Shotgun Slade "The Salted Mine" #1.2 (1959)

Better than the first episode, 14 October 2017

Slade is hired by A.S. Batson to prove that a mine was fraudulently "salted" prior to its sale/purchase. As you'd expect from a 1950s era program, Slade is surprised to learn that A.S. (the "A" is for Alice) Batson is a woman.

I learned something from The Salted Mine. Going into this episode, I had no idea what was meant by "salting a mine". Turns out that an unscrupulous seller would spread just enough gold dust around a worthless mine to make the buyer think he was getting something of value.

The Salted Mine played better for me than the first episode in the series. My enjoyment came primarily from all the back-stabbing and double-crossing going on among the cast. It's not hard to spot the baddie with such a small cast and less than 30 minutes. Still, the way it all plays out is reasonably entertaining. I'm still not a big fan of Scott Brady (and most likely I never will be). He just seems too unnatural to me. I did enjoy seeing Marie Windsor in the role of A.S. Batson. She's been a favorite of mine since I first saw Abbot and Costello Meet the Mummy over 45 years ago.

5/10