Alan Autry is Jake Kincaid, a former Civil War hero later sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
Now he’s out of prison and looking to get at least a share of the $100,000 gold he was accused of stealing.
He locates a man named Hobbs, who has half of a map showing where that gold was hidden.
Hobbs is supposed to meet a man named Jackson in the town of Fairplay on July 4 so they can combine their halves of the map and split the stolen gold.
So Kincaid heads for the town of Fairplay, though he lands there minus Hobbs and minus his horse thanks to an ambush by other members of the gang.
There, he finds a town tormented by a land-hungry businessman named Talbert and a town sheriff sometimes rendered helpless because of a bullet from an old wound that is still lodged in his body.
He also finds pretty Emma Wilson, desperately trying to hold onto her land and the store she runs in the face of threats from Talbert and his henchmen.
Ultimately, none of that is his problem, Kincaid decides.
Will the appearance of an old enemy named Quinn change his way of thinking?
A low-budget independent Western with religious overtones.
But it’s better than lots of low-budget Westerns released around the same time and those overtones never become too preachy.
What’s more likely to make you wince are the use of well-worn plot devices — like the map cut into two parts and the sheriff who tends to become incapacitated at the most inconvenient times.
Autry, making his directorial debut, turns in a decent performance in the lead role. That’s his wife playing Emma. Lauren Autry, daughter from his first marriage, also has a small role in the film.
Directed by:
Alan Autry
Cast:
Alan Autry … Jake Kincaid
David Hart … Bob Logan
Kimberlee Autry … Emma Wilson
Jim Tuck … Luther Hanks
Mark Fimbres … Griggs
Robert Gonzales … Bickford
Mary Ann Conner … Mary Ann
Michael Ginsburg … Hicks
Jon Olsen … Hobbs
Jeff Dashnaw … Crazy Kelly
Bill Patterson … Doc
Lauren Autry … Becky
Heath Gfeller … Sam
Ray Appleton … Josh Quinn
Dolores Golightly … Mrs. Waters
Roger Montero … Mayor Talbert
Runtime: 90 min.
aka:
The Legend of Jake Kincaid (2002)
Memorable lines:
Emma: “If Talbert gets the deed to my land, it’ll be over my dead body.”
Bob, the sheriff: “Emma, that’s why I’m tryin’ to prevent.”
Emma, repeating a line Kincaid fed her earlier: “Mister, I’ve made it a rule to never get myself tangled up in other people’s troubles. It just never seems to pay off.”
Sheriff Logan: “Why are you here Kincaid?”
Kincaid: “I gotta meet somebody.”
Logan: “Who?”
Kincaid: “Can’t tell you that.”
Logan: “Why not?”
Kincaid: “Oh, I don’t know, sheriff. I guess I just like being mysterious.”
Emma: “You’re not going to find the truth in gold.”
Kincaid: “Maybe not. But it can sure buy a lot of whiskey.”
Mrs. Waters, during the final shootout: “I never saw such a fuss over peanut brittle.”