The High Graders

Paladin's tailor gets murdered at his own gold mine, and his daughter is over her head dealing with the mine managers, Robert Wilke and Robert Steele. They may have killed her father, so they could steal the mine away.

Paladin comes to town to play a random drifter and work at the mine, so he can find out what is going on. He starts the episode by facing down Chris Alcaide. Then he starts working at the mine, and discovers that the managers are selling mining time at $25 per person, per day. The miners keep all the best ore, and turn in the worst ore, which is "company grade."

Paladin exposes the fraud, and has to take out Robert Steele in a gunfight. Then he still has to explain it to Susan Cabot, and she doesn't believe that Wilkes is a bad guy (apparently she never watched him on TV!!??).

Eventually Paladin saves the day, and Wilkes meets his maker. This episode has a good story. The conflict between Paladin and Cabot, because she has no trust in him, is good drama.

As a gesture of respect, Paladin goes undercover to find out why an operating gold mine is going broke. Producers of this early episode were wise to hire a bunch of extras and outfit Bronson Canyon cave (beloved by 50's sci-fi fans) with the trappings of a working mine, all of which lend an air of authenticity. It's an average episode but with an unusual theme—miners stealing precious ore from their employer ("high-grading"). As reviewer zsenorsock notes, it's good to see bantam-weight Bob Steele pick up a payday, and prove again that you don't have to be big to be a convincing tough guy. He and Boone play off one another well. All in all, it's a well-produced half-hour, with the ore car rattling down the rails at episode's end.

Actually my real reason for commenting is personal. Growing up in an historic Colorado mining town (Cripple Creek), I heard tales of high-grading during boom times, and how high-graders could easily disappear, supposedly to the bottom of one of the thousand-foot or more mine shafts that dotted the area. So, the theme of this HGWT deals with a very real problem with the old-style pick-and-shovel gold mines, and is the only Western I know to do so.