Thunder Mountain

Holt did his best work after his wartime service and Thunder Mountain is proof of that. Richard Martin as Holt's sidekick Chito Rafferty spills the beans that Holt is coming back and has to make haste to keep him out of harm's way. Trimble Carson (Harry Woods) and Johnny Blue (Richard Powers) have reason to drive Holt out of town. They get help from the unscrupulous Sheriff Hadley (Harry Harvey). Leading lady Martha Hyer and her brothers Chick (Steve Brodie) and Lee (Robert Clarke) have a long standing feud with Holt and his family. Virginia Owen is wonderful as the dance hall girl who helps the alcoholic lawyer played by Jason Robards Sr. Things reach a head at Knife Canyon with some lead throwing from Thunder Point. This is an excellent supporting cast and look for a great two-handed Holt shoot-out.

Though he did fine work in major films by Welles and Huston, Tim Holt's true calling was in the Western. His RKO series, interrupted by World War II, extended to 1952, proving his lasting appeal and his many capabilities. THUNDER MOUNTAIN is fairly typical, though the format would still be upgraded through the next few years. Tim's ranch is up for auction, though he has the payment; crooked Sheriff Harry Harvey won't take it. Main bad guy Harry Carson (always great, bushy mustache and all) wants the ranch for its railroad right of way. The Hayden-Jorch feud's still raging, so Carson kills Steve Brodie a member of the Jorch clan, and frames Holt (a Hayden) into it. Tim breaks jail, a top notch gun battle ensues. Carson's captured, and Tim's got Martha Hyer. All this takes place in an excitingly paced 59 minutes, 16 less than Tom Hanks spent on that damn island in CAST AWAY last year, talkin' to a volleyball or something. The oldies are best, and when Tim Holt's in 'em, they're better than that. He gave me a lot of entertaining days at the movies when I was a kid; and as a 63 year old kid, he still does so, in late nite TV viewings on the W

After making his post World War II debut as part of the cast of My Darling Clementine, Tim Holt resumed his career as a B picture cowboy hero with Thunder Mountain. If anything Holt's post war westerns were a notch or two better than the ones he did before the war.

In Thunder Mountain Holt is the son of a deceased rancher who has come home to his ranch which has gone to wrack and ruin and he's owing a lot of back taxes to crooked sheriff Harry Harvey. In addition Martha Hyer and her two brothers Steve Brodie and Robert Clarke are quite willing to keep an old family feud going with the two families. But of course Martha kind of likes what she sees in Tim.

Two others in league with Harvey are Harry Woods and Tom Keene looking to do anything to acquire the Holt ranch because of some insider information they've got. It all makes for a typically no frills, but really good Tim Holt western.

Thunder Mountain also has Richard Martin playing his usual character of Chito Rafferty. The Chito character had teamed with other cowboy heroes previously, but would now be joined with Holt for the balance of his career as cowboy hero. Martin was one of the best sidekicks ever created for the western and unusual because he was allowed quite the libido. In a lot of their future films, Tim was always about the business at hand while Chito never let that cramp his style with the women. It made their pairing a bit unusual, but always fun and something to look forward to.

Thunder Mountain is a film that will make you appreciate what a Tim Holt western was all about.

Tim Holt returns to Arizona to take up the family ranch. There are some problems. Not only is the ranch to be sold for back taxes in a week, and no money, but there's the long-running feud between next-ranch-over owner Martha Hyer and her brothers, Steve Brodie and Robert Clarke. Holt starts to mend fences, but there are other people who don't want him to take over the ranch. No one but a select few know that a water company is about to build a dam, which will make the ranch the most valuable property in the territory.

Holt returned from the War with a role in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, then it was back to RKO and his well-produced series of western B movies, with Richard Martin as his sidekick. RKO celebrated by buying the rights to a couple of Zane Grey westerns from Paramount. This one just uses the title. Still, it's a typically well-produced movie, with good roles for Jason Robards Sr. As a lawyer, and Virginia Owen as a brassy saloon girl on the right side of the story. With Tom Keene, Dick Elliott, and Snub Pollard -- if you can spot him.

Marvin Hayden returns to find his ranch is about to be sold at auction and the Hayden Jorth feud still going strong. Carson wants the Hayden ranch and tries to kill Hayden. When he fails he kills Chick Jorth with a rock. As Hayden does not carry a gun and the two had argued earlier, Hayden is arrested for the murder. With Hayden in jail, his friends Chito, Ginger, and his Lawyer Gardner now go to work to find the murderer.

This is a solid Tim Holt western based on Zane Grey books, and it progresses into a gripping drama with some great scenery, character confrontations and a pace that fires from all cylinders. The film ends with a tough shootout in a saloon and a great stunt fall from a balcony.