

Charles Starrett once more hits the trail as "The Durango Kid" in Columbia's Across the Badlands. By now, the formula was a well-oiled machine: Starrett becomes a lawman, is challenged by the local criminal element, and ultimately goes beyond the law as the masked Durango.

Durango, aka Steve Rollins 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.