Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Forrest Tucker is Frank Townsend, a cavalry captain heading West with his fiancée aboard a stagecoach. When the stage reaches a way station, Mexican bandit Lorenzo Gracia is waiting.

He wants the gold shipment he thinks is aboard the coach. As it turns out, it isn’t. The gold is being delivered to the way station for transportation by stagecoach from there.

So the Gracia and his band of bandits hold Townsend, his fiancée Ann, stage driver Tim O’Connors, Judge Farrell, lovely Barbara Duval and a young fast gun named Ralph Slader hostage while they await the arrival of the gold.

Townsend quickly realizes what the other passengers don’t; that unless they find some way to escape, they’ll all be killed, because Garcia won’t want any witnesses to robbing a government gold shipment.

Forrest Tucker as Frank Townsend with fiancée Ann Stewart (Leslie Banning), both held hostage by bandits in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. as Lorenzo Gracia, a bandit whose plans to steal a gold shipment don’t go exactly as planned in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Review:

Not bad little B Western that provides an interesting twist to the main plot. You see, some of these stage passengers have a sordid past, and flashbacks fill us in on their backgrounds while they’re being held hostage.

Those passengers include pretty Barbara Duval, who tried to charm a young gunman into killing her husband so she could make off with the husband’s fortune; and Slader, whose reputation with a gun started when he ambushed a town marshal.

Director William F. Claxton later became a director of TV shows, including more than 50 episodes of Bonanza and 68 episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

Mari Blanchard as Barbara Duval, a woman with a secret in her recent past in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Wallace Ford as Judge Lester Farrell, trying to summon his courage for a showdown with bandits in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Directed by:
William F. Claxton

Cast:
Forrest Tucker … Frank Townsend
Mari Blanchard … Barbara Duval
Wallace Ford … Judge Lester Farrell
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. … Lorenzo Gracia
Paul Fix … Tim O’Connors
Leslie Banning … Ann Stewart
Rico Alaniz … Miquel Torres
Wright King … Ralph Slader
Margia Dean … Ruth
Ian MacDonald … Sheriff Ross
William Phillips … Harold
Ellen Corby … Sarah Farrell
Alex Montoya … Oro
Rayford Barnes … Rick

Runtime: 75 min.

Wright King as Ralph Slader, a young man eager to build his reputation as a fast gun in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Paul Fix as Tim O’Connors, stage driver, being questioned by Lorenzo Gracia about the location of the gold shipment in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Memorable lines:

Miguel to Townsend: “You have a brave heart, gringo. I’ll cut it out for you.”

Gracia, speaking about Barbara Duval: “The eyes, they are the windows of the soul. And these are such dirty windows. There’s much evil hidden behind them.”

Rico Alaniz (left) as Miquel Torres, frightening Judge Farrell (Wallace Ford) while bandit leader Lorenzo Gracia (Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.) looks on in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Rayford Barnes as Rick, the young man Barbara Duval manipulates with her womanly charms in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Ellen Corby as Sarah Farrell, realizing she’ll be relocating again because of her husbands cowardice in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Margia Dean as Ruth, trying to convince young Ralph Slader to forget a grudge with a sheriff so they can live a happy life together in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Mari Blanchard as Barbara Duval, worried bandit Lorenzo Gracia is going to want her little box in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)

Forrest Tucker as Frank Townsend, protecting fiancée Ann Stewart (Leslie Banning) under the threats of Lorenzo Gracia (Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.) in Stagecoach to Fury (1956)