Someone’s swiping the rich ore being mined around Cripple Creek, and it looks like they’re doing it with the help of inside information.
So the secret service sends two Texans — George Montgomery as Bret Ivers and Jerome Courtland as Larry Galland — to infiltrate and then bust up the gang.
Larry’s brother, Strap (Richard Egan) is already in Cripple Creek, working as a faro dealer to see what he can find out.
With surprising speed, Ivers and Galland work their way into the good graces of Silver Kirby, owner of the local saloon. He takes them into his confidence and invites them to join the profitable thievery in which he’s involved.
Ivers and Galland are also interested in a pretty saloon girl named Julie Hanson (Karin Booth), who works to support her down-on-his-luck prospecting father, known as Hardrock.
Hardrock figures out the truth and wants to bring the bad guys to justice, but that only puts him in danger.
Meanwhile, the local sheriff is in on the thievery. Not quite trusting the fast guns from Texas, he starts digging into their backgrounds.
And what he finds out could be Ivers and Galland in danger.
George Montgomery as Bret Ivers, working with the secret service to discover who’s stealing ore shipments in Cripple Creek (1952)
Jerome Courtland as Larry Galland, Ivers’ young partner on his mission in Cripple Creek (1952)
Review:
A mixed bag in which a couple of neat plot twists and excellent scenes — Kirby forcing Egan’s character to play a sort of Russian roulette, for instance — are outweighed by pure silliness.
Like when Bret Ivers sneaks into the secret hideaway where the stolen ore is processed and crawls within inches of a half dozen workers, then back out again, without being detected.
Then again, he’s pretty much invincible. He flees Texas in a hail of bullets so no one will find out he’s on the right side of the law. And he bursts into a room with his buddy Larry in an early scene and guns down six men trying to rob Kirby. Neither of the heroes suffers as much as a scratch.
Don Porter plays Kirby’s number one henchman; John Dehner is the man who transports the stolen gold. Porter would go on to play Sally Field’s bewildered father in the TV series “Gidget.”
William Bishop as Silver Kirby, using a game of Russian roulette to find out who his enemies are in Cripple Creek (1952)
Karin Booth as Julie Hanson, worried that her prospecting father is putting himself in danger in Cripple Creek (1952)
Directed by:
Ray Nazarro
Cast:
George Montgomery … Bret Ivers
Karin Booth … Julie Hanson
Jerome Courtland … Larry Galland
William Bishop … Silver Kirby
Richard Egan … Strap Galland
Don Porter … Denver Jones
George Cleveland … Hardrock Hanson
John Dehner … Emil Cabeau
Roy Roberts … Marshal John Tetheroe
Robert Anderson … Muldoon
Robert Brice … James Sullivan (assayer)
Grandon Rhodes … Secret Service Chief Drummond
Runtime: 78 min.
Richard Egan as Strap Galland, Larry’s brother, working undercover as a faro dealer in Cripple Creek (1952)
Don Porter as Denver Jones and Roy Roberts as Marshal John Tetheroe, concerned about two Texans who have shown up in Cripple Creek (1952)
Memorable lines:
Narrator: “The town (Cripple Creek) grew fast and loud. And, as usual, men died faster, louder.”
Sign on S. Hawkins Undertaker’s Parlor: “Special Party Rates for Saturday Night Killings.”
Marshal Tetheroe, or Ivers and Galland: “Those two gun artists aren’t here for their health.”
Larry Galland: “What about this gal, Julie Hanson?”
Strap Galland: “All I know is she works for a living to keep her old man eating. He’s an old hard-luck prospector who’s dug more holes than all the gophers in the West.”
Denver Jones, about Ivers and Galland: “You know me. I don’t buy many gold bricks. But I’m almost sold on that pair.”
John Dehner as Emil Cabeau, the stable owner working with Silver Kirby in Cripple Creek (1952)
Jerome Courtland as Larry Galland and George Montgomery as Bret Ivers, wondering it their cover’s been blown in Cripple Creek (1952)
Robert Brice as James Sulivan, an assayer providing his input on the rich strike in Cripple Creek (1952)
Grandon Rhodes as Secret Service Chief Drummonds, giving Ivers instructions on his mission in Cripple Creek (1952)
George Cleveland as Hardrock Hanson telling daughter Julie (Karin Booth) about the gold ore he found dumped at his mine in Cripple Creek (1952)
John Dehner as Emil Cabeau in a dispute with Bret Ivers (George Montgomery) as Larry Gallad (Jerome Courtland) looks on in Cripple Creek (1952)
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