Six-Gun Gold

Trying to go the 3 Mesquiteers, Rangebusters, Rough Riders route in his B westerns at RKO Tim Holt is given two sidekicks in Six Gun Gold, Lee White and Ray Whitley who contributed a song or two.

Tim's in the vicinity to visit his brother who's the new US Marshal in the area, but he finds that instead of Lane Chandler he finds perennial western heavy LeRoy Mason masquerading as the marshal. Later on Holt and his companions make the acquaintance of Eddy Waller and daughter Jan Clayton who have a mining claim and along with other miners are systematically being robbed.

The news that the marshal ain't who he says he is answers a few questions, but in this 57 minute B western a lot of good plot turns are present, far more than you'll see in a typical shoot 'em up.

Tim Holt B westerns are usually pretty good and this one is no exception, in fact I think it's one of his best. Don't let the short running fool you.

Rather complex Holt western, with a couple of twists so stay closely tuned. Our trio of heroes are out to find Holt's missing brother and in the process bust up a crooked ring headquartered in town. Whitley, White and Holt make a good RKO version of the Three Mesquiteers—Holt, the hero; Whitley, the tunesmith; and White, comedy relief. In fact, I wish Whitley and the Six-Bar Cowboys had more country tunes. They make a really good musical group. Nothing special here—some good hard riding, flying fists, and fast shooting though nobody much drops as a result. Bad aiming, I guess. Too bad Lassie's first TV mom, Jan Clayton, hasn't much to do except stand around and look pretty, while Fern Emmett makes a personable spinster. Scenery doesn't count for much here. Looks like location was done around the Mormon Rocks northeast of LA. Anyway, it's a decent if unexceptional matinée oater. And, oh yes, I'm keeping my female cat in the house from now on.

Don Cardigan (Tim Holt) and his sidekicks, the comical Whopper (Lee White) and the yodeling Smokey (Ray Whitley), ride the trail to the mining town of Placerville to surprise Don's older brother Brad (Lane Chandler), the marshal. Instead they find an impostor (LeRoy Mason) acting as marshal and that his three deputies are thugs. Don and the boys stay around to find his missing brother. When Don discovers gold shipments are being stolen from the local miners, he teams up with the stagecoach owner (Davison Clark) and the miner Ben Blanchard (Eddy C. Waller) to set a trap for the gold thieves by re-routing the shipment on a pack animal.

Six-gun Gold stars Tim Holt in this routine, old-fashioned horse opera that has some decent action and a certain breeziness. The black cat steals the scene, though.

Ray Whitley is the singing cowboy Smokey.. he and friends Don and Whopper are on their way back home to see Don's brother. The plot sounds SOOOO familiar to an earlier film, but i can't remember the title. Tim Holt and Lee White co-star in this 1941 western. At only 57 minutes, it's an RKO shortie. When the guys get into town, they find that the brother is missing, and someone (LeRoy Mason) is impersonating him. Now they have to figure out what's going on in town, where's the missing brother, and why everybody treats them like criminals. It's not bad. VERY typical western... with some humor thrown in here and there. Story by Tom Gibson, who had written TONS of shorts in the silent film days, and continued to write the talkin' pitchas into the 1940s. Directed by prolific David Howard, who died young at 45. wikipedia doesn't seem to know why he died so young. Tim Holt also died of cancer on the young side at 54. It's pretty good.

Tim Holt was one of the most dependable of the B-western stars. His films always featured action, humor and suspense in a finely paced film. This early film entry is no exception. From the solid opening through the climactic shootout, fans will not be disappointed.

While the team of Tim Holt and Chito Martin were second to none, Ray Whitley was great in the Holt films he appeared in. His music and comic relief helped take this film to a higher level. Tim Holt , as always, was the believable, determined hero ..... he makes you believe he means business with those six-guns!

Watch closely for several intriguing plot twists--- this one will keep you on your toes. This is a darn good western, worth viewing again and again !