Pistol Harvest (1951)

Directed by Lesley Selander and written by Norman Houston this B movie Tim Holt Western also includes his regular sidekick Chito (Richard Martin); for once audiences are spared the usual recitation of (the rest of) his unusual Mexican Irish name and it isn’t until the very last scene that his lady’s man predilection is exhibited.

As the story opens two children – Johnny (Harper Carter) and Felice (Joan Freeman) – are wandering alone in the desert. When Felice is unable to walk any farther after two days of searching (for their parents?) Johnny leaves her under a Joshua tree to go and find help. Felice lays down and though the wind has partially covered her with sand she is found by Terry Moran (Guy Edward Hearn). Fifteen years later Felice (Joan Dixon) is counting the candles on a cake she’s made to celebrate her years of living as Moran’s foster daughter when Prouty (William Griffith) the clerk of banker Elias Norton (Mauritz Hugo) comes to call. Moran and Prouty discuss a cattle transaction which grossed $30000 for the rancher and Terry tells the clerk that he’ll be needing the money in cash.

After Prouty leaves Felice takes lunch to Tim who works on the ranch and hopes to have some alone time with her fiancé. However shortly after she arrives Chito shows up with a bloody nose that he’d received from some would-be rustlers. Tim goes to investigate and he catches Jack Green (Robert Clarke) and Andy Baylor (Robert Wilke) on the property. When the two explain that they were hungry and looking for work Tim gives them a few dollars and points them towards port town where he says Norton might have a job for them. He does the greedy banker wants to have the $30000 that Moran has in order to buy some stranded freight at a bargain price. So Norton hires Jack and Andy to holdup Tim and Chito while transporting their transporting the cash; after they fail the banker and his clerk go to Moran’s ranch where Norton kills the rancher for his money.

Tim figures that the same strangers that tried to steal the money and the cattle are responsible for Moran’s murder so he and Chito set out after them. They catch Jack but Andy escapes; he later frees his friend and partner. Before Tim sets out after them again Felice discovers a pendant which Jack left – inscribed Johnny – that matches her own. Convinced he’s her long lost brother she convinces Tim that Jack may be innocent. When Tim catches up with Jack he learns that it was the banker that hired them to steal the money; he and Tito go to town to find Norton. They discover a fire in the back room of Norton’s building and find Andy dead among the stores. A townsman says he saw Norton “go that-away” and the chase is on. As an “innocent” accessory Prouty bails out of the wagon when he sees Tim and Chito in pursuit but of course the good guys catch the bad guy too.