If perhaps a bit too somber for its initial target audience, the kids, Stagecoach to Denver survives as a superior B-Western and certainly one of the very best in the long-running Red Ryder series. Heading a great Republic stock company of supporting players, Roy Barcroft is as slick as ever as the smooth-talking villain and Peggy Stewart, all too often asked to play the usual shrinking violet, shows her not-inconsiderable acting prowess as the increasingly troubled imposter. In only his second Red Ryder film, Allan Lane, who had inherited the role from William Elliott, makes the character his very own despite surprisingly limited screen time, and Martha Wentworth, replacing Alice Fleming, is a stalwart Duchess. Interestingly, bit player Marin Sais, here briefly seen as the kidnapped aunt, would play the role of Red's aunt in Eagle-Lion's brief 1949 series. Director R.G. Springsteen, who directed all seven Lane "Red Ryders," keeps the pace up throughout and delivers an especially taut and well-staged climax.