Zeus

Writers:

Horace McCoy (screenplay),  Allen Rivkin (screenplay)  

John Payne,  Mona Freeman,  Lee J. Cobb 

 

Though running 90 minutes, Road to Denver moves along at a much faster clip than most Republic "A" westerns. John Payne and Skip Homeier star as the Mayhew brothers, Bill and Sam. Tired of pulling his headstrong younger brother Sam out of his various scrapes, Bill heads off to Denver alone. Here he takes a job as a stagecoach driver for livery stable owner John Sutton (Ray Middleton). Meanwhile, Sam falls in with crooked saloonkeeper Jim Donovan (Lee J. Cobb), the secret head of an outlaw gang. Inevitably, Bill and Sam find themselves on opposite ends of the law--not to mention rivals for the affections of Sutton's daughter Elizabeth (Mona Freeman). Andy Clyde, who hadn't been seen in a big-budget film in years, steals the show as a believeably comic stablehand. Also featured is Lee Van Cleef in one of his then-typical "laconic bad guy" roles.