Overland Telegraph

Tim and Chito get mixed up in a scheme to sabotage newly laid telegraph lines. Seems the new technology is changing how the army provisions its outposts, thus undercutting local providers.

The 60-minutes amount to a good matinée western, with a complex plot and lots of maneuvering that includes a really engaging Gail Davis (no wonder Gene Autry grabbed onto her), plus familiar greater LA locations. Holt fans, however, may be disappointed since he doesn't get much focal screen time, but is more like one of the bunch. Also, catch familiar baddies Robert Wilke and Fred Graham picking up paydays. In fact, Wilke gets more dialog than usual, while Graham gets a headache from Chito. There's also a good detail touch where Manning gets shot in the arm and favors it for the rest of the movie. Ordinarily, these matinée productions dispensed with such realistic detail. Also, the plot premise about how the telegraph affects local businessmen is informative and not something covered in history books.

Usually western baddies aren't as handsome as the hero. Here that's not the case with budding matinée idol George Nader as semi-bad guy Manning, and Beaver Cleaver's dad Hugh Beaumont as baddie Roberts. Add Holt's good-looking sidekick Martin as Chito, and I'm thinking the ordinary looking Tim Holt has a really strong Hollywood ego in an industry where fragile egos usually don't tolerate competition.

Anyway, the movie's a solid production, of the sort that unfortunately would soon give way to cheaper 30-minute TV.