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White Hoss #2 - Jack Perrin's "Starlight, the Wonder Horse"


Jack Perrin's Starlight was one of the smartest horses in the movies, and is relatively easy to spot ... because he has a bunch of "spots" on the face, neck and body.

The most noticeable are two large spots on the left side behind the nose and above the mouth.

In the photos below, which cover a period from 1928 - 1938, you'll see Starlight with Perrin as well as John Wayne, Fred Scott, Bob Livingston, Tex Ritter, Hoot Gibson, Jack Randall and Smith Ballew.

If you spot Starlight while you're watching a video, jot down the film name and who was the rider, and send the Old Corral webmaster an e-mail.

The earliest reference to Starlight and Perrin are newspaper ads from late 1925 for STARLIGHT, THE UNTAMED (Harry S. Webb/Rayart, 1925).

New/recent spottings of this horse:

  • Jack Hoxie rides Starlight in TROUBLE BUSTERS (Majestic, 1933).
  • Big Boy Williams rides him in THE LAW OF 45's (Normandy, 1935).
  • Tom Tyler rides Starlight in RIO RATTLER (Reliable, 1935).
  • Bob Livingston rode Starlight in the cliffhanger, THE VIGILANTES ARE COMING (Republic, 1936) and Three Mesquiteers adventures, GUNSMOKE RANCH (Republic, 1937) and RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL (Republic, 1937).



(From Old Corral collection)

Above is Jack Perrin on his "Starlight, the Wonder Horse" circa 1928.




(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above is Bob Livingston atop Starlight during his days as a member of Republic's Three Mesquiteers circa 1937. Lots of closeups of Livingston and Starlight in the Mesquiteers film, RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL (Republic, 1937).


          

On the full size scans of the above two images, the brand on Starlight is apparent. I've cropped/adjusted contrast on the brands above - the left brand is from the Perrin photo and the right is from the Livingston image. The brand appears to be two bars over the letters JX, and looks like this:

==
JX



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a lobby card from the silent TWO OUTLAWS (Universal, 1928), with Perrin's Starlight working on undoing the ropes on Jack's wrist.



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above are Jack Perrin with Starlight, and on the far right is Rex, "King of the Wild Horses", in a scene from GUARDIANS OF THE WILD (1928), one of the Perrin and Rex Universal silents.



(From Old Corral collection)

Above lobby card is from one of the earliest of the western 'talkies', THE APACHE KID'S ESCAPE (Horner, 1930), and in the photo insert are star Jack Perrin and Starlight.



Above is a blowup of the B&W still in THE APACHE KID'S ESCAPE lobby card, annotated with red outlines to show the markings and spots on the left side of Jack Perrin's Starlight.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the pressbook cover for HAIR-TRIGGER CASEY (Atlantic, 1936), one of the final starring roles for Jack Perrin. The faces on the right side, from top to bottom, are Ed Cassidy, Betty Mack and Fred 'Snowflake' Toones. And STARLIGHT "THE WONDER HORSE" is still getting credit as Jack's trusty steed



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Tex Ritter did purchase his own White Flash around 1941. But in his earlier westerns, he rode various rental and studio-provided white horses. In the still above, possibly from STARLIGHT OVER TEXAS (Monogram, 1938), Tex is with Starlight.



Above is a young John Wayne as "Singing Sandy" in RIDERS OF DESTINY (Lone Star/Monogram, 1933) - and he's riding Starlight. He also rode Starlight in WEST OF THE DIVIDE (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934). Wayne rode all colors of horses during his various 1930s westerns at Warners, Lone Star/Monogram, and Republic.



(Courtesy of Donn and Nancy Moyer)

Above is Fred Scott, the Silvery-Voiced Buckaroo, and his horse was named White King and sometimes as White Dust. Scott rode several different white horses including Starlight which is pictured in the above still.



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Addison 'Jack' Randall, the younger brother of Three Mesquiteers star Bob Livingston, made 22 starring westerns for Monogram Pictures from 1937-1940, and he rode lots of different horses including the paint Lucky/Tex, Rusty the Wonder Horse, and several white hosses. Above is Randall on Starlight. The heroine might be Louise Stanley, onetime wife of Randall, who appeared in five of his 22 oaters.



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above are singing cowboy Smith Ballew and Jack Perrin's horse Starlight in a scene from HAWAIIAN BUCKAROO (1938). In addition to Starlight, Ballew rode several other trusty steeds. In RAWHIDE (1938) and PANAMINT'S BAD MAN (1938), he rode the "white horse with the mottled face". In WESTERN GOLD (1937), he rode a brown horse with a long, wide face blaze. And in ROLL ALONG COWBOY (1937), he rides a palomino.



Above, a crop/blowup of the horse in the Smith Ballew HAWAIIAN BUCKAROO photo above. In addition to the left side marks on Starlight, the right side marks are also shown.



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above is Bob Livingston atop Starlight during his days as a member of Republic's Three Mesquiteers.



(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

From L-to-R are Max Terhune (on Banjo), Bob Livingston (on Starlight), and Ray 'Crash' Corrigan (on ?) in HIT THE SADDLE (Republic, 1937), one of the early Three Mesquiteers adventures.


Above is a crop/blowup of the horse ridden by Bob Livingston in the HIT THE SADDLE photo above.



(Courtesy of Ed Phillips)

Above from L-to-R are William Gould, Wally Wales/Hal Taliaferro (back to camera), Bob Kortman (on horse), Hoot Gibson on Perrin's Starlight, George Hayes, and Lafe McKee in a still from Hoot's SWIFTY (Diversion, 1935).


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