A small band is trapped in an adobe fort that serves as a stage station as marauding Apaches look for the man who killed several of their tribe after they welcomed him to a pow-wow.
The folks inside the fort figure the guilty party is Peso (Gilbert Roland), a charming bandit; many of them want the stage station manager to turn him over to the Apaches so they call off the raid.
But the stage station manager (Robert Horton as Tom Herrera) happens to be Peso’s son, and refuses to do so, even though Peso has his eyes on a shipment of gold delivered on the stage.
Review:
Highly entertaining little Western, full of snappy dialogue and colorful characters. An exciting Apache attack on the fort leads up to a neat ending.
Gilbert Roland turns in a charming performance. And this marked the first starring role — and only the fourth film — for Robert Horton, who would rise to fame five years later as Flint McMullough on the TV series “Wagon Train.” And, yes, that’s young Robert Blake, later of “Baretta” fame, in the role of Luis; he was already a child star, having gotten his start in the “Our Gang” films.
Directed by:
Harold Kress
Cast:
Gilbert Roland … Peso
Robert Horton … Tom Herrera
Barbara Ruick … Nancy Dekker
Glenda Farrell … Fanny Webson
Patricia Tiernan … Lorraine Sayburn
Harry Morgan … Ed Cotton
Robert Blake … Luis
Gene Lockhart .. Cyril Snowden
Runtime: 67 min. B&W
Memorable lines:
Peso: “There are two things I hate – a careless man and a careful woman.”
Peso to Tom: “Looks like you’ve got my problem. Two women are fighting over you.”
Tom: “Oh, yea, which one would you choose?”
Peso: “You know me. I have the character to choose them both.”
Peso to young boy, explaining why it’s better to aim for the stomach than the head: “Now remember what I tell you because the sheriffs in New Mexico have small heads, but big bellies … always aim at the big things in life and you’ll grow up to be a great man, just like Peso.”
Major to Tom: “My daughter usually mows them down like shrapnel, but you don’t seem to have a wound on you.”
Tom: “I know when to duck.”
Tom to Peso: “You’re a hero to every kid in the territory, but I never saw much sense in putting a thief on a pedestal.”
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