Adventures in Silverado (1948)

William Bishop is Bill Foss, who arrives in Silverado with a stagecoach and a spirited team of horses.

That immediately raises the ire of stagecoach driver Zeke Butler (Forrest Tucker) and his boss Jeannie Manning (Gloria Henry).

The former declares there’s only enough business for one stage line in Silverado; the latter challenges Foss to a race.

Then he cheats during that race, causing Foss’s stage to crash and his beloved lead horse to suffer a serious leg injury.

In truth, Foss was merely passing through on his way to Eureka. Now he’s stuck in Silverado, penniless after losing the race and minus a stage and a lead horse.

Friendly Dr. H.C. Henderson (Edgar Buchanan) helps with the horse, attempting to nurse him back to health. And Jeannie gives him a job hauling water to help him get back on his feet financially.

But a new problem arises for Foss when Butler tries to connect him to a string of stagecoach holdups. They’re being committed by a bandit who dresses like a monk.

William Bishop as Bill Foss, arriving in SIlverado to a less than warm welcome in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Edgar Buchanan as Dr. H.C. Henderson, working on Big Fella’s injured leg in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Review:

The monk costume sounds hokey. The good news is that the film isn’t. In fact, it turns out to be a quite entertaining little Western.

And if Bishop never really clicked as a Western star, Edgar Buchanan makes up for it with a fine performance as a benevolent doctor.

He has an especially soft spot for the squatters, a group of settlers who came to California looking for gold and wound up farming land too dry to successfully grow crops.

The stagecoach races — there are two of them — are also well done. And the story is set to the backdrop of famed author Robert Louis Stevenson traveling West in search of a new story.

Lead actress Gloria Henry wound up enjoying a long career as a TV actress. She’s probably best remembered by Western fans as Arthur Kennedy’s girlfriend in the opening of “Rancho Notorious” (1952).

Gloria Henry as stage line owner Jeannie Manning, talking about the recent holdups with mine owner McHugh in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Forrest Tucker as Zeke Butler, convinced Bill Foss has something to do with the stage holdups in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Directed by:
Phil Karlson

Cast:
William Bishop … Bill Foss
Gloria Henry … Jeannie Manning
Edgar Buchanan … Dr. H.C. Henderson
Forrest Tucker … Zeke Butler
Edgar Barrier … Robert Louis Stevenson
Irving Bacon … Jake Willis
Joseph Crehan … McHugh
Paul E. Burns … Sam Perkins
Patti Brady … Luci
Fred F. Sears … Hatfield
Joe Wong … Tim Quong
Charles Cane … Sheriff
Eddy Waller … Will Thatcher
Netta Packer … Mrs. Thatcher

Runtime: 75 min.

Joseph Crehan as McHugh, the mine owner, being asked to cough up money for an irrigation system in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Joe Wong as Tim Quong and Edgar Barrier as Robert Louis Stevenson, watching a dispute over the Monk in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Memorable lines:

John Louis Stevenson, on a stage bound for Silverado: “I’m heard some lurid stories of your Western highwayman. Of course, I’ve never seen one in action.”
Doc Henderson: “Neither have I. Except once. A couple of years ago, a man came into my office and complained of an upset stomach. I told him to take something for it. He did. My money.”

Doc Henderson, as he begins to treat Big Guy, Bill Foss’s prize lead horse: “Like the man said, ‘The more I see of people, the better I like horses.'”

Bill Foss, after he’s spent time hauling water to the squatters: “I’m a stage driver, not a tank toter.”

Jeannie Manning, taking a turn with Bill Foss’s team to prove she can handle horses: “Did I do alright for a woman?”
Foss: “Lady, you did alright for a man.”

Doc Henderson: “Why are you doing all this for me, Bill?”
Foss: “I like the way you like horses.”

Sheriff, leading the posse on a search for the stagecoach bandit: “If the monk’s hiding out in these hills, he must have turned into a mole.”

Charles Cane as the sheriff debating how to deal with the Monk with Zeke Butler in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Patti Brady as Luci, the young girl who captures Doc’s heart in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

Forrest Tucker as Zeke Butler and Irving Bacon as Jake Willis, becoming victims of the Monk again in Adventures in Silverado (1948)

William Bishop as Bill Foss and Gloria Henry as Jeannie Manning on a stagecoach ride in Adventures in Silverado (1948)