Wells Fargo has been hit with a string of robberies, and they've assigned Jim Hardie to ride shotgun on a stage with a $20,000 payroll before it goes missing as well. However, during his trip to Globe, Arizona a smooth talking thief with a pencil-thin mustache, Quirt Johnson, takes Hardie prisoner and steals his identification, with an intent to impersonate Hardie and abscond with the payroll. His mistake? Leaving Jim Hardie alive. Hardie manages to escape, but Johnson and his men have a big head start.
Johnson arrives at the Wells Fargo office and is greeted by Wells Fargo employee Pat Denton, who refers to him warmly as Jim Hardie. She's in on the heist, and since the agent is a new employee that has never met Hardie he's none the wiser. Claiming he wants to check the payroll, Johnson watches closely over the agent's shoulder as he unlocks the safe and manages to glean the combination. All that's needed now is a fake fainting spell from Denton to send the agent to bring a doctor, and Johnson has the safe open. But Hardie has made it to town, and he has to convince the sheriff and townspeople that he's the actual Jim Hardie.
It was interesting to watch Hardie struggle to convince the sheriff who he was. The episode wraps quickly and conveniently, with a bit of action and intrigue.
The focus of the episode isn't really Quirt Johnson and the robbery, but rather Pat Denton as I see it. Although she's an attractive woman, she's evil to the core. ToWF did include a few episodes that were related to female outlaws such as Belle Star and this is one, although the character of Pat Denton was not an historical figure. Watching episode I was trying to discern if she was the leader of the gang or not, as she was willful, headstrong and extremely devious. She was definitely on equal footing with Johnson.
Phyllis Coates appears as Pat Denton, and is best known for the role of Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves. She also appeared with George O'Hanlon in the "Joe McDoakes" movie shorts, which is considered the first sitcom. Kent Taylor appeared as Quirt Johnson, and had been somewhat of a leading man in decades past, appearing in pre-code dramas, noir and a lot more. He was doing a lot of westerns at the time, and was about to move into B pictures that included horror and exploitation. The remainder of the cast had a lot of appearances but are basically unknown today.
Not a great episode, but worth a watch for Phyllis Coates' performance, which was played to the hilt.
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