The Nevadan (1950)

An outlaw named Tom Tanner (Forrest Tucker) is being taken to prison when he manages to escape at a stage station.

During his get-away, he shakes the posse, but encounters a tenderfoot named Andrew Barclay (Randolph Scott) who says he was lost.

They eventually wind up in the town of Twin Forks. Tanner plans to reclaim thousands in gold he stashed in the area two years earlier.

But others know about that gold, too, including businessman Edward Galt, who would like it for his own.

Meanwhile, Barclay meets and gets help from Galt’s pretty daughter Karen, who runs her father’s ranch while he runs the town.

She suspects Barclay’s not the tenderfoot he pretends to be. He hops on a spirited horse named Thunder and has no trouble riding him.

Eventually, Barclay tells her the truth. He’s an undercover marshal.

Tanner was allowed to escape because the authorities knew that, once free, he’d lead the way to the stolen loot.

Now it’s just a matter of whether Barclay can hold Tanner’s confidence long enough to recover the money, and keep it out of the hands of Edward Galt and the gunmen who work for him.

Randolph Scott as Andrew Barclay, befriending an outlaw to get to the bottom of the scheming in Twin Forks in The Nevadan (1950)

Forrest Tucker as bank robber Tom Tanner, denying that he knows Andrew Barclay in The Nevadan (1950)

Review:

Mediocre Randolph Scott Western that works best if you don’t think too much about the plot. Scott’s character starts romancing Karen Galt, though he knows her father is corrupt?

As for Edward Galt, he’s supposed to run the town and a ranch. Yet he’s desperate to get his hands on Tanner’s gold as well? And his two henchmen aren’t exactly the brightest hired guns you’ll find roaming the West.

Supposedly, Galt is obsessed with riches because the ex- wife who abandoned him and his daughter predicted he’d always be penniless.

The film does feature a nice final showdown between Tanner and Barclay, during a mine cave-in no less.

Dorothy Malone as Karen Galt, unaware of her father’s scheming and getting closer to Andrew Barclay in The Nevadan (1950)

George Macready as Edward Galt, working out a plan to get his hands on Tanner’s gold in The Nevadan (1950)

Directed by:
Gordon Douglas

Cast:
Randolph Scott … Andrew Barclay
Dorothy Malone … Karen Galt
Forrest Tucker … Tom Tanner
Frank Faylen … Jeff
George Macready … Edward Galt
Charles Kemper … Sheriff Merrick
Jeff Corey … Bart
Jock Mahoney … Sandy
as Jock O’Mahoney

Runtime: 82 min.

aka:
The Man from Nevada

Frank Faylen as Jeff, listening to Edward Galt’s plans for dealing with an unexpected problem in The Nevadan (1950)

Jeff Corey as Bart, one of Edward Galt’s henchmen, watching Barclay take a beating in The Nevadan (1950)

Memorable lines:

Edward Galt: “Throw in with us, and you could be one of the richest men in town.”
Andrew Barclay: “Or in the cemetery.”

Bart: “Mr. Galt, why did you let him (Barclay) go?”
Edward Galt: “You learn more by watching a polecat than by keeping him caged up.”

Edward Galt, to his partner Bill: “No one has a better right to be cynical than I have. Look at me and my wife. When she walked out on me, she said you’ll end up cleaning spittoons, your daughter working in a dance hall. Well, I showed the old hag. But am I bitter? Oh, no. Not at all.”
Bill: “You’ve never been able to forget her for a minute.”
Galt: “I don’t even remember what she looks like.”
Bill: “Of course not. You’re just a lovable character who worships gold.”

Andrew Barclay, when they come upon the gold: “We can work easier with our guns off.”
Tom Tanner: “I can work fine with my gun on.”

Jock Mahoney (aka Jock O’Mahoney) as Sandy, one of Galt’s henchmen in The Nevadan (1950)

Charles Kemper as Sheriff Dyke Merrick, a lawman who supplements his income by making false teeth in The Nevadan (1950)

Tom Powers as Bill Martin, Galt’s parner, more squeamish about violence and greed in The Nevadan (1950)

Olin Howland as Rusty and Loius Mason as Wilbur, Karen Galt’s ranch hands in The Nevadan (1950)

Dorothy Malone as Karen Galt, under duress from her father for helping Barclay in The Nevadan (1950)

Randolph Scott as Andrew Barclay and Forrest Tucker as Tom Tanner, watching for Galt and his men in The Nevadan (1950)