As school teacher Billy Ray Smith (Anthony Edwards) is reading a story about the legendary Kid Durango to his students, the notorious outlaw El Diablo (Robert Beltran) rides into town and robs the bank.
As he’s leaving, he snatches up Billy Ray’s prize student, pretty Nettie Tuleen (Sarah Trigger), who just happens to have a crush on her teacher.
When the posse fails to catch El Diablo, Billy Ray decides he’ll try, by finding Kid Durango and soliciting his help.
Well, he finds a black bounty hunter named Van Leek (Louis Gossett Jr.) and discovers Kid Durango is a dandy, writing about Van Leek’s exploits as though they were his own because few readers will be interested in the adventures of a black cowboy.
After rounding up some help, they set out to free Nettie.
Billy Ray snatched one of El Diablo’s spurs when she was kidnapped. A family heirloom, that spur just might gain them admittance to El Diablo’s hideout, Van Leek figures.
Once there, he plans to look for a prize more lucrative than Nettie or whatever Billy Ray is willing to pay as a reward for her safe return.
Anthony Edwards as Billy Ray Smith, the school teacher from Boston in El Diablo (1990)
Lou Gossett Jr. as Thomas Van Leek, recruiting some new assistants in El Diablo (1990)
Review:
A pretty entertaining comedy Western with Anthony Edwards in the role of the tenderfoot and Lou Gossett Jr. as the grizzled Westerner.
Among the running jokes, Billy Ray keeps getting thrown from his mounts, and shooting his horses in the process. Van Leek has a horse named Rio who can’t stand gunfire, so he plugs cotton in her ears everytime the shooting is about to begin.
There’s also a clever take on the hanging man scam from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
Robert Beltran as El Diablo, the bandit who robs a bank and kidnaps a prize student in El Diablo (1990)
Sarah Trigger as Nettie Tuleen, flashing an adoring smile at her teacher in El Diablo (1990)
Directed by:
Peter Markle
Cast:
Anthony Edwards … Billy Ray Smith
Louis Gossett Jr. … Thomas Van Leek
John Glover … The Preacher
Joe Pantoliano … Kid Durango
Robert Beltran … El Diablo
M.C. Gainey … Bebe
Miquel Sandoval … Roberto Zamudio
Sarah Trigger … Nettie Tuleen
Branscombe Richmon … Dancing Bear
Jim Beaver … Spivey Irick
Geno Silva … Chak Mol
David Dunard .. Pitchfork Napier
Don Collier … Jake
Runtime: 107 min.
Joe Pantoliano as Kid Durango, the hero of the Western dime stories he writes in El Diablo (1990)
M.C. Gainey as Bebe, the first specialist to join the rescue party in El Diablo (1990)
Memorable lines:
Spiey Trick, as Billy Ray Smith tries to hit something with his six-gun: “You need bigger bottles.”
Deputy, as Billy Ray prepares to ride off to rescue Nettie: “You’re a darned fool, Billy Ray.”
Billy Ray: “Yes, sir. I know.”
Dancing Bear to Van Leek: “This is very sorry war party we have, brown man.”
Billy Ray Smith, as Nettie approaches in a tummy-revaling bodice, blonde hair teased out: “I could not believe my eyes. This was not the same Nettie who was in my class five weeks ago. It was El Diablo’s work, I was sure.”
Kid Durango: “Seems your plan has taken an unexpected turn for the worse.”
Van Leek, spitting after spotting El Diablo with two intact spurs through his spyglass: “Spare spurs.”
Kid Durango: “Spoiled by spare spurs. Say that three times fast.”
Miguel Sandoval as Roberto Zamudio, a member of the rescue party in El Diablo (1990)
John Glover as The Preacher. accepting donations in return for a hanging show in El Diablo (1990)
David Dunard as Pitchfork Napier, part of a lynching scam in El DIablo (1990)
Branscombe Ricmon as Dancing Bear, a member of the rescue party in El Diablo (1990)
Jim Beaver as Spivey Trick, a townsman urging someone to trail El Diablo in El Diablo (1990)
Sarah Trigger as Nettie Tuleen, transformed into El Diablo’s woman in El Diablo (1990)
Louis Gossett Jr. as Thomas Van Leek, ready for a showdown with El Diablo in El Diablo (1990)
Anthony Edwards as Billy Ray Smith, setting out on a rescue mission in El Diablo (1990)
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