The Bounty Hunter

Storyline

The Bounty Hunter, A year after a violent train robbery the Pinkerton detective agency hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers. He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity. Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.

Scottie’s Rag nomination

Protagonist Jim Kipp is a bounty hunter with a reputation for catching those he goes after; it is this reputation that brings the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency to his door. They had been hired to track down those responsible for the robbery of $100,000 from a train during which several people were killed. They only have one clue; the three surviving robbers were last scene at a trading post one year ago.

With this tiny piece of information Kipp heads to the post and learns two things; one of the robbers was wounded and they only bought provisions for a three day ride. The only town within three days ride is Twin Forks so he heads there. He soon realises he is in the right place when people start lying to him although he still doesn’t know who he is after and there are plenty of other people who believe he might be looking for them as they have committed other crimes.

The longer he stays in town the more tensions rise and things become more dangerous for him; especially after he lets it be known that he is expecting a picture of the robbers to come in the mail the next day.

This was rather an unusual western in that we don’t know who the bad guys are until very end; this serves to keep the tension high as anybody could be a danger. Randolph Scott puts in a solid performance as Kipp; a character that may have been unlikable in other hands… his determination to get the job done is all that appears to matter to him.

Dolores Dorn does a decent job as potential romantic interest Julie Spencer although Marie Windsor is more interesting as the sultry Alice. There is a reasonable amount of action here including several shootings and a brawl where one man makes the mistake of attacking Kipp and ends up sitting an a stove… for quite a while! There are plenty of suspects to choose from and when we do learn who the robbers are there are one or two surprises to be had; I must admit I only suspected one of the three! If you are a fan of Randolph Scott’s other westerns I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one too.