Riders of the Pony Express
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Michael Salle
Ken Curtis
Shug Fisher
Cathy Douglas
Billy Benedict
Billy Hammond
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Looking for a night of relaxation, cattle ranch owner Tom Blake rides into a Colorado town, and after joining a card game, accuses a cowboy named Jim Custis of cheating. After Tom is later ambushed by Custis and his friends, he shoots Custis, then escapes. Believing that Custis may be dead, Tom goes to see veterinarian "Doc" Baker and borrows a fresh horse to continue his escape from Custis's friends. In the desert, Tom's horse becomes lame, so he decides to turn it loose. He begins walking and encounters passing rider John Dakin, who refuses to help him. Tom perseveres, eventually arriving at a watering hole, where he captures a wild horse. While he is training his new horse, Tom encounters three cowboys, Eddie Lund, "Tex" Jarvis and "Mac" Duncan, who are on their way to work for the newly formed Pony Express, and decides to join them. At the district headquarters of the Express, Tom, who has taken the alias Tom Bledsoe, meets Doc, who has also been hired to ride for the Express. Awaiting their first assignment, the new riders gather in the corral to sing some songs. Suddenly, Dakin and his henchman arrive and, when they try to confiscate the group's guitar, a fight ensues. After Dakin is identified as the Express's district supervisor, he orders Tom and his new friends, who include local express manager Steven Blair and his niece Judy, to the dangerous Desert Station. Unknown to the others, Dakin is half Comanche Indian and secretly heads a band of renegade braves bent on stopping the progress of the Express. When the Indians, led by Dakin's henchman Dan Cutter, try to kill the group heading for Desert Station, Tom bravely holds them at bay until the party can pass to safety. Eventually, the party arrives at the station and begins practicing their mounts to speed the mail's delivery. The result of their experiments is the spectacular "Pony Express Mount," in which the rider mounts an already moving horse. Meanwhile, Cutter waylays an Express agent who is bringing supplies to Desert Station and assumes his identity. After Cutter shows Blair a wanted poster with Tom's likeness on it and picks a fight with Tom, Tom is removed from the group. On the evening before the new riders' first run, however, Tom catches Cutter trying to poison their horses, and is later permitted to deliver the mail. On his first run, the Indians attack Desert Station, and although the mail gets through, the Blairs are captured. Then, Tom and his fellow riders follow the braves back to their hideout, where they free Judy and Steven, kill Cutter and arrest Dakin. Back at Desert Station, a letter arrives asking that the wanted posters on Tom be withdrawn as his victim, Custis, has been found alive and is in custody on a murder charge. Just then, the relay rider enters the station and passes the mail bags to Tom, who mounts his horse to carry the mail on across the forbidding desert.
Director
Michael Salle
Cast
Ken Curtis
Shug Fisher
Cathy Douglas
Billy Benedict
Billy Hammond
Eddie Mclean
Truman Van Dyke
John Dehner
Lou Marcelle
Rod Redwing
Flicka
Zane
Crew
Darrell A. Anderson
Howard A. Anderson Jr.
Larry Chapman
Stephen Foster
Richard Kay
Richard Kay
Albert Kegarus
Raoul Kraushaar
Leo Lotito
Nat Merman
Michael Salle
Ray Snyder
Gene Stone
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The viewed print was in black and white. The character played by John Dehner is listed on screen as Joseph Dakin, but he is called "John" in the film. The film's pressbook indicates that the film was shot in Lancaster (CA) and on a ranch in Thousand Oaks (CA).
