Nevada

Apparently Bob Mitchum (that's how he's billed in this film) did quite a few supporting roles before he got his first starring role in NEVADA. And, like many up and coming stars of the day, they gave him this chance in a B-movie role--a minor film that was a second feature for a double-feature. In other words, a lesser film made with a smaller budget. Oddly, however, they put Mitchum into this Western--I guess since they had no preconceptions about what types of roles he'd be good at they thought they could make him a cowboy hero--not realizing he'd make much more of a mark in Film Noir and dramas. As for Mitchum's acting, it was very good and I could see him starring in more of the like, though he only did a few more Westerns here and there.

Aside from the novelty of seeing Mitchum in a Gene Autry type role, there really isn't that much to distinguish this film. It's not bad but also suffers from the problem many B-movies had--they were rushed into production so quickly and shoved into such a short running time (rarely much more than 60 minutes) that the films cut corners plot-wise. Here, the plot resolutions happen way too quickly and conveniently for the film to be anything more than average for the genre.

The film's pluses were Mitchum's acting, the acting of some of the supporting actors (screen veteran Guinn Williams was a nice addition) and nice location shooting. Minuses were the obvious and poor use of stunt doubles and the very preachy ending that left the viewer with a bad final impression--the lady's soliloquy just sounded silly and fake. Overall, this is worth watching--particularly if you are a film historian or Robert Mitchum fan. Otherwise, it's a time passer and nothing more.

"Nevada" (Bob Mitchum] rescues "Julie" (Anne Jeffreys) from a grizzly fate and she warns him that the town they are both travelling to isn't a lot friendlier. He arrives and soon finds that is too true as he is arrested for a murder and a robbery. She tries to intercede for him with the fair-minded sheriff but when a lynch mob breaks into the jail he has to skedaddle and think on his feet to track down the real culprit and, with the help of an alchemist, find out just what is going on in this remote prospecting town. Now we know all along who is pulling the strings so there's not oodles of jeopardy here, but that said - Mitchum delivers quite well here as the decent cowboy embroiled in a battle of wits with a shrewd and greedy man who has designs not just on the town, but on "Julie" too. Jeffreys also delivers more strongly giving her character a little more oomph than was more common for the leading lady in these once-a-week procedural westerns. We even get a jolly ditty from his pal "Dusty" (Guinn Williams) and it's quite entertainingly paced for an hour of fairly action-packed drama.

Cowpoke Jim Lacy (Mitchum), nicknamed Nevada, rides with his two sidekicks, an ornery wisecracking Dusty (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams), and a juvenile amorous Mexican-Irish guitarist singer, Chito Jose Gonzales Bustamante Rafferty (Richard Martin). After a winning streak with the dice, Nevada has a small fortune in yellowback bills from his craps winnings. With news of gold being up in the Comstock, these cowboys are tempted to speculate themselves.

Gold prospecting ranch owner Ben Ide takes the money and sets off to buy mining equipment, but Cash Burridge gets his thug-heavy man Joe Powell to kill Ide and recover the money. Nevada finds Ide and the money. He is the first man on the scene when the prospector is whacked by two men. The posse arrives immediately after, suspects Nevada of foul play, and Nevada is unjustly accused of a murder he didn't commit. Nevada is helped out by both a worldly saloon singer, Julie Dexter (Anne Jeffreys) and the innocent, sweet, murder victim's daughter, Hattie Ide (Nancy Gates).

Takes it time to get started, but once it does this Robert Mitchum western clocks in a nifty and involving 60 minutes of Wild West entertainment with a strong plot of a hero accused of murder and robbery, enough fast riding and gunplay and a good duplicitous villain. Chito Rafferty and Guinn Williams are Mitchum's sidekicks.

A man called Nevada is on the run from both the law and some outlaws. He was involved in a shoot-out with the latter over a crooked card game and is wrongly accused of murder by the former. The real killer is a crooked mining boss who assassinates the father of a prospecting family who live on silver-rich land that he wants for himself.

It would be fair to say that Nevada is only really notable for one thing and that is as the film where Robert Mitchum was given his first starring role. He isn't much remembered nowadays as a western star though. The genre wasn't suited that well to allow him to play to his own specific strengths. Nevertheless, he is certainly good enough here and it's a pretty decent performance. The movie itself is a fairly formulaic B-western – a film designed at the time to fit into a cinematic programme as the second highest billed feature – although it's still an enjoyable enough effort. It's paced well, with decent enough characters and story. While Nevada hardly breaks the mould, it's still good fun.

It's always interesting to speculate on how different careers turn. RKO Pictures needed a new B western star because Tim Holt was going in the service. So this guy Mitchum was spotted in one of the Hopalong Cassidy films he played a bit role in and in fact Mitchum had done other parts like Thirty Second Over Tokyo, etc. So he got signed to a long term contract with RKO for this to be the first in a series of B Westerns.

To show how much he was supposed to be a Tim Holt stand-in, Mitch was given Richard Martin who played Chito Rafferty the same part he played as Holt's sidekick. He also got a second sidekick in Guinn Williams. And the billing for Nevada read "introducing Robert Mitchum."

The western itself is standard fare, nothing truly spectacular about it. It's source was a Zane Grey story which is a plus. But even then you could tell the camera loved Robert Mitchum. It's a must for Mitchum fans of which I'm one.

The thing I wonder about though is if William Wellman hadn't spotted Mitchum and given him that career making part in The Story of GI Joe, would Mitch have continued as a B western star with his career petering out in the mid 50s or earlier. Food for thought.