ROAD AGENT

US, 1952, 60 minutes, Black and white.
Tim Holt. Noreen Nash, Richard Martin.
Directed by Lesley Selander.

Road Agent is one of ten short Westerns made by Tim Holt in the late 1940s and 1950s. His character uses his real name. He is accompanied by a Mexican friend who is exceedingly accident-prone, played by Richard Martin.

The plot is routine but moves quickly for entertainment. Tim and his sidekick arrive at a toll road and are charged exorbitant rates. They later take back the money. On the way to the western town, they are shot at by a young woman who is defending her cattle. It appears that the local boss is imposing a toll on the road as well as the toll on all the cattle because he wants to buy them and self to dealers. The cattle ranchers have little money to pay the toll.

In town they come across their friend, Sally who sings in a saloon. The two pursue the boss, wearing cloaks and masks, and finish up with his money. They see themselves as Western Robin Hoods and deliver the money to the homesteads so that the ranchers can pay for permits to take their cattle through to sales.

In the meantime, there is a discontented worker who was fired by the boss, goes to the office and kills the manager and takes all the money. Expends the money extravagantly raising suspicions and is followed by Tim Holt and there is a siege at the house with the boss shooting the thief dead. The sheriff arrives, everything explained by Sally, and Tim and his sidekick go to help with the cattle. - and happy ending kiss.

The film is typical of its time, supporting film of the 1950s, the picture of the West where law and order still needs to be imposed and the law is that of the gun.