Tonight's Movie: Overland Pacific (1954)

Jock Mahoney and Peggie Castle star in the United Artists Western OVERLAND PACIFIC (1954).

Mahoney, billed here as Jack, plays Ross Granger, an undercover railroad agent posing as a telegrapher. His mission is to discover why a railroad line's construction has stalled.

It turns out that a former friend, Del (William Bishop), is responsible. Del is paying Indians to attack the railroad crews because he wants the tracks rerouted to pass his town, although the surveyor (Walter Sande) says that route is unfeasible.

The surveyor who refuses to cooperate is killed by one of Del's men, never mind that Del is romancing the surveyor's daughter Ann (Castle). That said, as soon as Ann gets a look at Ross she clearly realizes she has the opportunity to switch her affections to a much better man, and she begins to back off her relationship with Del.

This is a fairly modest, run-of-the-mill Western which plays a bit like an expanded TV episode, an impression accentuated by the humdrum Simi Valley locations. Even so, I enjoyed it quite well. The 73-minute film moves like lightning -- perhaps even a little too fast, as I would have liked more development of the Mahoney-Castle relationship -- and there are a number of original touches.

First and foremost the movie benefits from its leads. Longtime stuntman Mahoney has a couple of brutal fight scenes in this, and just as in the later SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE (1956), it's clearly him onscreen all the way. A couple of his flips are worthy of a Gene Kelly dance, they're that good.

Castle is really lovely in this, and she plays a girl with spunk. In the final battle with the Indians she's shooting a rifle and lighting sticks of dynamite right alongside Mahoney. They're well matched.

Adele Jergens, who always strikes me as vaguely reminiscent of Virginia Mayo yet is an interesting film presence in her own right, is an added plus as the saloon gal carrying a torch for Del. Her final confrontation scene with Del is memorable.

Bishop always works well as the slimy chief villain. Chubby Johnson, who was in countless film and TV Westerns, has a larger role than usual as a crooked sheriff in cahoots with Del.

The color cinematography by Lester White is faded; the credits said the color was by Color Corporation of America, which according to Wikipedia took over Cinecolor.

OVERLAND PACIFIC was directed by Fred F. Sears.

The movie doesn't appear to be available on DVD or VHS. It's been playing recently on the Starz/Encore Westerns Channel.

Western fans could do much worse than spending time with Mahoney and Castle in this entertaining little Western.