When a gambler known as "The Abilene Kid" is tried, convicted and hung for the apparent robbery of the U.S. Gold mint, his spirit seems to return from beyond to haunt and ultimately kill the men who framed him. Everybody in this small western town is running scared, and it is up to a U.S. agent (James Millican) to get to the bottom of this with the help of the local sheriff (Victor Kilian) and his pretty niece (Mary Beth Hughes) who falls in love with him. The slow-moving first half of this rather short B western moves into quite a different mood as it changes to ghost story. Or is it? Like Scooby Doo and other ghost movie spoofs where somebody is obviously using the events of the recent past to get information on the location of the gold. But who is it, and how does the U.S. agent discover the identity? Or is it really a voice from beyond scaring people literally to their doom? This western has various elements of its structure which makes it a rank above the standard cowboy/Indian shoot em' out, but the plot is pretty obvious of where it is going. The photography in the ghostly visits is appropriately dark which adds much needed mood. In spite of obvious plot holes, the film remains an interesting change from the typical western fare audiences were getting at the time. George Cleveland provides some wit as a local judge, while some cornball humor is thrown in by Fuzzy Knight. Another plus with the DVD is the print transfer is quite outstanding, making it look much higher budgeted than many of the public domain transfers of B westerns from Monogram, PRC and other poverty row studios which released dozens of these every year.

Rimfire is directed by B. Reeves Eason and jointly written by Ron Ormond, Arthur St. Claire and Frank Wisbar. It stars James Millican, Reed Hadley, Mary Beth Hughes, Henry Hull, Fuzzy Knight and Victor Killian. Music is by Walter Greene and cinematography by Ernest Miller.Captain Tom Harvey (Millican) is an undercover army officer working in a small Texas town investigating the theft of army gold shipments. Taking on the role of a deputy, he suddenly finds the town gripped by terror as they believe the ghost of a gambler who was wrongly convicted and hanged has come back from the grave to enact revenge."Gold and greed, it seems, go together. And so do. So do gold and death"Clocking in at just over an hour, Rimfire is compact and unfussily directed for maximum impact. There's a slight irk that once the central hanging and conviction enters the story, the film barely has time to unfold the mystery element, in fact so much is crammed into the final twenty minutes you really can't afford to look away. But why would you look away when the film is so interesting in narrative and so visually arresting? The biggest character in the piece is Ernest Miller's black and white photography, low-key lighting with prominent shadows, there's a pessimistic ambiance given the production, a sense that humanity is rotten. Which when coupled with the unusual aspects of the story make this very much a unique Western of the 40s.Well performed with the likes of Hadley, Hull and Millican turning in professional shows, and with super work from photographer Miller, this rounds out as very much a Western noir worth checking out. 7.5/10

With the name B. Reeves Eason in the credits as director, one would not be out of line expecting a fast-paced and action-packed adventure. Eason was widely known and respected for the machine-gun speed of his movies. But upon watching this film, which should be retitled "Misfire," one would not be out of line suspecting that Eason directed it while under anesthesia. James Millican, a not unlikable character player, gets to play the tough guy that all the saloon girls ogle, but he has neither the looks nor the charisma to carry off this kind of Western leading role. There are plenty of fine character actors in this movie, and the plot could conceivably have been used for a tense little programmer. Instead, this one moves like frozen molasses. The actors speak at half speed, the editing is at quarter speed, and there is very little to hold one's attention. The slowness of this movie must be seen to be believed, but please....trust me. It isn't worth that effort.

Ignored even when it was released this B western is akin to Audie Murphy's "No Name on the Bullet" as it is a different kind of western, actually a suspense/mystery in a western setting, not a horse opera at all. The cast is an ensemble of reliable character actors doing what they do.This one is probably lost for ever, but it is an example of what can be accomplished on a starvation budget when a little creativity is applied.IT'S THE WRITING, STUPID!