The Star Packer

1934 "He fought for justice... and battled for love!"
5.1| 0h53m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 30 July 1934 Released
Producted By: Paul Malvern Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

John Travers and Yak, his faithful Indian sidekick, pick up where a murdered sheriff leaves off, and try to nab the mysterious Shadow.

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Director

Robert N. Bradbury

Production Companies

Paul Malvern Productions

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The Star Packer Audience Reviews

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Edgar Allan Pooh . . . 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!"
SanteeFats 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.
Spondonman Definitely the best of John Wayne's million early films, although the acting and production values were of the usual B Western standard the plot was probably more cohesive than usual and more watchable. And almost believable, too! The Lone Star Saloon in Lone Star Town also had a good part in this one.It's pretty obvious who the baddie will turn out to be (yet again!) - you can almost hear the boos from the kids in the audience from the mid-'30's when he makes his appearance, again as a beardless two-faced sidewinder. I assume here that unlike nowadays kids back then knew the difference between good guys and bad guys and right and wrong. Yakima Canutt is playing a Tonto character in here, Wayne is as dashing as always, the chases and ambushes are everything to be desired, in fact especially hair-raising. However, I can't actually remember now Wayne actually packing a Star, if he did he didn't make the same song and dance about it as he did in Rio Bravo! And everything is corny, contrived and creaky - but I love it just the same.As far as I'm concerned it's a very pleasant way to fill an hour - a lot is "packed" into an hour. If you forced yourself to watch Star Packer in its entirety and found it dreadful you'll never get that hour back, but my friendly observation is you certainly won't like any of Wayne's other films for Lone Star.
classicsoncall Lone Star Productions sure churned them out in the 1930's, and "Star Packer" has the feel of one of the more rushed ones. John Wayne is U.S. Marshal John Travers, investigating a crooked hoodlum known only as "The Shadow", responsible for stealing cattle, stage holdups and the like, and giving orders from behind the door of a phony wall safe. Yakima Canutt is Travers' trusty Indian sidekick, appropriately named as... well, "Yak".Early on, we find out that Cattlemens Union head Matt Matlock (George pre-Gabby Hayes) is really The Shadow; the dead giveaway is when he offers to buy out his (supposed) niece Anita's half of the Matlock Ranch, since "this is no place for a girl". As Anita, Verna Hillie doesn't have much to do in the film, although in a comic moment, she gets to use a six shooter to blast the butt of one of the villains in a night time scare raid.There are a few curiosities in the film - for one, Wayne's character alternately rides a white horse and a dark horse in the first half of the film. In what could have been a neat device, a hollowed out tree stump used by a henchman is located right in the middle of the street. And finally, the movie doesn't truly live up to it's name, as Sheriff Travers never wears a badge throughout the film, that is, a star packer without a star.The horse chases, the runaway stage scenes, the stagecoach off the cliff (another curiosity, the horses conveniently get loose from the stage) are all pretty standard stuff. But John Wayne fans will want to see this one for the charisma he displayed early on in his career. For those more critical, the white kerchiefs worn around the forehead by the good guy posse could only mean that they all had a headache.