Passing through looking for work, Tim and Chito get caught up in robbery, murder and a love triangle when local businessman Paul Manning (George Nader) hatches a plan to save his failing supply business. Manning who will lose his contract with the Army due to a new telegraph line, plots to halt construction of the line with the aid of saloon owner and all-around town bad guy Brad Roberts (Hugh Beaumont) and his henchmen (Robert J. Wilke, Fred Graham, Robert Bray). Manning soon finds himself in over his head as events spin out of control.
Like most of the post war Tim Holt Flicks, 'Overland Telegraph' has better than average production values and a fairly evolved story line as B-Westerns go. Holt once again teams up with prolific director Lesley Selander to crank out another pretty good saddle burner, which by this time Holt and Selander could do in their sleep. Holt who had grown tired of the direction of his movies and Hollywood life in general, has less screen time than usual. It has more of the feel of an ensemble cast. Ironically over the next decade much of the supporting cast would move on to more prominent roles in popular television programs of the era. Holt, though still a relatively young man, would pack up his bags and leave Hollywood behind in less than a year.
As RKO cut back production budgets and Tim Holt became progressively disengaged from the movie business, the series declined in the final years. Even so 'Overland Telegraph' is one of Tim Holt's best later films.
Like most of the post war Tim Holt Flicks, 'Overland Telegraph' has better than average production values and a fairly evolved story line as B-Westerns go. Holt once again teams up with prolific director Lesley Selander to crank out another pretty good saddle burner, which by this time Holt and Selander could do in their sleep. Holt who had grown tired of the direction of his movies and Hollywood life in general, has less screen time than usual. It has more of the feel of an ensemble cast. Ironically over the next decade much of the supporting cast would move on to more prominent roles in popular television programs of the era. Holt, though still a relatively young man, would pack up his bags and leave Hollywood behind in less than a year.
As RKO cut back production budgets and Tim Holt became progressively disengaged from the movie business, the series declined in the final years. Even so 'Overland Telegraph' is one of Tim Holt's best later films.