A Ghostly? Killer and a Fun Saloon Brawl

 

Rimfire (1949) is a noir Western directed by B. Reeves Easton. Easton is not exactly a famous figure in movie history--he was best known as a second-unit director and action specialist. He does a fine job here as the primary director, though, and his action-specialist background shows through in an exceptionally well-choreographed saloon brawl.

The main plot involves an undercover agent named Tom Harvey (played by James Millican) searching for some stolen government gold. He takes a job as deputy in a small New Mexican town, as he suspects the gold is hidden somewhere nearby. 

But other stuff is going on in town. The owner of the local saloon is the secret leader of a band of stagecoach robbers. A gambler (Reed Hadley) is falsely accused of cheating at cards and hanged, though Harvey believed he was innocent. And then someone begins killing off those involved in the hanging--has the gambler come back from the dead? Harvey doesn't think so and also thinks the killings might relate to the stolen gold. But the only clue is that the killer is using rimfire cartridges (bullets in which the primer is along the edge of the cartridge rather than the center). Who else uses such a gun?

Aside from the pretty awesome saloon brawl, another stand-out scene is the gambler's trial, which hits just the right note of grimness and effectively reminds us that a man's life is at stake. The revelation of the killer's identity is honestly surprising and acting is quite good.

I found a quote HERE from an interview with Margie Dean, who plays a saloon girl in the movie:  

“James Millican was polite and pleasant, but again I knew Reed Hadley better. It was a good little picture. Some of them I made were corny, but this was pretty well done. These films were done fast with last minute script changes. If you hit your spot and said the dialogue, it was printed. To be pretty good in something like that is more of an achievement than being good in a big picture where you do it over and over.”

I've always championed B-movies on my blog and Margie's quote about being good in a B-movie just makes me appreciate them more.

Here's the movie in its entirety. You know, I have a little over 7,000 subscribers to my YouTube channel (hardly an earth-shaking number, I realize) but I've never been sure why most of them have subscribed--whether its for the clips from movies I've reviewed or the ERB podcast or what have you. The increasing prevalence of old movies in their entirety on YouTube means I'm posting fewer clips--since I can more often post the entire film. I hope my subscribers don't show up as an angry mob outside my home because of this. Torch and pitchfork damage isn't covered by my insurance.