Best movies like Challenge of the Range

The cattle herds of some Arizona ranchers are being stampeded and stolen, so the Arizona Stockmen's Syndicate sends ace investigator Steve Reynolds in to find out who is responsible. Steve poses as a vicious gunslinger named Buck McCloud to work his way into the gang, and then becomes the Durango Kid to disrupt the activities he learns about. Jud Temple is the loyal fiancée of town banker Grat Hanlon who turns out to be the brain-trust behind the gang.

When Steve Downey arrives to reopen his brother-in-law's gold mine, he finds a war between the ranchers and the miners. Ashton has had the water poisoned killing cattle. When Ashton's men find Steve's hat, they kill Tom Tavish and frame Steve for the murder. Escaping jail the Durango Kid goes into action.

Steve Holden, a secret service agent, is suspended when his boss becomes suspicious of his activities as The Durango Kid. Can Steve prove his innocence?

Mahoney is a sheep man who's framed for the murder of a rancher. It's all part of a scheme by a dishonest cattleman who hopes to extenuate a range war for his own profit. The Durango Kid helps clear Mahoney's name.

The Durango Kid is a sort of Robin Hood of the West who helps the lovely Walters (who replaced Starrett's usual love-interest, Iris Meredith), the daughter of a homesteader, defeat the evil MacDonald who has been terrorizing the decent citizens with his gang of rustlers.

Steve is a Government Agent looking for the gang that stole the U.S. Mail. He goes undercover...

Silver is being smuggled across the border and the secret passage goes through Betty Long's basement. When Steve arrives he gets tangled up with the rustlers who are now going to have the Durango Kid to contend with.

Outlaws of the Rockies is the fourth of Columbia's revitalized "Durango Kid" series. Charles Starrett is back in the saddle as the masked do-gooder Durango, aka easygoing sheriff Steve Williams. Accused of being a member of an outlaw gang, Williams is forced to don his Durango disguise to bring the actual criminals to justice.

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.

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.

Freight wagons are being stolen and ransomed back to their owners. Government agent Steve Langtry (and his alter ego the Durango Kid) is sent break up the Hood Gang that's behind the robberies.

In this western a traveling gun ends up in a small town and rescues an important rancher. Out of gratitude the rancher hires him to protect his land and cattle from his violent rival. It is revealed that the gunman is the son of the ruthless rival; he therefore, loses his job and finds himself entangled in the midst of a range war. He must eventually face his father when the bad guy takes over the only trail to the market.

Charles Starrett plays lawman Steve Forsythe in Ridin' the Outlaw Trail. Somewhere along the line, of course, Steve is obliged to don the mask of The Durango Kid, mysterious righter of wrongs. The "wrongs" in this instance include the theft of $20,000 in gold, and the "kidnapping" of a blacksmith's forge! Jim Bannon, who only a few months earlier had played the heroic Red Ryder, provides the villainy in this fast-paced "Durango Kid" entry

It's 1873 and the disbanded Texas Rangers have been replaced by the corrupt Texas State Police. Steve Lanning arrives posing as a wanted outlaw to get in with them in his attempt to have them replaced. His inside work helps the Durango Kid break up the State Police raids but he is in trouble when his secret identity as Durango becomes known to them.

Federal agent Steve Lawton works undercover with his assistant, Smiley Burnette, to track down an outlaw gang that is raiding government gold shipments bound for Fort Navajo.

Steve Landry arrives as the new Marshal of a town that is having trouble with outlaws. When an outlaw escapes over the State line out of his jurisdiction, the Durango Kid brings him in. The Durango Kid then continues to break up the outlaw raids. But Belle, the saloon owner who is in cahoots with the outlaws, notices the the boot prints of the Durango Kid match those of the new Marshal and a trap is sent to get Durango.

Markham and his men have found gold on the Indian reservation and are trying to get rid of them by starting an Indian war. Dressed as Indians they are attacking the soldiers. Steve Holden is the Indian agent sent to prevent a war. After finding proof that white men posing as Indians were responsible, he is able to locate the gang's hideout but quickly becomes a prisoner slated to be killed. - Written by Maurice VanAuken

Charles "Durango" Starrett and his pal Smiley Burnette go after smugglers. Our heroes travel incognito across the Mexican border to beard the leader of the gang in his den.

Filmed at the Providencia Ranch (today's Forrest Lawn in Burbank, CA), this typical "Durango Kid" Western featured the Cass County Boys performing "Go West Young Lady" by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin, in addition to series regular Smiley Burnette singing his own "It's My Turn" and "The Yodeler. This time, the Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) is chasing down a gang of outlaws shipping stolen gold in crates marked "ring bolts," ably assisted by Smiley, a treasury agent working undercover as a house painter. Virginia Maxey supplies female interest and little Tommy Ivo, in one of his six appearances in the Durango Kid series, also gets in the way of the action.

The outlaw gangs are robbing the railroads and the Rangers cannot follow them when they move to New Mexico. So Kip decides to take a vacation to New Mexico and, as the Durango Kid, bring Cass and his gang back to justice. But Cass and his gang are killed at the bank in a double cross and Kip must still find the loot. For this, he enlists the help of Tex and Grubstake, although Grubstake does not know it.

In Prairie Roundup, Fred F. Sears' direction brings a welcome jolt of vitality to Columbia's aging "Durango Kid" western series. Once again, Charles Starrett stars as Steve Carson, a lawman who is forced to assume the identity of masked do-gooder Durango. Framed for murder, Carson escapes to locate the real killer. It turns out that he was set up by cattle baron Buck Prescott (Frank Fenton), who eliminates competition by stealing livestock from other ranchers.

When Robin Grant inherits a valuable range, certain evil interests try their best to kill off Robin and claim the land for themselves. US Marshall Steve Saunders comes to the boy's rescue.

Using marked bills, Steve is looking for the supposedly dead Henry Hardison. Coming to Bonanza Town he gets a job with the town boss Crag Bozeman and gets paid with marked bills. He suspects Hardison is Boseman's boss and he is right as Hardison and his men are now planning to get rid of both him and the Durango kid.

The Durango Kid and his sidekick look for stolen gold with a history.

The Durango Kid, along with assistance from sidekick Smiley Burnett, investigates a pair of murders that threaten to fuel a range war.

Government Agent Steve leases land to Masters so he can bring in horses for the Army. Henley has obtained a forged lease for the same land and Steve is unable to prove it's a fake. While Steve checks with Washington, Henley plans to roundup and ship the horses. Masters also intends to roundup the horses and he has the Durango Kid on his side in the battle with Henley.

Western star Charles Starrett was amazing; he kept making the same film over and over, but always made it seem as if it was for the first time. In West of Sonora, Starrett once again plays a frontier good-guy named Steve (Steve Rollins, to be exact), who, when the need arises, disguises himself as The Durango Kid, masked righter of wrongs. This time, Steve/Durango champions the cause of 10-year-old Penelope Clinton (Anita Castle), who has spent her short life as the focus of a feud between her grandfathers, suspected outlaw Black Murphy (Steve Darrell) and Sheriff Jack Clinton (George Cheseboro).

An outlaw gang is trying to stop the reopening of a mine as they look for the money left there by the famous outlaw Dusty Morton. After a ten year absence, Morton has apparently reappeared and Steve arrives looking for him. He finds his son who also wonders if his father is still alive. With the gang soon after him, the Durango Kid goes into action and Steve tries to learn who the real Dusty Morgan is.

A late entry in Columbia's seemingly endless Durango Kid Western series, Cyclone Fury was augmented with a hefty dose of stock footage from an earlier Durango effort, Galloping Thunder (1946), footage that included sidekick Smiley Burnette warbling "Hear the Wind (Singing a Cowboy Song)" accompanied by Merle Travis and his Bronco Busters.

Charles Starrett once again dons the disguise of the "Durango Kid" to restore law and order in this entry in Columbia's Western series. This time, the Kid, aka Steve Ramsey, witnesses a stage robbery, during which local rancher John Avery is brutally murdered.

Treasury Department Steve Waring, and also, unknown to others, the Durango Kid, comes to Sunset Pass in search of $1000,000 in gold coins, stolen from the government by the late Forrest Brent. He is aided by Smiley Burnette, the local deputy sheriff. Later, Paula Thorpe, Brent's daughter from his first marriage, arrives with her lawyer sweetheart Frank Raeburn, with intentions of proving her father's estate belongs to her and not to Mrs. Brent, his wife of record when he died. The widow Brent has no intentions of giving up one single cent.

Charles Starrett returns as the Durango Kid in Columbia's Rough, Tough, West. For most of the film, however, Starrett is known as "Steve Holden," a former Texas Ranger who comes to a wide-open mining town to visit an old friend (Jack -- later Jock -- Mahoney). Alas, said friend has turned bad, and is busy arranging a major land grab when Steve arrives on the scene. With deep regret, our hero dons his Durango disguise to thwart his ex-friend's criminal activities.

In the lawless town of Dusty Gulch, the Durango Kid comes to the aid of Reverend Harding in his fight against Blaze Howard and his henchman. When Durango foils all bad guy's plans, Blaze's boss Doc Weston realizes Cannonball it tipping off Durango. Weston then lets Cannonball overhear false information that will send Durango into a fatal trap.

A major Indian uprising is expected and Wyoming military posts are alerted. Colonel Dennison is meeting with Chief Eagle and his son Running Wolf when Chief Eagle is mysteriously shot. Steve Holden, an agent for the government peace commission, with the aid of a wandering shoemaker, Smiley, discover the troubles and the Chief's murder have been instigated by Cronin, the regimental scout, for personal gain for he and his gang of outlaws.

Dakota Indian Agent Steve Reynolds receives a copy of the Bonanza City Nuggett from Jim Mallory and reads a story blaming the Durango Kid for recent gold mine raids.

This time the Durango Kid confronts an expert gambler.

A masked outlaw steals from bank robbers to help the poor.

Arriving to become the new Deputy, Steve Gordon takes over as Sheriff instead when he finds the Sheriff has been killed. He doesn't last long and is fired for incompetence. But he realizes Brady is pulling off a swindle. Having found the proper soil, Brady has salted it with cheap diamonds, gotten Smiley to accidently find them, and is now taking money from eager investors and planning to flee with it.

A saddle-weary Steve Larkin, also the Duranko Kid, rides into Red Mound, a town filled with cattle rustlers. Cafe owner Smiley, befriends Steve and fills him in on the activities. Steve angers the rustler's leader, Flip Dugan when he purchases the old Atkins ranch which is supposedly haunted. Flip and his henchmen try to prevent the recording of the deed, but the Durango Kid and Deputy Marshal Tug Carter win the gun battle.

Cimarron has found a lost treasure and the outlaw gang knows about it. They have made him a prisoner and are trying to get the location from him. However, he has sent for his friend Steve Reynolds and the Durango Kid will soon be on the job.

Charles Starrett goes up against an entire family of criminals posing as respectable citizens in this entry in Columbia's long-running Durango Kid Western series.

The Durango Kid sets out to clear his name after being falsely accused of a payroll robbery.

The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) returns to Ret Butte intending to sell his cattle ranch. Saloon owner, Duke Catlett (Lane Chandler) is the secret owner of a sheep flock which graze on the cattle lands--leaving them useless for cattle. A range war looms between the cattlemen and sheepherders.

Wanted outlaws have mysteriously disappeared. Ranger Captain Henley and Steve have a plan to find them. Steve becomes a wanted man by faking the killing of Henley. Not only is he now in trouble as both the Rangers and the Mexican Rurales are after him, but Smiley knows him and may expose his masquerade to the bad guys.

When Sheriff Jeff Connor of Powder River cannot stop the crime wave, his young son, Larry, writes to the Durango Kid for aid. Taggart, the saloon owner, is the secret head of the outlaws, while Connor's brother Bill is in cahoots with him. Steve Randall, the Durango Kid, and his pal, Smiley Butterbean, arrive in time to stop a stagecoach holdup, and Steve is made a deputy sheriff. Taggart has one of his men, Slade, pose as the Durango Kid and while he is speaking to the townspeople, the rest of the outlaw gang pillages the town, and this somewhat damages the Durango Kid in the eyes of Larry and his sister Doris. Steve suggests that Sheriff Connor visit the government about a railroad project, and Taggart instructs Slade and the gang leader to kill Connor on his trip back.

The Durango Kid rides again in Columbia's Landrush. As ever, the masked do-gooder, alias Steve Harmon, is played by Charles Starrett. Bringing up the rear in every sense of the word is Harmon's comical sidekick Smiley Burnette. In this outing, Harmon dons his Durango garb to rescue a group of homesteaders from scurrilous villains. Musical relief is provided by Ozie Waters and his Colorado Rangers.

Steve Driscoll arrives to help a friend who is trying to bring in an oil well. He finds that the well has been blown up and the workers have quit. He gets the workers back on the job and orders a new drill bit . When the drill bit is stolen he organizes the townspeople to invest in the well. But when the money is collected, a fake Durango Kid shows up to take it and flee

Inasmuch as western star Charles Starrett gained screen fame as the Robin Hood-like "Durango Kid", it stands to reason that Starrett would head the cast of Robin Hood of the Range. The star plays Steve Marlowe, the foster son of railroad manager Henry Marlowe (Kenneth McDonald). When it becomes apparent that the railroad is using underhanded methods to drive local homesteaders off their land, Steve adopts the guise of "The Vulcan", a legendary champion of justice.

Steve arrives looking for the person printing counterfeit bonds. He finds his man in Pop Ryland who has two sons and a stepson. The stepson doesn't want to be an outlaw like the other sons and helps Steve out by posing as the Durango Kid when needed and then leading him to the evidence he is looking for.

When the ranchers of Bearcat are plagued by rustlers, Big Jim Grady offers to buy their herds from them at low-ball prices. Steve Haley suggests to the ranchers that they band together and drive their herds to Abilene, Kansas and get full price. Steve's friend Smiley "joins" the rustlers to learn who their leader is. Grady henchman Doc Walker asks Steve to help break up the cattle drive, and he agrees in order to keep tabs on the rustlers. The gang makes several attempts to take the trail herd but Steve, in his guise as the Durango Kid, intervenes and saves the cattle.