Thomas Carr | Through the Shattered Lens

The Shamrock Kid (James Ellison), Lucky (Russell Hayden), and the Colonel (Raymond Hatton) ride into the town of Cattle Junction. They are on the trail of a group of outlaws who have been causing trouble but everyone in town mistakes them for being outlaws themselves. Feisty ranch owner Anne Hayden (Julie Adams, beautiful as always) even locks them in a basement to keep them from causing trouble! Far more serious, though, is Jim Morgan (Stephen Carr), who tries to hire the men to force the ranchers off of their property.

This is a typical homesteader vs ranchers film. The story behind the making of the film is more interesting than the film itself. It was one of six films that the director and the cast shot concurrently over the course of a handful of days. Each day, the cast and crew would set up at a different location and shoot scenes for all six films. The other interesting thing about this film is that Elllison and Hayden were better known for playing Hopalong Cassidy’s sidekicks than for being leading men. Like Fuzzy Knight (who appears in this film), Ellison and Hayden were born sidekicks. They were likeable but not particularly convincing as being tough lawmen.

This film has all of the familiar faces who usually appeared in these films, actor like Fuzzy Knight, George Cheseboro, Tom Tyler, and Bud Osborne. Fans of the B-western genre will be happy to see them but the overall film is memorable only for Julie Adams. I wonder if this movie was a hit in Colorado.

Heldorado, Arizona is a frontier town with a problem. The Tullivers, led by Mike (Tom Tyler), keep robbing the bank and running off anyone who agrees to be the town’s marshal.

The Colonel (Raymond Hatton) and the Mayor (Fuzzy Knight) are at their wits end until a bison hunter named Lucky (Russell Hayden) comes riding into town in search of work. They hire Lucky to be their new marshal, paying him $200 a week and allowing him three free drinks a day.

They also give Lucky a cabin to stay in but when Shamrock Ellison (James Ellison), a dandy from up north, rides into town on a donkey, Lucky decides to rent him the cabin. When Ellison arrives at the cabin, he finds two Tulliver brothers looking for the stolen money that they hid in the fireplace. The brothers try to shoot Ellison but accidentally end up shooting themselves instead.

When Ellison says that he wants to keep a low profile, Lucky takes credit for killing the two Tullivers. When Mike shows up looking for revenge, Lucky has a change of heart and gives all the credit for Ellison. Lucky makes Ellison his deputy but what he doesn’t know is that Ellison is actually a government agent who has been sent to Heldorado to clean the town up.

This B-western does a good job of mixing comedy with action. It was one of many films that Ellison and Hayden made together and Hayden’s bluster plays off well against Ellison’s more serious performance. Much of the humor comes from Ellison having to keep the other townspeople from realizing that he’s a crack shot who knows how ride a horse as well as anyone in town. As well, Fuzzy Knight has his moments as the always drinking mayor. The action scenes are well-choreographed and there’s even a suspenseful scene where Ellison gets a shave from a barber who is actually a relative of the Tullivers. As always, the beautiful Julia Adams is a welcome addition to the cast as the Colonel’s daughter, who falls for Ellison. For fans of the genre, there’s plenty of entertainment to be found in this brisk, 50-minute western.