A runaway stagecoach opens the story, so Don Cardigan (Tim Holt), Smokey (Ray Whitley), and Whopper (Lee 'Lasses White) interrupt their trip to Placer City momentarily to save Jenny Blanchard (Fern Emmett) from almost certain disaster. In these early Tim Holt Westerns, the cowboy star has an unusually uncanny resemblance to another contemporary, Roy Rogers. So much so that it made me wonder if they ever appeared in a picture together; they could have portrayed brothers without a problem.
Perennial baddie LeRoy Mason is the main villain in this outing. His character Reynolds is introduced in the story as the Marshal of Placer City, but Don Cardigan immediately knew he couldn't be - the Marshal was supposed to be Cardigan's brother! Well this points the good guys toward smoking out the heavies led by Reynolds who have been robbing gold from the local stagecoach runs. You know, when I saw those bulky, heavy bags that were supposed to contain all that gold dust, I couldn't imagine that the local miners could have come up with it all, but it looked good for the story.
This picture had something I hadn't seen before in a Western. With the good guys holed up in a cabin, the baddies set a wagon loaded with hay on fire and send it crashing into their cabin! Fortunately the locals were rounded up in time to lend a hand to put the outlaw gang away, as Don found brother Brad (Lane Chandler) safe and sound.
Tim Holt's sidekicks are put to good use in the story with Whopper providing the comic element and Smokey lending his voice to a few tunes along the way, including the title song about mid-way through. There's a scene right after the stagecoach save where Whopper literally lets Jenny's cat out of the bag, leading to a closing shot of Emma leading her brood of 'striped' kittens out of their home. Notwithstanding a cat's inability to mate with a skunk, it allows Whopper to close the picture exclaiming "Ain't nature grand!"
Perennial baddie LeRoy Mason is the main villain in this outing. His character Reynolds is introduced in the story as the Marshal of Placer City, but Don Cardigan immediately knew he couldn't be - the Marshal was supposed to be Cardigan's brother! Well this points the good guys toward smoking out the heavies led by Reynolds who have been robbing gold from the local stagecoach runs. You know, when I saw those bulky, heavy bags that were supposed to contain all that gold dust, I couldn't imagine that the local miners could have come up with it all, but it looked good for the story.
This picture had something I hadn't seen before in a Western. With the good guys holed up in a cabin, the baddies set a wagon loaded with hay on fire and send it crashing into their cabin! Fortunately the locals were rounded up in time to lend a hand to put the outlaw gang away, as Don found brother Brad (Lane Chandler) safe and sound.
Tim Holt's sidekicks are put to good use in the story with Whopper providing the comic element and Smokey lending his voice to a few tunes along the way, including the title song about mid-way through. There's a scene right after the stagecoach save where Whopper literally lets Jenny's cat out of the bag, leading to a closing shot of Emma leading her brood of 'striped' kittens out of their home. Notwithstanding a cat's inability to mate with a skunk, it allows Whopper to close the picture exclaiming "Ain't nature grand!"