MADONNA OF THE DESERT (1948)

Trusting nice-guy rancher Joe (Don Castle) keeps a small statue of the Madonna in his modest, out-of-the-way home where he lives with his cranky but good-hearted old-timer associate Pete. Somehow, an article about the statue, which claims that it's actually a valuable antique, appears in an art collecting magazine and is brought to the attention of small-time crook Nick (Sheldon Leonard). He drives out to Joe's ranch to see if he can acquire it (legally or not). When no one answers the door, Nick enters, grabs the Madonna, and starts to leave just as Joe and Pete appear. Nick claims he was just going to step outside and appraise it in the sunlight. Pete is suspicious but Joe seems to buy his story. When Nick asks if he can buy it, Joe tells him it's not for sale—his friends and family believe that the statue brings luck and even, according to some, miracles. But Nick is not so easily dissuaded; back in town, he has a copy of the Madonna made and sends his gal Monica (Lynne Roberts) to switch statues. She connives to have her car break down near his ranch and, being the Good Samaritan type, Joe takes her to his home while Pete fixes the car. But the Madonna is gone—Joe has loaned it to some friends to display on an altar at a wedding ceremony. He takes her there and when she tries to swap the statues, she knocks over a nearby candle which sets both the altar and her on fire, but miraculously, though her clothes are burned, she is not. Monica is invited to stay the night and she begins to have second thoughts about the theft. But a wild card enters the situation: Tony (Don Barry), an ex-con who has no use for Nick. He's heard about the statue and shows up at the ranch, posing as a drifter looking for some work, which nice-guy Joe gives him. The stage is now set for third-act double-crosses and switches and fisticuffs, and perhaps a proclamation of love.

This little-known B-crime melodrama is actually a pretty decent film. The hook, a religious icon that may have miraculous powers, is different, and the characters of Joe and Monica are fleshed out just enough so that we come to care about them. The two actors are also quite good. Neither went far beyond B-movies—though Castle, who was considered a Clark Gable lookalike early in his career, became a producer of the Lassie show in the 1960s—but both are fine here, especially Castle who does a good job balancing nice-guy dumb vs. nice-guy smart. Sheldon Leonard is always an asset, and Paul Hurst, memorable in the small role of the deserter who gets shot in the face by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, makes the cranky Pete feel like a fully formed character. Recommended for B-movie buffs. [YouTube]