Randolph Scott plays Jeff Kincaid, an engineer hired to build a railroad from Carson City to Virginia City.
The reason for the railroad: Gold shipments sent via stage are being held up on a regular basis by the Champagne Gang, so called because of the expensive lunches they serve to the stage passengers inconvenienced by the thefts.
The masterminds behind the gang are Jack Davis (Raymond Massey) and Jim Squires (James Millican), who then ship the stolen gold as though it’s from their played-out Golden Elephant Mine, where Davis has his men keep the furnaces running so it looks profitable.
The bad guys aren’t the only ones none too excited to see Jeff come to town. Local newspaper editor Zeke Mitchell (Don Beddoe) fears the railroad’s will ruin the quiet town. The stage owner knows he’s about to lose his freight business.
Then there’s Jeff’s half-brother Alan (Richard Webbs), who’s been planning to marry Susan Mitchell (Lucille Norman), daughter of the newspaper editor.
She had a childhood crush on Jeff. Her reaction when Jeff returns to Carson City tells Alan she’s not forgotten those feelings.
Meanwhile, Davis and Squires do their best to disrupt construction of the railroad. And when newspaperman Mitchell figures out a clue scrawled in the dirt about who’s behind the mischief, he winds up dead.
Since he’s been an outspoken critic of the railroad, Jeff and his men get the blame.
Randolph Scott as Jeff Kincaid, returning home to try to build a railroad through the mountains in Carson City (1952)
Lucille Norman as Susan Mitchell, surprised by another of her father’s fiery editorials in Carson CIty (1952)
Review:
Lively Randolph Scott Western features a wagon full of mining equipment shoved off a cliff, an explosion that nearly kills our heroine, and a cave-in that nearly claims the life of our hero.
Kincaid and several of his men are trapped by a mine cave-in. With their oxygen running out, they can only hope the men mining a tunnel from the other side of the mountain can break through in time to save them.
And while Scott plays the role of a renowned engineer, he straps on his six-shooter for the final showdown as Davis and Squires, their efforts to stop the railroad foiled, plan one last holdup.
This was just one of four credited film roles for Lucille Norman, who first made a name for herself as a singer. Richard Webb gained fame as Captain Midnight on the TV series by the same name and appeared in several Western films, always in secondary roles.
Raymond Massey as Jack Davis, using a played-out mine to cover up his thievery in Carson City (1952)
James Millican as Jim Squires, Davis’s partner and chief enforcer in Carson City (1952)
Directed by:
Andre De Toth
Cast:
Randolph Scott … Jeff Kincaid
Lucille Norman … Susan Mitchell
Richard Webb … Alan Kincaid
Don Beddoe … Zeke Mitchell
Raymond Massey … Jack Davis
James Millican … Jim Squires
Larry Keating … William Sharon
George Cleveland … Henry Dodson
William Haade … Hardrock Haggerty
Thurston Hall … Charles Crocker
Vince Barnett … Henry
Runtime: 84 min.
Larry Keating as William Sharon, pushing for a railroad to stop the thievery in Carson City (1952)
Don Beddoe as Zeke Mitchell, a newspaper editor arguing against the railroad in Carson CIty (1952)
Memorable lines:
William Sharon, bank owner: “Wait a minute. That gold box belongs to the Golden State Bank.”
Stage robber: “They can have it back after we bust it open.”
Jim Squires, bickering over the cost of the lunches served to holdup victims: “Champagne. Chicken. Glasses that cost two bucks apiece.”
Jack Davis: “It’s the cheapest kind of insurance we could buy. Rob the poor and you get a posse of outraged citizens after you. Rob a mine owner and nobody cares … Ever hear of Robin Hood.”
Susan Mitchell: “I wish dad would use shorter words in his editorials, or else learn how to spell the long ones.”
Richard Webb as Alan Kincaid, proposing to his childhood sweetheart in Carson City (1952)
Lucille Norman as Susan Mitchell looking to Hardrock Haggerty (William Haade) for assurance that Jeff can survive a mine cave-in in Carson City (1952)
Kincaid, after he’s pulled Susan from her horse and hustled her behind a rock for fear she’ll be injured in an explosion: “Are you alright?”
Susan: “I guess so. I just didn’t expect so violent a greeting.”
Kindcaid: “We do things big out here.”
Susan: “I’ve really got the touch, haven’t I? First time I see you, I ruin you jacket. Then a whole mountain blows up on me.”
Kincaid, trapped in a mine by a rockslide: “Let’s start working through here to meet Haggerty.”
Miner #1: “How do you know he’s coming through here this way?”
Miner #2: “Suppose he tries to come in from the outside?”
Kincaid: “If he does, I’ll fire him.”
Randolph Scott as Jeff Kincaid celebrating the completion of the railroad as brother Alan (Richard Webb) looks on in Carson City (1952)
Randolph Scott as Jeff Kincaid celebrating the completion of the railroad as brother Alan (Richard Webb) looks on in Carson City (1952)>/strong>
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