Dynamiting Nugget
Range detective Rocky Lane arrives in town as he heard that Nugget Clark has some rustling problems only to learn that Nugget only has 3 cows. But the town seems to have another issue as water is short and whilst Nugget plans to use dynamite to try and find a water supply the rest of the town have raised some funds to build an aqueduct with the money currently residing in the bank's vault. But stage operator Jim Benson (Don Haggerty) has plans to use an old mine running under the town and Nugget's dynamite to steal the money. With Rocky trying to piece together what is going on he finds himself a suspect having kept hidden the fact that he is detective.
To give credit where it is due and "Vigilante Hideout" doesn't feel like it is just another western storyline which has done the round. Instead what it feels like is that someone has picked ideas from other westerns and creatively spun them together. As such whilst there is a certain amount of familiarity and predictability such as when Rocky ends up being suspected of being behind things the way it all comes together is enough to keep you watching and interested especially as certain cliches seem to have been dropped.
But whilst there is creativity when it comes to the way the story is put together there is nothing new when it comes to the action, characters or camera work. As such Allan Lane delivers another solid performance as a hero cowboy, although it has to be said at times he comes across as if he is tired of doing these one hour westerns.
What this all boils down to is that "Vigilante Hideout" is a bit more entertaining than you might expect for one of these old one hour westerns. But at the same time it is 90% typical and as such is still really of interest for those looking to watch every western ever made.
