From the director of HOUSE OF WAX (André De Toth) comes this solid little Randolph Scott western about a roughneck engineer, with a reputation for being attracted to difficult jobs which require nerves of steel, who returns to his hometown of Carson City to build a railroad through tough, mountainous territory, encountering trouble out of AJ Davis (screen veteran Raymond Massey)and his gang of stagecoach thieves known as the "Champagne Bandits" in the papers. When Davis' partner-in-crime, Squires (James Millican) kills a stagecoach driver in the middle of a delivery of parts for an automatic drill which will help the railroad crew, in what was supposed to be a tactic to halt supplies which would help the construction project get done faster, complications ensue for Kincaid (Scott). Other subplots emerge such as Kincaid and his brother Alan's both being in love with the same woman (Lucille Norman's Susan), the murder of the local newspaper owner, Zeke (Don Beddoe), an avalanche caused by Davis' men which traps Kincaid and some of his men in a tunnel, and the attempted robbery of the new train at the conclusion of the film.
Scott inhabits his hero with the right amount of charm, charisma, integrity, toughness, and playfulness, but when tested (such as a barroom brawl with a railroad worker or Squires calling him out in a duel), his Kincaid will not tolerate foolishness from those who press him. Massey is up to the task as the treacherous heel who will shoot you in the back, and not bat an eyelash, when his charade is in danger. Beautiful California locations enhanced by "Warnercolor" and plenty of the identifiable traits we come to know and love in regards to our B-westerns.
Scott inhabits his hero with the right amount of charm, charisma, integrity, toughness, and playfulness, but when tested (such as a barroom brawl with a railroad worker or Squires calling him out in a duel), his Kincaid will not tolerate foolishness from those who press him. Massey is up to the task as the treacherous heel who will shoot you in the back, and not bat an eyelash, when his charade is in danger. Beautiful California locations enhanced by "Warnercolor" and plenty of the identifiable traits we come to know and love in regards to our B-westerns.