Overland Telegraph (1951)

Directed by Lesley Selander with a screenplay by Adele S. Buffington from a story by Carroll Young this B movie Tim Holt Western also includes his regular sidekick Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamante Rafferty (Richard Martin). Chito is always on the lookout for beautiful women to flirt with and he resents Tim for wanting to find work all the time. An added stereotype in this one involves female lead Gail Davis who plays redheaded Irishwoman Terry Muldoon; she’s hotheaded to the point of being unreasonable when her family’s business – Cliff Clark appears briefly as her father – is threatened. Hugh Beaumont (TV’s future father on Leave it to Beaver) plays the villain Brad Roberts and Robert Wilke plays his typical role as one of the henchmen; Fred Graham is another. The plot includes a couple about to be married Mari Blanchard as Stella and George Nader as Paul Manning. Russell Hicks plays cavalry Colonel Martin.

Now that the telegraph is about to be completed near Mesa City the cavalry is no longer needed in the region so they’re pulling out. This is bad news for Paul Manning who’s just borrowed and bought more inventory to resupply Col. Martin and his men. Tim and Chito wander into the area looking for work when they stop to help Terry Muldoon down from a telegraph pole; she and her father are responsible for installing the communication link. She points the men toward town where they mind find work but soon Tim and Chito are helping to run off the bandits that have just blown up the Muldoon’s supplies. Since Manning stands to profit by the army staying put Terry is convinced that he is responsible for the sabotage and she hires Tim and Chito for protection. They’re sent to meet her father’s coach since he’s carry the payroll.

Meanwhile Manning thanks his best friend Brad Roberts for the idea and the henchmen that blew up the Muldoon’s telegraph wire etc.. But Manning doesn’t know that Roberts wishes he was engaged to Stella instead and that his best friend is willing to frame him for robbery and murder in order to get her. Roberts sends his henchmen to steal the Muldoon payroll from the stagecoach; in the process they kill Terry’s dad and steal Stella’s purse. Of course Terry is certain that Manning is guilty and Tim is convinced enough to recommend that Manning be held in the town jail until the sheriff returns. However Terry wants to kill Manning herself now and when Tim stops her she rides off to get a posse of Muldoon employees to lynch him. So Tim decides to move Manning to a nearby town where Stella will meet them hoping they can get married there. But Wilke’s character overhears the plan and goes to tell Roberts.

Tim is smart enough to realize that transporting Manning will be dangerous and he and Chito are able to keep Roberts’ henchmen from killing their prisoner though Manning is wounded. Graham’s character is also wounded and he hears Manning tell Tim that a safe place to hide out would be Roberts’ ranch. Now it’s really just a race against time. Eventually all the concerned parties end up in a shootout at the ranch with Chito bringing Terry and her hanging posse cavalry-like to save Tim and Manning from Roberts and his henchmen.

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