Like many films made around this time, Frontier Pony Express takes a somewhat neutral stance on the Union/Confederate conflict. Though the main villain, Edward Keane's Senator Calhoun Lassiter, is working for the Confederacy, it is later revealed that he has his own agenda and wants to make California an independent republic with himself in control. Don Dillaway plays his ally Brett Langhorne, a loyal Confederate agent who is unaware of Lassiter's treachery but nonetheless uncomfortable with his morally ambiguous methods. Lynne Roberts, who appeared with Roy in many of his early pictures (billed as Mary Hart), plays Brett's sister Ann who is torn between her loyalty to her brother the the Confederacy and her feelings for Roy. Roy himself is similarly conflicted as he has fallen for Ann but doesn't trust her brother. In the end, Brett redeems himself when he is killed standing up to Lassiter, who tries to persuade the young patriot to go along with his schemes.
As usual, Joseph Kane keeps the film moving. There's plenty of action throughout including a really well done shootout when Luke Johnson and his gang (secretly working for Lassiter) rob the Express Office dressed as Confederate raiders. It also features a cracker-jack climax where the bad guys try to intercept an important gold shipment which Roy is carrying. Trigger saves the day by arriving in the nick-of-time to relieve Roger's tiring mount and even takes center stage when Roy dismounts to draw the gang away and Trigger is chased to the edge of a cliff and jumps down into the river below!
Roy and Lynne Roberts have good chemistry, even if their relationship in this film is a little more stormy then usual. On the other hand, Roy's lack of discretion in telling her about the important dispatches he is going to carry (a source of division after Johnson's gang tries to steal them) comes across as a bit contrived. Meanwhile Raymond Hatton doubles as Roy's partner and his comic relief in a somewhat tiresome subplot where he tries to escape the wrath of Ethel Wales's Mrs. Murphy, who he cheated out of an expensive broach. Don Dillaway does a decent job in a somewhat stiff role as the loyal-to-a-fault Brett Langhorne. The always intimidating Noble Johnson is perfectly cast as the unscrupulous outlaw leader Luke Johnson, who Lassiter enlists in his schemes despite Langhorne's protests. In many ways he overshadows Edward Keane's main villain.
Though uneven at times, Frontier Pony Express has more then enough outstanding qualities for me to recommend it.
Score: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment