Stagecoach Kid (1949)

Directed by Lew Landers and written by Norman Houston this Tim Holt B Western also features his sidekick Richard Martin as Chito Jose Gonzalez Bustamante Rafferty; Holt plays Dave Collins.

Jeff Donnell plays the girl – Jessie Arnold who masquerades as a boy dubbed Jesse James during half of the picture to escape from her father Peter (Thurston Hall) in order to return to San Francisco to marry her boyfriend. The wealthy Mr. Arnold suspected that his daughter’s fiancé was only after her money and was taking her to his Rainbow Ranch for a cooling off period. Unbeknownst to Arnold his foreman Thatcher (Joe Sawyer) and henchman Parnell (Robert B. Williams) and Clint (Robert Bray) had been drinking all his whiskey smoking all his cigars and even selling off his cattle. They plot to kill the old man (and later his daughter) in order to cover up their wrongdoings.

Dave and Chito who own the stagecoach line based in Casco City Arizona get involved when Parnell and Clint hold up their coach for $20000 while trying to get Arnold. Later they come to the Arnolds rescue while the Sheriff (Kenneth MacDonald) and his posse is either heading in the wrong direction or is too late on the scene to do their jobs. Harry Harvey plays the coach’s station agent.

This is one of the weaker of the later Holt vehicles and it even ends with plans for his character to get hitched to a reformed Jessie (which is unusual) though Chito successfully escapes his gal Birdie’s (Carol Hughes) plans for a similar arrangement (which is typical).

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