Stage to Tucson (1951)

Rod Cameron is Grif Holbrook, a man who helped create the Butterfield stage line connecting St. Louis to California.

Now he’s being called upon to save it.

Seems someone has been stealing Butterfield stages and smuggling them back East to Atlanta. The trouble is occurring in the area between Apache Pass and Tucson.

The owners of the stageline think it’s an attempt to break down the Union’s lines of communication, with the Civil War about to be declared.

Holbrook arrives in Tucson with the job of finding out who’s behind the mischief. He forms an uneasy alliance with co-worker Barney Broderick (Wayne Morris) — uneasy because both have their eyes on a pretty young bookkeeper named Kay Buckley (Kate Crocker).

They soon discover the bandits stealing stages are using an armored stagecoach to do so, and they almost immediately suspect Jim Maroon, owner of a competing freight line.

But he can’t be stealing stages on his own, and suspecting him is different from proving he’s the guilty party.

Rod Cameron as Grif Holbrook, the man investigating the theft of Butterfield stages in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Wayne Morris as Barney Broderick, the young Butterfield employee, lying to Jim Maroon about switching sides in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Review:

A film that benefits greatly from the love triangle between the characters played by Cameron, Morris and Buckley. Cameron and Morris bristle every time the topic comes up.

And one of the film’s highlights is the fight that follows their first meeting. Morris, you see, has caught Cameron kissing his girl; Buckley desperately tries to stop the brawl that follows.

Eventually, a fourth party enters the picture — saloon owner Annie Benson (Sally Eilers). She was once Holbrook’s girl, but she abandoned him with narry a word; he never got the note that explained why.

Ah, but there’s silliness too. Barney Broderick wears flowers in his cowboy hat, and they help tip off Holbrook to his whereabouts at a key point in the film. And a henchman named Gus just knows Maroon’s escape is going to go badly because he’s driving a wagon without Billy, his pet dog, by his side. Maroon shot the dog when it attacked him.

Neither of our female leads were household names for Western fans. Buckley made just seven films; Eilers had been acting since 1929. She was married four times, including to Western star Hoot Gibson and producer Harry Joe Brown in his pre-Randolph Scott Western production days.

Kay Buckley as Kate Crocker, reacting to a fistfight between Grif Holbrook and Barney Broderick in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Sally Eilers as Annie Benson, an old fame of Grif Holbrook, with Dr. Noah Banteen (Carl Benton Reid), a southern sympathizer in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Directed by:
Ralph Murphy

Cast:
Rod Cameron … Grif Holbrook
Wayne Morris … Barney Broderick
Kay Buckley … Kate Crocker
Sally Eilers … Annie Benson
Carl Benton Reid … Dr. Banteen
Roy Roberts … Jim Maroon
John Pickard … Sam Granger
Reed Howes … Eddie
James Kirkwood … Sheriff Pete Deuce
James Griffith … Abraham Lincoln
Douglas Fowley … Ira Prentiss
Harry Bellaver … Gus Heyden

Runtime: 81 min.

Roy Roberts as Jim Maroon, the man behind the theft of Butterfield stagecoaches in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Harry Bellaver as Guy Heyden, right-hand man for Jim Maroon in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Memorable lines:

Griff Holbrook: “I’ve seen all the wagons and dust, fightin and floods — to say nothing of Apache — that I ever want to see. I’m quitting while I’m still ahead.”
John Butterfield: “Man, you’ve got more good years ahead of you.”
Holbrook: “And I’m saving them for Griff Holbrook. I’m going to California, buy a ranch and sit in the sun for the rest of my life. I might even get a red-headed wife if I’m lucky.”

Grif Holbrook: “I was born with one foot in the north and one foot in the south. That don’t mean I can’t tell a rattlesnake, whichever side he’s on.”

Kate Crocker, after Holbrook tries, but doesn’t have the heart to fire Kate and offers her a book-keeping job in Tucson instead. “I sure do appreciate Mr. Butterfield giving me this job. I just hope he won’t be too surprised when he finds out you hired me. ”
Holbrook, after Kate kisses him on the cheek: “Now there’s my idea of a spunky woman.”

John Pickard as Sam Granger, a stage driver badly wounded trying to steal a stage in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Rod Cameron as Grif Holbrook, trying to chase off men intent on stealing a stagecoach in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Kate Crocker, trying to break up a fight between Griff Holbrook and Barney Broderick that started when Barney saw Griff kissing Kate: “Kill each other over a silly thing like a woman!”

Grif Holbrook: “Barney my boy, I’ve got some news for you. Two years from today, I’m marrying Kate Crocker.”
Barney Broderick: “Did you say marrying? Or adopting?”

Townsman: “I’m not doing any more drilling ’til my wife decides what side I’m on.”

Carl Benton Reid as Dr. Noah Banteen and Roy Roberts as Jim Maroon, trying to disrupt the Union’s lines of communication in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Charles Evans as John Butterfield, talking Grif Holbrook into doing one more job for the stage line in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Kay Buckley as Kate Crocker and Sally Eilers as Annie Benson find something to cheer about in Stage to Tucson (1950)

Wayne Morris as Barney Broderick and Rod Cameron as Grif Holbrook, standing tall together in Stage to Tucson (1950)