The first thing one has to do is overlook the title of this story - there was money involved of course, but just one woman of note, and guns didn't come into play all that much. It appears most of the other reviewers before me gave this picture short shrift, but with a deviation from the standard formula, I thought the story line provided some clever elements to Silver Ward Hogan's (Jock Mahoney) search for a dead prospector's beneficiaries and the man who murdered him.
As for that dead prospector, Ben Merriweather (Edwin Jerome), if you keep an eye on him as he scrawls out his dying note, there's no way his erratic, shaking hand could have produced anything legible. But it's that note that provides the premise of the story, as Merriweather's fortune of three hundred thousand dollars is to be split between five intended heirs and the man who locates them, as long as the killer is identified in the process.
Where the story gets interesting is how the identities of the named persons play out. One of them is just a young boy, another spent some jail time with the old codger earlier in their lives. The revelations are more than a surprise for detective Hogan, who turns up pieces of a puzzle that don't seem to fit until he identifies the last of his quarry. The Johnny Bee gimmick was a pretty good one in the final resolution, though I don't think I would have been quite so understanding as Hogan if Bee/Briggs took a couple of shots at me.
Through it all, Ward Hogan comes to terms with his wanderlust, finding romance with the mother (Kim Hunter) of young Davey Kingman. Set around Christmas time, the story allows for some mention of a benevolent Santa Claus looking out for Davey, who in the final analysis is rewarded for his wishful thinking - "You gotta wish special hard, but it works".
But you know what the topper was? What's Judas going to do with fifty thousand dollars?
As for that dead prospector, Ben Merriweather (Edwin Jerome), if you keep an eye on him as he scrawls out his dying note, there's no way his erratic, shaking hand could have produced anything legible. But it's that note that provides the premise of the story, as Merriweather's fortune of three hundred thousand dollars is to be split between five intended heirs and the man who locates them, as long as the killer is identified in the process.
Where the story gets interesting is how the identities of the named persons play out. One of them is just a young boy, another spent some jail time with the old codger earlier in their lives. The revelations are more than a surprise for detective Hogan, who turns up pieces of a puzzle that don't seem to fit until he identifies the last of his quarry. The Johnny Bee gimmick was a pretty good one in the final resolution, though I don't think I would have been quite so understanding as Hogan if Bee/Briggs took a couple of shots at me.
Through it all, Ward Hogan comes to terms with his wanderlust, finding romance with the mother (Kim Hunter) of young Davey Kingman. Set around Christmas time, the story allows for some mention of a benevolent Santa Claus looking out for Davey, who in the final analysis is rewarded for his wishful thinking - "You gotta wish special hard, but it works".
But you know what the topper was? What's Judas going to do with fifty thousand dollars?