Captivating movie !

As Good As It Gets

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

. . . may seem like it must be ripped from Today's 21st Century headlines, in which the mainstream media such as Fox "News" give relatives of every thug neutralized by U.S. Law Enforcement unlimited TV face time to scream "Bloody Murder!" and ignite riots, murder, and mayhem against the Public Order. But unlike Real Life in Modern America, the instigators of random cop killings in THE STAR PACKER are brought to Justice. They are NOT given $5 million each of U.S. Taxpayer money for raising such a Threat to Public Safety. They do NOT reap in more Big Bucks for writing books and appearing as "Experts" on countless TV shows. In any Civilized Country, the relatives of those who must be neutralized for the Public Good bend over backward to avoid the Public Gaze. If they're heard at all, it's to apologize for not better rearing their kid. At the end of STAR PACKER, John Wayne is shown raising his kid as a fearless future crime fighter to follow in his own footsteps. Since Wayne's sidekick here is a Native American, this flick's message is "STAR PACKERS are NOT Racist Crackers--do NOT shoot them with Guns OR Cell Phones!"

This is an early John Wayne oater. It is very typical for that era. John Wayne, of course, plays the good guy and a lawman, and Yakima Canute, who is in a ton of John Wayne's early movies, usually as a bad guy, plays a good guy for a change. even it it is a very stereotypical Indian sidekick, (insensitive by today's politically correct idiots). Of course this movie is in black and white, since color was still on the horizon, so some of the video does leave a bit to be desired but I did and still do enjoy the good guy versus bad guy movies where most things are pretty clear. I also like his later movies that had a bit more suspense.

AS THE OLD, time worn joke goes:"We saw an old Western with Gaby Hayes on Late Night TV last night and this was so old, that Gabby got the Girl!" *WE CAN ALL forgive the unknown author of this oral knee-slapper; as it did provide us with at least a mild chuckle, while, at the same time, making a point. The anachronistic miscues we can chalk up to Literary License.**WHAT IS A SHORT feature of about an hour (give or take a minute or two), provides plenty of action, a better than average story and a theme that Depression Era Matinée viewers could strongly identify with. In this case, a crime problem that was too big and nefarious for the local authorities to deal with; so enter the Feds, in the person of Duke Wayne, cast as an undercover U.S. Marshall. The New Deal saves the day!SOME OF THE factors that contribute to the movies' seeming to be even more ancient of a film are the sound track, the break-neck speed of the theme music and the extensive shooting of scenes outdoors; as well in what appear to be rather spartan, though highly realistic, indoor locales. Sheriff's Office, Meeting Hall and local Saloon all appear to have a rather frugal, yet somehow, realistic appearance about them.THERE IS AN infusion of incidental music into the action scenes that was obviously added at some later date than 1934; probably having been done by some TV film distributor, after having acquired the rights and to seek to make these LONE STAR (MONOGRAM) productions more salable to the various outlets, both local stations and cable systems.AS WE STATED earlier, this could well have take at least some inspiration from the LONE RANGER; which had premiered in the previous year of 1933 on Radio Station WXYZ, Detroit. The pairing of John Wayne and Yakima Canutt (as his "faithful Indian Companion:, 'Yak')bears a strong and seemingly more than coincidental resemblance to the Lone Ranger & Tonto.AS WITH THE rest of these Lone Star Westerns, we find this to be great escapism, highly entertaining and worthwhile. NOTE: * Veteran New York Stage Actor, George Hayes, went West to Hollywood in the wake of the 1929 Stock Market Crash, but did not become known as "Gabby" Hayes until circa 1935.NOTE ** Be sure to make sure that your Literary License is up to date and not expired!

I watched the beginning twice, could NOT make sense of it, and it bothered me for the whole movie.So, work this out with me: Wayne (the GOOD guy) jumps on the stagecoach, disarms the drivers (!), steals the money (?!), and takes off.Disarmed, one driver is then killed and the other wounded by the bad guys. Thanks to Wayne, who disarmed them, and then watched it happen.Then Wayne drops the money in the dirt, rescues the girl, rides into town, chuckles it up with Yak (too bad about the dead guy, I guess)...and then later says he "found" the money back at the scene. And everyone's okay with that.And he's the good guy? And I'm pretty sure there weren't small, hand-held flashlights at the time. And Bell did his first phone demo in 1876... were they in houses then? Am I thinking too hard about this one? Normally, I'm happy to suspend judgment to enjoy a movie, but this one bothered me. And that's a sign the move didn't really work for me.