Under the Tonto Rim

This is the first Tim Holt "B" western I've watched, & it was quite good. It had lots of action & was more "grown-up" than the Roy Rogers & Gene Autry movies. There was a silly sidekick (why Richard Martin was often cast as a Spanish speaking character, I'll never know; his phony accent is so far from accurate that it's distracting), but thankfully, no songs to slow down the action. The acting was solid all around, & even though the plot was not striking, it was well-done. Good fight scenes, good gunplay, & a tough seniorita (played by Carol Forman) made for a solid old fashioned western. I rate it 7/10.

Although three films with the title Under The Tonto Rim have been made, I'm not sure one or any of them bears resemblance to the Zane Grey novel with the same title. That being said, this film is a good Tim Holt B western and that's usually good enough for me.

Under The Tonto Rim finds Tim and Richard Martin as owners of a stagecoach line who get held up after they pick up Nan Leslie, hitchhiking across the desert. A good friend in young Jay Norris is killed and Holt and Martin are out for revenge, taking it upon themselves to bring in the notorious Tonto Rim gang responsible for this and other crimes too numerous to mention.

The plan they hatch for Tim to get into jail where one of the gang has been tried and convicted and is awaiting a hanging. Tim busts him out in the hopes he'll lead them to the gang and the mysterious leader.

Richard Martin as Chito Rafferty once again steals the picture. Martin has to pretend he's an Arizona Ranger in order to arrest Holt to get him in the jail. Of course it works so well that Martin is arrested for impersonating an Arizona Ranger and has some considerable stress about his own freedom and life itself.

Carol Forman as mistress to outlaw leader Tom Keene has a part of few words and much menace. You'll have to see Under The Tonto Rim to know what I'm talking about.

In fact I'd recommend seeing Under The Tonto Rim on general principles.

The Tonto Rim gang attack Brad's stagecoach, they take the strongbox and kill one of his workers. In order to nab the gang, Brad arranges to get jailed where a gang member is behind bars.

Top notch Tim Holt western that has the typical Zane Grey elements such as the hidden outlaw hideout and a fast-paced, pulsating story and a plot that is loaded with tension and enough gunplay to make a western diehard fan well happy. There's great landscapes and the Boulder strewn hideout. There's the usual humour from Chito; love the banter between him and Holt.

In the second of their post-War oaters, Tim Holt and sidekick Richard Martin have gone into the stagecoach business. But when one of his drivers gets killed by bandits a few days before he is to be married, Holt goes undercover to take down the gang of road pirates.

Holt's wartime service has certainly put signs of maturity into his face, and RKO was certainly restarting the series with a bang, having purchased the rights to Zane Grey stories for his first two movies back at the studio. The film doesn't go int much depth, but simply uses the plot and the usual cohort of B-western regulars and a fresh-faced actress in Nan Leslie to fill out the story. With Tom Keene, Carol Forman, Jason Robards Sr. And Lex Barker.

Tim Holt's postwar Westerns at RKO were as good as the genre gets. Fast pace, funny, action packed, well played by vet casts. Hissable villains, Richard Martin a hoot, Holt superb as hero and pal. I often went to the theatre just to see Mr. Holt's picture, no matter what the main feature was. Tim was so great in AMBERSONS and SIERRA MADRE, this musta been easy for him, but he never let it look easy. These little B Westerns were done with impeccable professionalism at all times, and the viewer reaped the rewards. DYNAMITE PASS is probably my favorite, but all of 'em were good. And only 61 mins long. Why, that's less time than Tom Hanks spent on the stupid island in that CAST AWAY picture. I give TONTO RIM 9 outta 10. For its milieu and genre, they don't get much better. Thanks, Tim.