John Chard

The Magnificent Mustang. King of the Wild Stallions is directed by R.G. Springsteen and written by Ford Beebe. It stars George Montgomery, Diane Brewster, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer and Jerry Hartleben. A CinemaScope/DeLuxe Color production, music is by Marlin Skiles and cinematography by Carl Guthrie. A widow and her young son find trouble at their remote ranch, with the land baron vultures circling. But help could come from an unlikely source. It's indicative of many other family friendly Westerns of the 1950s, but as it happens this is no bad thing where King of the Wild Stallions is concerned. It's a charming film full of likable Western movie character actors who are able to keep the safe formula on the good side of good. It all comes down to goodies doing battle with the baddies, with the added bonus of a jet black equine called Lightning who dominates most of the narrative. The backdrop of Vasquez Rocks is beautifully captured by Guthrie's scope photography, while the action is well marshalled by old pro Springsteen, including a horse fight! Time to shout for the goodies here, hooray! 7/10