La staffetta della morte

A mostly routine Western about the Texas Rangers, "The Pinto Bandit" is mostly worth watching for one fast-paced action sequence. The story itself is mildly interesting. Someone is using violence to interfere with a mail line, and the Rangers have only two clues - a Pinto horse and a bullet size. Most of the characters are not very interesting, although the story itself brings a couple of mild surprises. The best part comes when there is a big race to settle some of the issues involved with the mail line - the race ties together the rest of the plot, and has a couple of exciting moments. Except for that, the movie is not particularly memorable.

Director Elmer Clifton had already been around movies for more than 35 years when he directed this, and his experience shows.

One sign of a good director is believable interplay between and among players. And there is plenty of good interplay and byplay here.

Naturally, since this is a Western, there is a saloon brawl. Well, watch the bartender.

Jim Newill is known as a singing cowboy, but there are two other guitar players in this film. Keep your eyes open.

Dave "Tex" O'Brien is one of my favorite actors. I was in his office once, unfortunately a few years after his death, but his fellow writers still missed him.

O'Brien was not only a great cowboy -- and, to me, a great cowboy really is at the top of his profession and doesn't need to do or be anything else -- but he was a singer and dancer and, at the end of his life, a top-rated writer.

Guy Wilkerson, who was busy for more than 30 years in movies, played the more-or-less funny sidekick, but his Panhandle Perkins was more than a tag-along. He was an integral part of the team.

There is another set of characters, played by everybody's favorite, Charles King, as well as Bob Kortman, a holdover from silent days, and Budd Buster. They are just great!

Finally, a word about the music: Lee Zahler is the music director. I don't know how much of the score is original, but he deserves credit for the movie's sound. He too was very busy over a long period of years.

My copy of "The Pinto Bandit" is in a set in the Great American Western series, Volume 35 of "over 30 volumes." Obviously someone is not keeping up with their own work. This print is too many generations along, but the movie is of enough quality one can overlook, or should overlook, the picture quality.

Remember the context, admire the high caliber of performer, and you'll agree with my rating, or you might even rate it higher.

PRC's Texas Ranger trio of Jim Newill, Dave O'Brien, and Guy Wilkerson are on an assignment to bring in a bandit who rides a pinto horse like Little Joe Cartwright and who's been plaguing a certain stagecoach line with robberies. So much so that some ruthless people are planning to take the mail contract over. They have to win a relay race in order to do it. A race set up like the old Pony Express did it.

The bandit also has another signature that the Rangers recognize, he uses a special 41 caliber bullet which requires a special gun as well. Find the gun, find the pinto, find the bandit. But it isn't as easy as all that as our Texas Rangers discover.

Nicely done western and a bit more plot than you find in B westerns or PRC films in general.