Riders of the Pony Express

Cattle rancher Tom Blake shoots a man in self-defense after a card game gone awry and retreats into the desert. He befriends three cowboys on their way to join the nascent Pony Express. With nothing to lose, Blake signs up as well, under an assumed name. He soon finds himself at odds with Dakin, the district supervisor, who assigns him to the most dangerous route. Blake discovers that Dakin is secretly half Indian, and is plotting with his people to sabotage the Pony Express. With the help of his friends, Blake foils the renegade Indians and ends up clearing his name.

This ultra-low budget Western from Screencraft Pictures stars Ken Curtis, one of the most beloved actors in the genre. Born Curtis Wain Gates, he began his career as a singer, performing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (as Frank Sinatra's replacement!) and later as one of the Sons of the Pioneers. He took up acting in the mid-1940s as a singing cowboy and even produced two sci-fi hits in 1959 (The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster). Curtis is best remembered today for his 250-episode tenure as Festus in the popular Gunsmoke TV series (1955-1975). In Riders of the Pony Express, he is paired with his longtime friend Shug Fisher, who was also in the Sons of the Pioneers. William 'Billy' Benedict is best known for playing 'Whitey' in Monogram's "Bowery Boys" series. Astonishingly for such a low-budget film, Riders of the Pony Express was "photographed in glorious color," but unfortunately no color prints survive. This Alpha Video presentation is taken from a black and white print made in the 1950s for broadcast on television.