Cyclone on Horseback

Bright little Saturday afternoon oater, one of several dozens starring Tim Holt for RKO in the 1940s. If the script is, in the main, average, there are several surprising turns in the plot and occasional flashes of wit; the photography is excellent, and the cast is uniformly excellent, with the sole exception of Tim Holt, who seems a little stiff and dazed. That may have been an acting choice he made, given the script, and it makes sense but is an unfortunate choice. Still, the movie is well worth your time.

Stan Bradford (Tim Holt) delivers a herd of pack horses to Valley City for Jeff Corbin. Corbin has a contract to lay telephone lines. Bradford finds that Corbin's check bounces. His sister Mary Corbin (Marjorie Reynolds) promises to make good, but she is hounded by rival Cobb Wayne and his men.

There is lots of stationary shooting which is rather static in nature. It is not my favorite aspect of old B-westerns. There is a bit of stunt action, but this needs a lot more. It is a Tim Holt B-western. It is not his best, but maybe his fans would love this. This is rather middling and not that interesting.

Cyclone On Horseback finds Tim Holt, Ray Whitley, and Lee 'Lasses' White coming to town to sell horses to Dennis Moore. Moore is bringing progress to the west, he's stringing up telephone lines. But he's got a cash flow problem when Holt wants to be paid.

Villain Harry Worth who Moore under bid for the wiring contract tells Holt he'll stand good for Moore's debt. Sadly Marjorie Reynolds who is Moore's sister arrives just a tad late to prevent this swindle. After that Holt, White, and Whitley get dragged somewhat reluctantly into wiring the west for Ma Bell.

This is a fast paced western which allows a little room for some comedy and not just at the expense of Lee White. Holt and Reynolds engage a bit in what we would later see from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Some of their cute games really get a bit much at times.

Tim Holt fans will be pleased.

Growing up and enjoying the movies on Saturday afternoon, you could view three or four Cowboy Films starring Tim Holt and his fast draw with the pistols. In this film, Tim Holt(Stan Bradford),"Monster That Challenged the World",'57, was a horse rancher who got involved with putting up telephone wire and was bossed around by Marjorie Reynolds,(Mary Corbin),"The Fatal Hour",'40, who told Tim Holt, 'You can't hang wire over the trees and expect to lift a heavy role of wire on your back'.! If you like good old time Cowboy pictures and great classic actors, this is the film for you. Marjorie Reynolds appeared in many B Films along with Boris Karloff in the Dr. Wong Series and many murder mysteries, usually as a reporter for a newspaper. ENJOY!

Although it's nothing special, except for an exceptional cast, "Cyclone on Horseback" is worth watching for that exceptional cast.

Tim Holt is, of course, one of the classic stars of western movies. He was always a pleasant performer in even the lamest B westerns, and "Cyclone" is far from lame.

Marjorie Reynolds was one of the loveliest actresses ever to grace the silver screen, even though she seldom had the role to challenge or properly to showcase her.

Ray Whitley was one of the best singers of his genre and made a pretty good cowboy, too.

Dennis Moore also had one of the best voices in movies, although I don't think he was ever a singer.

All the actors were good, even those playing minor bad guys, and they were good cowboys, too, and I don't understand why more of them didn't make it to the top ranks.

One of the glories of this film is it lets the minor characters have a chance to shine.

All in all, "Cyclone" is an hour's worth of good entertainment.