Jeb and Johnny Sims are brothers and cold-blooded killers. They’ve just robbed a stage, killing and driver and shotgun guard. As for the lone female prisoner — they shot her in the back as she escaped from the other side door. But before dying, she was able to scratch J&J Si into the dirt.
That’s enough to get them caught. They’re now on their way to prison under the watchful eye of Marshal Karnin (Don “Red” Barry). Gunfighter Ben Lattimore has a simpler idea; he’d like to kill the two to save the marshal a long stage ride. After all, that was his sister the Sims brothers killed.
Along for the ride on “Convict Stage” is a pretty blonde named Sally, who was Lattimore’s girlfriend until she tired of his violence; and another woman named Mrs. Gregory. She’s really the mom of the Sims boys, biding her time to help them escape. All roads seem to lead to a ghost town named Calico, where the marshal decides to make a stand and where the Sims gang soon shows up, too.
Review:
The film plays out like a mediocre 1960s TV Western, and none of these actors or actresses can enliven things very much. Some fairly snappy dialogue helps. That fact that Sally winds up on the very same stage as the two killers her ex-lover wants to shoot down is a coincidence beyond belief. But, hey, it keeps the romantic subplot going.
This marked a rare starring role for Don “Red” Barry, who played bit roles in dozens of Western films and TV series episodes. This marked the one and only film for Jodi Mitchell, in the role of the violence-hating Sally.
Along with “War Party” and “Fort Courageous,” this was one of three low-budget Westerns that Lesley Selander filmed for Steve Productions in 1965. Hanna Landy, who plays the mother here, also had a key role in “Fort Courageous.”
Directed by:
Lesley Selander
Cast:
Harry Lauter … Ben Lattimore
Don “Red” Barry … Marshal Karnin
Jodi Mitchell … Sally
Hanna Landy … Mrs. Gregory
Joe Patridge … Jeb Sims
Eric Matthews … Johnny Sims
Walter Reed … Sam Gill
Michael Carr … Piute
Fred Krone … Dixon
George Sawaya … Scott
Karl MacDonald … Bates
Runtime: 71 min.
Memorable lines:
Sally: “You know why I ran out. I don’t like to be touched by hands with blood on them.”
Lattimore: “Sally, I told you before. You picked the wrong man. You should have looked at my hands the day we met.”
Sally, after searching Mrs. Gregory at the marshal’s request: “She had a gatling gun under her bustle.”
Mrs. Gregory: “Marshal, let me have a pistol. I may not be Calamity Jane, but I sure know one end from the other.”
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