By Glenn Erickson
Brothers in the Saddle
Brief Synopsis
When he thinks his brother has let him down, a cowboy goes bad.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lesley Selander
Director
Tim Holt
Tim Taylor
Richard Martin
Chito Rafferty
Steve Brodie
Steve Taylor
Virginia Cox
Nancy Austin
Carol Forman
Flora Trigby
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Feb
8,
1949
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,421ft
Synopsis
When ranch owner Nancy Austin arrives home from a pre-nuptial Tucson shopping spree and discovers that her fiancé and ranch hand, Steve Taylor, is absent, she sends his brother Tim to find him. Tim discovers Steve losing at poker in the Lordsburg saloon and, after accusing saloon owner Nash Prescott of cheating his brother, starts a brawl. Later, Tim chastises Steve for gambling with Nancy's money, but Steve smugly maintains that he needs a big payoff in order to leave his cowboy life behind. Steve's condescending words anger Tim, who then announces that he is quitting his job as Nancy's foreman. That night, Steve borrows more money from Nancy to play poker with Prescott and his crooked partner, Hoyt Parker. At the saloon, Steve accuses Parker of dealing from the bottom of the deck, and Parker reaches for his gun, but is outdrawn and killed by Steve. The next day, Tim finds Steve hiding in the hills and persuades him to turn himself in to Sheriff Oakley. Because Prescott and his associates have threatened saloon girl Flora Trigby, the shooting's only honest witness, Steve is found guilty by a circuit judge and is sentenced to hang. Steve condemns his brother for his plight, and out of guilt, Tim and his best friend, Chito Rafferty, help Steve to escape. While the now-fugitive brothers hide in the hills, Chito travels to Mexico to find Flora. When Chito later reports that Flora is in Mexico but is refusing to testify out of fear for her life, Tim instructs Steve to stay put in the hills and goes to Mexico himself. With Chito's help, Tim frees Flora from Prescott's guard and brings her back to Lordsburg. Before Flora can testify, however, Steve, having become impatient for his brother, holds up a stagecoach and murders Prescott, who happens to be traveling on the coach. Disgusted by Steve's coldbloodedness, Tim confronts him at the hideout and demands that he return the stolen money. Steve refuses, however, and the two men fight until Steve pushes Tim down a ravine to his apparent death. Steve then heads for Nancy's ranch, unaware that Tim has survived with help from his horse. At the ranch, Steve asks Nancy to flee East with him, but she refuses, finally seeing through his manipulations. When the sheriff's posse rides up, Steve shoots Chito and takes Nancy hostage, escaping back to the hills. There a bruised and battered Tim surprises his brother and, condemning him as morally corrupt, fights him to a deadly draw. Later, Nancy leaves for the East, while a recuperating Chito and Tim vow to wait for her return.
Director
Lesley Selander
Director
Cast
Tim Holt
Tim Taylor
Richard Martin
Chito Rafferty
Steve Brodie
Steve Taylor
Virginia Cox
Nancy Austin
Carol Forman
Flora Trigby
Richard Powers
Nash Prescott
Stanley Andrews
Sheriff Oakley
Robert Bray
Poke Lynch
Francis Mcdonald
Hoyt Parker
Emmett Vogan
Judge Coulter
Monte Montague
Stage driver
Ted Adams
House player
Juan Duval
Crew
James Altwies
Set Decoration
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
Jack Barron
Makeup
Samuel E. Beetley
Film Editor
R. L. Buddie
Gaffer
Tom Clement
Grip
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
James Daly
Camera Operator
Roy Granville
Sound
Feild Gray
Art Director
Norman Houston
Original Screenplay
J. Roy Hunt
Director of Photography
Alex Kahle
Stills
John Pommer
Assistant Director
Edwin Pyle
Camera Operator
Paul Sawtell
Music
Herman Schlom
Producer
Kay Shea
Hairstylist
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
Harry Templeton
Assistant Director
Richard Van Hessen
Sound
Mercy Weireter
Script Supervisor
Film Details
Genre
Western
Release Date
Feb
8,
1949
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
5,421ft
Articles
Brothers in the Saddle
Tim Holt's first of five westerns released in 1949 surprised viewers by slightly altering the series' formula. Holt's hero Tim Taylor doesn't come to anybody's rescue, but instead must deal with a no-good varmint of a brother, Steve (Steve Brodie). With his sidekick Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) staying mostly on the sidelines, Tim tries to help the wayward Steve, who is gambling with money borrowed from his fiancée, rancher Nancy Austin (Virginia Cox). Tim takes Steve's side over a killing at a card table, and with Chito helps him escape when the gambling crooks rig a trial to insure that Steve will be hanged. Tim and Chito run to Mexico to find the witness Flora Trigby (Carol Forman) who can clear Steve, but the impatient Steve chooses to go on a crime spree. Tim eventually has no choice but to settle his family differences with a gun. The critics once again praised a Holt western as superior entertainment, noting J. Roy Hunt's handsome camerawork on location in the San Bernardino National Forest. Variety was impressed by the convincing fight scenes, and higher level of tension: Chito is wounded in one scene, and in another Holt's character is thrown from a cliff and left to die. Screenwriter Norman Houston must have welcomed the change of pace; the former actor penned twenty of Tim Holt's western adventures.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
Brothers in the Saddle
Tim Holt's first of five westerns released in 1949 surprised viewers by slightly altering the series' formula. Holt's hero Tim Taylor doesn't come to anybody's rescue, but instead must deal with a no-good varmint of a brother, Steve (Steve Brodie). With his sidekick Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) staying mostly on the sidelines, Tim tries to help the wayward Steve, who is gambling with money borrowed from his fiancée, rancher Nancy Austin (Virginia Cox). Tim takes Steve's side over a killing at a card table, and with Chito helps him escape when the gambling crooks rig a trial to insure that Steve will be hanged. Tim and Chito run to Mexico to find the witness Flora Trigby (Carol Forman) who can clear Steve, but the impatient Steve chooses to go on a crime spree. Tim eventually has no choice but to settle his family differences with a gun. The critics once again praised a Holt western as superior entertainment, noting J. Roy Hunt's handsome camerawork on location in the San Bernardino National Forest. Variety was impressed by the convincing fight scenes, and higher level of tension: Chito is wounded in one scene, and in another Holt's character is thrown from a cliff and left to die. Screenwriter Norman Houston must have welcomed the change of pace; the former actor penned twenty of Tim Holt's western adventures.
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a pre-production Hollywood Reporter news item, exteriors for the film were to be shot in Kernville, CA.
