Return to Warbow (1958)

Return to Warbow (1958) posterPhilip Carey is Clay Hollister. He escapes from prison with two accomplices — Red and Johnny — and the promise of a $30,000 payoff if he can make it back to Warbow.

Eleven years earlier, he and his brother Frank (James Griffith) robbed a stage. Clay got caught, but Frank got the loot. Clay’s sure he hid it for safe keeping. Now he’s offered to split his share with his two fellow escapees.

But Hollister knows he can’t ride back into Warbow. That’s where an old lover named Kathleen Fallam (Catherine McLeod) comes in. He plans to stop by her ranch, then send her husband Murray to fetch his brother.

Once they reach the ranch, Mr. Fallam is nowhere to be found, and no one seems eager to tell the truth about his whereabouts. When Red and Johnny start working over Kathleen’s son, David, for information, the truth comes out: The boy is really Clay’s son.

Mr. Fallam is aware of that; the son is not. And the Fallams are determined to keep it that way, even if it means helping Clay. As for Frank Hollister? Now a drunken barfly, he’s no more eager for a reunion with Clay than anyone else in Warbow.

Rating 2 out of 6Review:

Not the worst of Nazarro’s quickie Western, though the ending cascades into silliness. Just watch Clay Hollister wade through the debris from a cave-in, pushing beams and boulders aside as though they were made of paper mache.

Jay Silverheels has a minor part as Indian Joe, a blind helper for the Fallam family. He was blinded during the aforementioned stage holdup. In another silly scene, he recognizes Clay by his voice … from 11 years before.

Andrew Duggan plays the husband determined to protect his wife and son. William Leslie and Robert Wilke have the roles as Clay’s less-than-trustworthy partners. They’re discussing plans to rid themselves of him no sooner than they’ve broken jail.

Philip Carey as Clay Hollister, Andrew Duggan as Murray Fallam and James Griffith as Frank Hollister in Return to Warbow (1958)Directed by:
Ray Nazarro

Cast:
Philip Carey … Clay Hollister
Catherine McLeod … Kathleeen Fallam
Andrew Duggan … Murray Fallam
Christopher Olsen … David Fallam
William Leslie … Johnny
Robert Wilke … Red
James Griffith … Frank Hollister
Jay Silverheels … Indian Joe
Francis De Sales … Sheriff
Harry Lauter … Deputy Tom
Paul Picerni … Deputy

Runtime: 67 min.

Memorable lines:

Johnny, after the escapees have lost their horses and waded through a creek to get away: “That’s the longest bath I ever took. My feet ain’t got no bottoms left.”
Clay Hollister: “We’ll be riding something soon.”
Johnny: “That jackrabbit you promised?”
Clay: “This is cattle country. We’re bound to hit a herd.”
Johnny: “Yeah, I’m just itchin’ to ride a cow.”

Red, about the stolen loot: “Where is it?”
Frank Hollister: “In the Tunson mine. The old Tunson mine. I took it there after the holdup.”
Clay: “That old death trap?”
Frank: “Well, it’s safe there. Since the mine caved in, everybody’s afraid to go in there.”
Red: “But you’ll go in, won’t you Frank?”
Frank: “Well, I’d be … we’d all be fools. There’s been new cave-ins. Money’s probably buried by now.”

Townsman, when Frank is wounded: “Frank’s so full of whiskey, the Doc won’t even need any disinfectant.”

Frank, once they reach the mine: “We shouldn’t go in there. Even our voices could start another cave-in.”

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