This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Hard not to agree with the other reviewers—this is not the duo's best oater. The boys appear to be just going through the motions without the usual spark or enlivening banter. Add to that an all-too-familiar storyline, and the results are mediocre, to say the least. I always admired Holt as maybe the only matinée hero with a sidekick bigger and handsomer than he, and no buffoon, to boot. Together, they were an appealing exception to the usual. But, by 1952, the handwriting was indeed on the wall. These matinée cheapo's were about to be absorbed into the living room's little black box. Too bad, Holt and Martin didn't work out a TV deal like, say, the Cisco Kid or Gene Autry. Anyway, about the only memorable part of this 60-minutes, is a leading lady who maybe can't decide on a stage name, but can sure shoot a gun.

I was surprised to hear Tim Holt give his partner Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin) some bad advice, bad in the sense that it was just what Chito would have wanted to hear. When a famous lawman's daughter (Linda Douglas) arrives in Pecos instead of her father, Tim advises 'don't let that girl out of your sight'! With pleasure Tim! The story line is a typical one for a B Western. A local town boss is buying up rancher land with the prospect of a railroad moving in, and lone holdout Bailey (John Hamilton) expects to be paid what his land is worth. Without much thought given to credibility by the writers, Bailey accepts what he believes to be fifteen thousand dollars for his property, then winds up with only fifteen hundred. Why he wouldn't have counted the money first before handing over the deed was another example of a sloppy plot contrivance to move the story along, and just a groaner if you're watching the picture as an adult instead of a matinée fan back in the day.The film also missed an opportunity by showing what a crack shot Terry Moran was with a rifle, but then didn't use her skill to affect the outcome. Overall, the picture is a rather bland affair for Tim Holt's next to last Western. However the version shown on Encore Westerns last night, in their feature time slot at 8:00 PM, offered unusually crisp black and white photography to make the viewing experience quite enjoyable.I'll finish with a bit of trivia, noting how magnificent Tim Holt's horse looked in the picture. He rode a number of different mounts in his movies, often a palomino named Lightning when teaming with Richard Martin. Winding down his career in Westerns, it looks as if the black horse he was riding in this picture was one called Sun Dance. That's pretty cool.

I'm a big fan of the old B Western and Tim Holt is a particular favorite of mine. I've always thought Tim Holt was one of the most under-appreciated heroes of the old silver screen. While never quite enjoying the popularity of Hoppy, Gene or Roy he made some of the best movies of his genre. Target was 2nd to the last of Tim Holt's Westerns and made at a time when the old B Western was riding off into the sunset. It's sad he couldn't have had a better send off.The Post World War II Tim Holt westerns are some of the best ever made but Target was the worst of the lot. A great western hero, not a great movie, check out just about any other of his old B's and you'll agree Tim Holt rides as tall in the saddle as the best of them.