Stage to Mesa City (1947)

I am giving this movie a 10 rating only because Lash was my first crush when we got our first television in the early 1950s. I also watched Encore Westerns yesterday, the tribute to Lash showing six of his Marshal Cheyenne Davis movies filmed in 1947. At the end of the six hours, I was going bonkers. The music drove me crazy during the chase scenes, the same music in all six movies, thank goodness for the mute button. And Fuzzy St. John's antics wore thin. I just wanted to see Lash give some lovely damsels a few smooches, but no such luck.However, what a cheap movie company this was! In almost all of the films I watched yesterday, there were the same exact scenes over and over, in each of the movies. In two of the movies, there was the same exact stagecoach chase with the same damsel in distress! Oh well, so what! I got to see my Lash in all his glory. My heart is still beating wildly. What a guy!

Encore Westerns featured a six-gun salute to Lash La Rue today, and I would have been remiss if I didn't take in at least one of his pictures. In this story, the black clad cowboy hero rides in to Mesa City as Marshal Cheyenne Davis along with partner and deputy Fuzzy Jones (Fuzzy St. John). They've been sent to help the owner of a stage company who's on the brink of foreclosure unless he can land a government mail contract. Said owner, John Watson (Steve Clark) is dispatched early by the bad guys, and things look pretty bleak for his son and daughter who plan to continue running the business.It wouldn't be too far off to say that a good half of this picture's run time is taken up by endless chase scenes back and forth with the villains creating havoc all over the countryside. Cheyenne and Fuzzy are just close enough each time to ride in and make the save. There's a scene where bad guy Baxter (Marshall Reed) goes for his gun to draw down on 'Chey', and he strips the gun from the outlaw's hand with the bull-whip with the kind of confidence that made La Rue a 'B' Western matinée favorite in the Forties.For this outing, Fuzzy has a gimmick where he carries around a figurine of Sitting Bull for good luck, which comes in handy in one of the shoot 'em up scenes. He's always good for a chuckle if only for his appearance alone, but he gets his share of pratfalls in during the fight scenes as usual.Pretty Jennifer Holt makes another appearance in a Lash film as one of the Watson siblings. You'll also see her with Lash and Fuzzy in "The Fighting Vigilantes" and "Ghost Town Renegades". The character of her brother Bob was portrayed by Brad Slaven.The story's finale of course is never in doubt. There's an early hook thrown the viewer when lawyer Baxter keeps throwing out references to the unseen boss calling the shots. It would have been to easy to lay that one on the disinterested sheriff (Lee Morgan), but instead the film makers settled on the post office master in a wheelchair. Attempting to get away from Cheyenne, he makes a lame move with a blanket before getting boxed up by the marshal and returned for postage due.

Lash LaRue was the most interesting B western hero to come along after WWII. Bearing a striking physical resemblance to Humphrey Bogart, he cut quite a figure in his all-black outfit while expertly wielding a bullwhip against the bad guys.STAGE TO MESA CITY is an entertaining vehicle for LaRue with almost non-stop action and an interesting mystery element. Silent era comic Fuzzy St John backs LaRue with some expert pratfalls as his actually helpful sidekick. Jennifer Holt is the attractive heroine. Marshall Reed and Terry Frost head up the bad guys, but take orders from a shadowy boss. Between wild shootouts and chase after chase, Lash tries to figure out the identity of this top villain.This film is action packed with several full gallop chases. It might actually be too action packed. The mystery is predictable as the casting leaves no doubt who the brainy boss will turn out to be. It might have been wise to sacrifice a chase here or there in order to build up the red herrings. It also would have helped to cast veteran villains in the red herring roles to keep the viewer guessing.All in all, though, a fast-paced treat for LaRue fans.

Since the comment from 2006 appears to be a competent remark from a Lash Larue aficionado, this review can pass on from general critique to cultural juxtaposition. Whip-wielding Lash strips guns out of henchmen's hands at about the 20:20 and 37:05 marks of this 51:39-long flick (faster-triggered opponents may have paraphrased Sean Connery's famous UNTOUCHABLES line: "It's just like a Frenchman to bring a whip to a gunfight" while dispatching the hero with a well-placed shot). Unlike Frank Sinatra's tormentor in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, handicapper subterfuge seems less character-driven than plot-driven here. Despite this script contrivance (and enough bling on Lash's horse to give him a weight handicap worthy of Man-O-War), this film is more watchable than that other drama about delivering U.S. mail, Kevin Costner's THE POSTMAN. Finally, the apparent disinterest of the Mesa City sheriff in apprehending his town's nefarious element--leaving outside troubleshooters to insure the triumph of good over evil--could have been ripped from today's headlines nearly anywhere in America.