Riders of the Range

Pretty good Holt-Martin oater. The boys are out to rescue ranchers White and Clarke from the clutches of bad guys Tyler and Hadley, that is, as long as they don't get arrested for murder first. This is a studio production (RKO), which means better resources than for most matinée Westerns. This shows up in the casting and locations. Hadley and Tyler make better bad guys than usual, though the rail-thin Tyler appears affected by the rheumatoid arthritis that troubled his later career. Also, easy-on-the-eyes White makes a good, gritty ranch boss, while the piney Big Bear locations east of LA provide welcome contrast to the familiar LA scrublands. Nothing special here, just solid Saturday afternoon entertainment, with some non-buffoonish humor smoothly added to the mix.

Tim Holt and Tom Tyler both veterans of the John Ford classic Stagecoach return and reunite in this quality Tim Holt western Riders Of The Range. The film finds Tim and Richard Martin as a couple itinerant cowboys who help lady in distress Jacqueline White and her brother Robert Clarke who are ranch owners.

If it ain't rustlers it's gamblers as saloon owner Reed Hadley starts accumulating IOUs from Willis who has a gambling problem. When he can't pay Hadley conceives of a nice scheme whereby Willis just turns over the cattle to Hadley for his IOUs with Tom Tyler doing the rustling. But for the unexpected presence of Tim and Chito it might have worked.

Hadley and Tyler aren't exactly bosom buddies and the alliance between gamblers and rustlers is an uneasy one.

Somebody at RKO was having an inside joke during this film because Tyler plays the Ringo Kid. And as any classic movie fan knows, the Ringo Kid was John Wayne's character in Stagecoach and he shot it out with Tom Tyler. And Holt who had the small role of the army lieutenant in Stagecoach has a showdown with the Ringo Kid at the climax of Riders Of The Range.

A nicely constructed Tim Holt B western with a little inside joke for the devoted fan.

Out-of-work cowboys Kansas Jones and Chito Rafferty are offered jobs at pretty Dusty Willis' ranch after saving her from a beating by saloon owner Clint Burrows. Dusty's good-hearted but weak-willed brother Harry, adding to his $3000 gambling debt to Willis, reluctantly agrees to pay it off by allowing the Ringo Kid, Burrows' vicious hired gun, to rustle cattle from his sister's ranch. Kansas intervenes, deters the rustlers and persuades Harry to confess his involvement to Dusty. Kansas, sent into town by Dusty to pay off Harry's debts, suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of the law, wrongly accused of murder and must rely on Dusty's belief in his innocence for his salvation.

Riders of the Range featuring Tim Holt and Chito moves at a clip, has a strong plot, though a little complicated, and is well mounted - well, most Tim Holt westerns are. The finale is quite exciting with Holt facing Ringo.

Though I've been a fan of Tim Holt since my childhood, I admit to feeling his series is generally blah.

Not this entry, "Riders of the Range"!

Everything about this is good to great.

Start with the screenplay by prolific veteran Norman Houston, who has more than 80 writing credits. His story is nothing special among Westerns (but that's OK, since just being a Western is good enough for me), but his dialogue here is.

Director Lesley Selander is another veteran, ultimately having nearly 150 credits, including TV. Here, he out-did himself. His camera angles and, for that matter, his control of his excellent cast show the work of a genuine master.

And that cast: Wow. As good an actor as Tim Holt often was, with the right script and right director, he also out-did himself in "Riders of the Range."

His character's partner, Chito, played as always by Richard Martin, was an important part of this story, and was not so silly as in other entries. Martin was really a very good actor and it's a shame he seems not to have had a chance to prove his ability in many other roles.

Someone new to me is the leading lady, Jacqueline White, an actual native of Beverly Hills, and who is still among us, having retired shortly after this film when she got married. Rather late in her life, she has begun attending film festivals. I would attend one just to meet her. In "Riders" she shows -- at least to me -- that she could have starred in her own Western series. She is lovely just to look at, and she handles the riding and action beautifully. In any scene, watch her face and body gestures. Wonderful!

One of my favorite actors, and a very busy voice actor, having dubbed no telling how many Italian and other foreign movies and narrated many more, the elegant Reed Hadley plays the leader of the bad guys. He was such a talent, and could play any type of role, from comedy to drama ("Racket Squad" and "Public Defender") to Westerns ("Zorro's Fighting Legion"). And he was, naturally, with that voice, a radio star ("Red Ryder").

Another of the all-time greats, Tom Tyler, gave a magnificent performance as another villain. Watch his face. Maybe he was best known as an action star, but see him here and you know he was an actor!

After several years of mostly uncredited work, Robert Clarke showed he was being wasted and was entirely capable of starring roles. For whatever reason, despite this excellent performance as a cowboy, afterward he played mostly in monster movies.

In addition, there are several excellent "withs" -- mostly uncredited -- filling out the cast and playing very necessary parts, essential parts.

"Kansas Jones," played by Tim Holt, is a much grittier and even more violent character than Holt's usual. He is a character well worth watching, and he was played by Holt in at least one more movie.

Tim Holt usually played a character named "Tim Holt," which strikes me as too bad, because the real Tim Holt could have played a lot more characters, if only he'd been given the opportunity.

Alas, he died awfully young, but we can be thankful we have that celluloid memory, including at YouTube, where an excellent print of "The Riders of the Range" can be found. And I hope you look for it. I highly recommend this movie.