Pony Express Rider (1976)

Pony Express Rider: Directed by Robert Totten. With Stewart Petersen, Henry Wilcoxon, Buck Taylor, Maureen McCormick. In 1861 Texas, the son of a poor farmer vows to avenge his father’s murder committed by the spoiled son of a rich cattleman.

“Pony Express Rider is the story of vengeance quest by young Stewart Petersen who takes a job as a rider to get the man who shot down his father in cold blood. The only thing he knows is that his quarry is going west, so heu0026#39;ll take the mail west because itu0026#39;s in his general direction and Petersen gets paid besides.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSomebody tuning in on this film in the middle might have gotten a feeling that this was a Gunsmoke episode run totally amuck with mutiny in the marshalu0026#39;s office in Dodge City. Petersenu0026#39;s dad is Ken Curtis formerly Festus on Gunsmoke and the man heu0026#39;s seeking is Buck Taylor who was Matt Dillonu0026#39;s other deputy, Newly. Topping that all off is the director Robert Totten did many a Gunsmoke episode from television.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTaylor is the spoiled son of cattle baron Henry Wilcoxon whou0026#39;s just been appointed territorial governor of Nevada and after Taylor does the deed, he seeks refuge with his father.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSad to say, hereu0026#39;s where the plot gets a little dumb. For the life of me I canu0026#39;t understand why Ken Curtis wants to farm goats. Heu0026#39;s leasing a small piece of Wilcoxonu0026#39;s land and Wilcoxon can toss him off any time he wants. Just that they go back aways is the only reason he hasnu0026#39;t up till now. I canu0026#39;t understand how Curtis got himself involved in such an arrangement or what his passion for goats was.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso working here is the fact that Taylor does not think Petersen is fit company for his sister Maureen McCormick. And thereu0026#39;s also a poorly developed secondary plot where some latent southern sympathizers have maneuvered Wilcoxon into that appointment in Nevada in order to grab off the west for the Confederacy to be.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePony Express Rider would have been a lot better film if it had just stuck to the one plot line about revenge and not dragged a lot of extraneous elements into it. Makes for one big mess.”