Review of King of the Pecos

One of the early Republic John Wayne westerns. As usual, he's the tall, handsome, well spoken, westerner with a white hat and white horse. Here, he's a triple threat, with his law degree, as well as his firsts and gun. He's out to get even with Alexander Stiles(the obese Cy Kendall), whom we might label as 'The King of the Pecos', since he controls much of the land and nearly all of the water holes in his part of the Pecos. Wayne holds him as ultimately responsible for the shooting deaths of his parents and leaving him unconscious, 10 years ago. Actually, it was some of Stiles' henchmen , headed by Ash, who did the dirty work. Ash also shoots the father( (Ed Hearn as Eli Jackson) of his girlfriend: Belle(Murrel Evans). , during the rush to claim land and water holes, after Wayne convinced the judge that most of Stiles' claims weren't valid. The exception was the critical water hole at Sweetwater, which was the only source of fresh water for many miles. It was especially important when other herds were being driven to Abilene to load in cars. If Stiles refused to allow their cattle to drink here, or charged an outrageous fee, their cattle would die unless they sold them to him for worthless script. The same was true for the other water holes Stiles' claimed were his. In preparation for this cattle drive, some of Stiles' men had rustled the cattle of a number of ranchers before shooting them dead when they complained. The King of the Pecos is dethroned and eliminated, along with most of his henchmen, at the Battle of Sweetwater. Wayne has a special desire to kill Ash, since he blames him for his parents deaths. Wayne gets his chance in a one on one......I'll point out that the death of Belle's father symbolically opens wider the gate for a young man(Wayne) to replace her father as her significant other. This symbolism is quite common in westerns. ......One of the ranchers, I assume played by Herbert Heywood, is hard of hearing, and often thinks he hears the wrong word. This serves as a running gag throughout most of the film. .....Famed stuntman , rodeo rider and director of secondaries, Yakima Canutt, played a small role as a henchman. ....I found the film interesting, with a good mix of strategy and action....See it at YouTube.