Lorna Gray (aka Adrian Booth) is Kate Foley, who’s about to marry outlaw Jim Plummer (Forrest Tucker) in spite of her mother’s warnings that he doesn’t have enough money stashed away. Along comes Ed Begley with an idea about how to get money — lots of money.
Seems former gang member Frank Plummer (Bill Elliott), Jim’s brother, has relocated to Nevada where he watches over large train shipments of gold. Begley figures he, Kate and saloon owner Winnie McPhail should be able to cook up a plan to steal one of those shipments, with Frank’s help of course.
Naturally, Jim learns of the plan and takes his gang West, too, intent on robbing one of those trains. Everyone involved soon finds out the truth about Frank: He’s gone good for good and has no intention of betraying the company for which he works.
That really doesn’t matter to Jim, who hatches a plan to rob the train anyway and re-stake his claim to Kate. Except she’s having second thoughts about their plot. In the process of romancing Frank in an attempt to convince him to steal the money, she’s fallen in love with him.
Review:
The opening seems oh, so contrived: On her wedding day, a bride up and leaves to travel across the country to take part in a train robbery?
Fortunately, the film gets better from that point on, with Tucker turning in a particularly spirited performance as leader of the Plummer gang.
Most of the film focuses on the cleverly planned holdup, with the train diverted onto an old unused spur so that it can be hidden in a tunnel while the bandits unload the gold.
Andy Devine also has a key role as Casey Brown, a railroad supervisor who knows about Frank Plummer’s outlaw past and stands by him even when all the evidence seems to indicate he has helped plan that holdup.
Directed by:
Joseph Kane
Cast:
Bill Elliott … Frank Plummer
Lorna Gray … Kate Foley
as Adrian Booth
Forrest Tucker … Jim Plummer
Andy Devine … Casey Brown
Jack Holt … Mort Pemberton
Minna Gombell … Winnie McPhail
Grant Withers … Ed Bagley
Virginia Brissac … Kate’s mother
Louis Faust … Hank Morse
Stanley Andrews … Jeff Baldwin
Martin Garralga … Patrick Moreno
Runtime: 78 min.
Memorable lines:
Ma Foley to Kate: “Go ahead and marry him (Jim Plummer) if you wanna. But if you do, you’ll sip sour with a spoon, I promise ya.”
Winnie McPhail to Jim Plummer: “Jim, you could steal the eyes out of a fox and the critter wouldn’t know the difference.”
Casey Brown, to a railroad man who suspects Frank Plummer of being involved in the holdup: “Pemberton, you see this pipe. Well I love the darned old thing and have for 20 years. It’s been a wife, and kids and a dog to me. But, by Henry, I ain’t smoking it again til I hear you tell Frank you accused him of something he ain’t guilty of.”
Casey Brown: “It’s like I always say, ‘There’s two sides to every pancake.'”
Jim Plummer: “Come along, Kate.” After her questioning glare. “Baby, come along with me.”
Kate: “What’s on your mind?”
Jim: “I’ve gotta tie you up. Can’t afford to let my future wife get away from me again.”
){kind=link}