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.
