Veteran square-jawed actor William Bendix, in an interview
that appeared in the March 13, 1960 edition of the TV supplement for the Chicago Daily News, speculated that if
his new series Overland Trail were
not well received, it might be called a bad imitation of Wagon Train. TV Guide, in
a July 23, 1960 feature on co-star Doug McClure, described the series as
"just one more hour-long filmed Western." Both descriptions suggest
that the show was highly derivative in the western genre, and they were
correct, though a more accurate description might be Tales of Wells Fargo meets The Deputy, as it features stories about running a cross-state stage line and
includes an older, wilier character tricking a younger, less-experienced
character into doing his bidding. For NBC, the hope was that the new mid-season
replacement series, which debuted on February 7, would provide more formidable
competition against Maverick on ABC
and Dennis the Menace and Lassie on CBS, than had Riverboat, which was moved to Monday's
schedule. But the ploy did not prove successful, for NBC anyway, as Overland Trail was not renewed for the
fall 1960 season.
The similarities between Overland
Trail and The Deputy extend
beyond Bendix's character Fred Kelly, superintendent of the Overland Stage
Company, tricking his younger protege, McClure's Frank "Flip" Flippen,
out of an anticipated vacation in the show's very first episode, "Perilous
Passage" (February 7, 1960) or a stopover in Topeka in the next episode,
"The O'Mara's Ladies" (February 14, 1960). As in the majority of
episodes on The Deputy, several Overland Trail episodes feature the
older supervisory character only at the beginning and ending of the story, with
the younger, less experienced character going it alone during the bulk of the
narrative. On The Deputy this device
was employed to minimize the amount of time Henry Fonda was required to put in
on the television series so that he could pursue other opportunities in film
and on the stage. For Overland Trail,
this structure was simply a ploy by the producer to give McClure more screen
time. In the series' third episode, "West of Boston" (February 21,
1960), Flippen intends to take his eastern-bred fiance on a stage ride to Flint
Ridge, where they plan to settle down, until Kelly tells them there is a school
teacher opening in Rock Point, a destination to which he wants to extend his
stage line. Before Flippen and fiance set out, Kelly says he has business in
another town and will catch with them at Mesa Flats. The rest of the episode
details the many indignities and discomforts Flippen's fiance has to endure in
the rugged west, only to learn when they reach Rock Point that there is no
school or teacher's position there; it was merely another of Kelly's tricks.
However, by this time Flippen's fiance has decided to head back east, with or
without him. In "Sour Annie" (May 8, 1960), Flip volunteers to stay
behind with seriously wounded prospector Annie Tatum, who is not expected to
survive a fall she took from her horse, while Kelly and a few others ride off
to corral a herd of mustangs in a nearby canyon. Flip not only nurses Annie
back to health but helps her trudge across the desert and back to civilization when
their camp is attacked by Indians. In the last scene Flip is reunited with
Kelly and they head off on another stage run while Flip gives an exaggerated
account of his adventures with Annie. And in "Escort Detail" (May 22,
1960), Flip volunteers to accompany U.S. Cavalry Lt. Adam King in escorting
Crazy Horse's wife back to her village to deliver a treaty between the U.S.
government and the Sioux, while Kelly continues operating the Overland until Flip's
assignment has been successfully completed. The formula is inverted, however, in
the series' final episode, "Most Dangerous Gentleman" (June 6, 1960),
wherein Flip is left to run the Overland while Kelly helps his war buddy
General William Palmer win the railroad franchise from Denver going west.
The interplay between the two starring characters is also
similar to the give-and-take between the main characters in The Deputy with constant joking and
insults thrown back and forth to gloss over how the two men really care for
each other. The back story for Kelly and Flip is spelled out in the first few
episodes: Flip's parents were killed by the Cheyenne, who then raised him until
Kelly rescued him and brought him up from a young boy to a young man of 21 or
so. Flip's Indian upbringing is mentioned in at least the first half dozen
episodes, where he is given assignments that utilize his Indian-taught skills.
Thereafter his Indian background is never mentioned again, even in an episode
like "Escort Detail," which involves negotiating with and fighting
against different Indian factions. Kelly's background is less fleshed out,
though we learn early on that he has the street smarts and toughness that comes
from growing up in Brooklyn. However, it may be an anachronism that Brooklyn
translated into toughness back in the 1870s. Another curiosity about Kelly is
his apparent disinterest in women. While the younger Flip easily has his head
turned by any pretty face, often to his disadvantage, Kelly is only interested
in business. Even when he has the opportunity to flirt with the beautiful Nitro
Nell in "Fire in the Hole" (April 17, 1960) in her attempt to make
her boyfriend Jumbo jealous, Kelly can only think about the possibility that
the game might make Jumbo refuse to dig the tunnel he needs to win a mail route
franchise against a competing stage line. There is no mention of any past
marriage or romance in Kelly's life; he is a virtually sexless business-minded
automaton.
While many westerns of the era dealt with the issues of
Native American dignity and the rights of women with a slightly progressive
slant, Overland Trail in its earlier
episodes seems to take a more conservative perspective. Indians are generally
vicious savages--one young chief is even named "Bloody Hand" in the
episode "Daughter of the Sioux" (March 20, 1960), which tells the
story of a young woman named Diana born to a white trapper and his Sioux wife.
Diana's father has allowed her to be raised amongst the Sioux so that she
prefers their culture and spurns her white heritage. She is, in fact, betrothed
to Bloody Hand. But when her father forcibly brings her to Kelly and pays him
to take her to a white finishing school in St. Louis so that she can learn the
manners of a white woman, she resists until Flip shows her some kindness and
then is nearly killed by Bloody Hand. Then she can see the brutality of the
Sioux and she rejects them and accepts her position in the white world. Regarding
the place of women, Kelly takes a rather chauvinistic view in "The
Vigilantes of Montana" (April 3, 1960) when he says of the Banic sheriff's
daughter that a woman has her place, comforting though it is, but this, meaning
dealing with a tough situation, isn't it. And "Lawyer in Petticoats"
(March 27, 1960) tells the story of a woman named Helen Jackson seemingly
established in a traditionally male profession, but we learn that she is really
only interested in recovering legal control of a mine half owned by her
supposedly deceased father. When she finds out that he is still alive, she
seems more interested in keeping it quiet so that she can still gain control of
his riches rather than rejoicing that her father is still living. In other words,
she is, or soon plans to be, a gold digger.
But later in the series, both attitudes shift. "Escort
Detail" makes the point that not all Indians are war-mongering killers.
Crazy Horse and his wife both desire peace with the white man, even if some
younger braves in their tribe wish to maintain hostilities. And Lt. King, who
at the beginning of the episode characterizes all Indians as killers due to his
bitterness from having his brother killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn,
eventually finds reconciliation with Crazy Horse despite initially planning to
kill him on sight. Women come in for better treatment, too. The titular
character in "Sour Annie" is a better mustang herder than any of her
male counterparts. In "Most Dangerous Gentleman" railroad baron
Palmer's secretary Jennifer Dean is the voice of women's liberation, providing
a foil for the chauvinistic construction engineer Mike Day, who at one point
says, "Next thing you'll be asking for the right to vote," to which
Jennifer replies "We already have." Since many other aspects of the
series were derived from other westerns of the day, it only makes sense that
these themes would be brought more into the mainstream on a show struggling to
find viewers and win a regular spot in the NBC lineup.
The theme music for Overland
Trail and the scores for at least two episodes were composed by Jeff
Alexander, born Myer Goodhue Alexander in Seattle, WA. Alexander's musical
career began as a singer and dancer in vaudeville shows while in his teens. In
1939 he moved to New York City and found work composing and directing big bands
for radio shows such as Benny Goodman's Camel
Caravan and Amos 'n' Andy. In
1947 he relocated to Los Angeles and began working in film and television. His
most noted film scores include The Tender
Trap, Jailhouse Rock and three
more Elvis Presley features, and Support
Your Local Sheriff!. Besides Overland
Trail, his TV credits included Bachelor Father, The Lieutenant, Valentine's Day, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and Julia. He died from cancer at the age of 79 on December 23, 1989.
The complete series has been released on DVD by TimelessMedia Group.
The Actors
William Bendix
Though his tough-guy characters often brandished a Brooklyn
accent, William Bendix was actually born in Manhattan, and other than a brief
appearance in a silent 1911 Lillian Walker film at age 5, he did not take up an
acting career in earnest until age 30, after the grocery business he managed
with an assist from his father-in-law fell victim to the Great Depression. But
even in his grocery days Bendix would occasionally perform in nightclubs, was
once a singing waiter, and as a boy was a batboy for the New York Yankees,
where he claims to have seen at least 100 of Babe Ruth's home runs. He
reportedly was fired after fetching the Babe a large order of hot dogs and soda
before a game that made the Bambino unable to play that day. Ironically, one of
his best-remembered lead roles was playing Ruth in the 1948 film The Babe Ruth Story. But Bendix first
made his name on the stage. His performance in a 1939 production of William
Saroyan's The Time of Your Life got
the attention of film producer Hal Roach, and Bendix began appearing in films
in 1942, including Woman of the Year
and The Glass Key, which earned him
an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Bendix's filmography throughout
the 1940s and 50s was prolific, usually in supporting tough, blue collar or
thug roles, though he took a comedic turn in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Other notable
appearances during this era included Lifeboat,
The Blue Dahlia, Streets of Laredo, Detective
Story, and Macao. In 1944 he also
began appearing on radio as aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in the
comedy The Life of Riley, which ran
for 8 years. He also played the role in the feature-length film version in
1949, but when the series was adapted for television that same year, Bendix was
contractually unable to take the role and Jackie Gleason was cast in his place,
though Gleason's portrayal was unsuccessful and the show lasted only one
season. But once Bendix's contractual situation cleared up, a second version of
the series was brought back to TV in 1953 and ran for five successful seasons.
Bendix continued to be active in both TV and film after Riley's cancellation until he was cast
in the short-lived Overland Trail. After
that show's demise, he continued to find work with guest appearances on Mister Ed, Follow the Sun, and Burke's
Law as well as appearing in films such as Boys' Night Out, Johnny
Nobody, and The Phony American
until he contracted a stomach ailment that led to malnutrition and pneumonia,
eventually killing him at age 58 on December 14, 1964. He has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame--one for radio and one for television.
Doug McClure
Born in Glendale, California, Douglas Osborne McClure was
the son of an accountant and a newspaper woman. His older brother Reed also
worked for the same Santa Monica newspaper that his mother did. McClure
attended high school in Los Angeles, where he was quarterback of the football
team and a swimmer. He also had a part in a school play that spurred him to
study acting at Santa Monica College and later UCLA. While a junior at UCLA he
had his first television appearance in a soap commercial, which led to
additional commercial work and bit roles on TV. He also scored occasional minor
film roles, sometimes uncredited, in movies such as Friendly Persuasion, The
Enemy Below, South Pacific, and Gidget. One of his TV roles was on a
1959 episode of Schlitz Playhouse
titled "Ivy League" in which William Bendix played a former Marine
going to college on the GI bill and McClure played a student he took under his
wing. When NBC was casting Overland Trail
Bendix says that McClure's name popped into his head while reading a script and
he recommended the young actor for the role of Flip Flippen. Producer Samuel A.
Peeples liked McClure enough to start scheduling entire episodes around his
character only a few shows into the season.
Though Overland Trail
lasted less than a season, McClure was immediately snapped up to play the role
Jed Sills on the crime drama Checkmate
on CBS beginning in the fall of 1960. And after that show ended its two-year
run, he didn't wait long for his next role, being cast for the part of Trampas
when The Virginian debuted in the
fall of 1962, a role he kept during the series' entire 8-year run. The 1970s
were scarcely less busy: in 1972 he was cast as C.R. Grover in Search,
which ran for one season, and by 1975 he landed on Barbary Coast in the role of Cash Conover. He was also appearing in
films such as The Land That Time Forgot
and The People That Time Forgot as
well as At the Earth's Core and the
miniseries Roots. The 1980s brought a
series of guest star appearances on a variety of shows, including five turns on
The Fall Guy, and more film work in Cannonball Run II, 52 Pickup, and Prime Suspect.
He earned another regular role as mayor Kyle X. Applegate on the 1987-91 series
Out of This World and continued
working into the mid-1990s. However, he contracted lung cancer as a lifelong
smokes and collapsed while filming an
episode for the series One West Waikiki,
after which doctors discovered that his cancer had spread. His last public
appearance was at the unveiling of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in
1994. He died at age 59 on February 5, 1995.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 1, Episode 1, "Perilous Passage": Harry
Guardino (shown on the left, starred in Houseboat, Pork Chop Hill, The Five Pennies, Hell Is for
Heroes, Madigan, Dirty Harry, and The Enforcer and played Danny Taylor on The Reporter, Monty Nash on Monty
Nash, and Hamilton Burger on The New
Perry Mason) plays driver Johnny Caldwell. Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night
Passage and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro)
plays outlaw Cole Younger. Lynn Bari (starred in Always Goodbye, Sun Valley Serenade,
and The Magnificent Dope and played
Gwen Allen on Boss Lady) plays outlaw
Belle Starr. Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's
Country and Plan 9 From Outer Space
and played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th
Precinct) plays gang member Reed. Tyler McVey (Gen. Maj. Norgath on Men Into Space) plays a U.S. marshal.
Season 1, Episode 2, "The O'Mara's Ladies": Sean
McClory (shown on the right, played Jack McGivern on The
Californians and Myles Delaney on Bring
'Em Back Alive) plays casino owner Tim O'Mara. Maggie Pierce (Barbara
Crabtree on My Mother the Car) plays one
of his dealers Kathy Dale. Della Sharman (Nurse Betty Johnson on Dr. Kildare) plays another of his
employees Belle Malone. Tony Young (Cord on Gunslinger)
plays outlaw The Sabine Kid. Joe Flynn (starred in Lover Come Back, The Love Bug,
and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
and played Frank on The Joey Bishop Show,
Capt. Wallace B. Binghamton on McHale's
Navy, and Herbert T. Kenworth on The
Tim Conway Show) plays hotel clerk Eddie. Eddy Waller (Deputy Marshal Rusty
Lee on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal,
Red Rock Smith on Casey Jones, Mose
Shell on Laramie, and Matt Krebbs on Lassie) plays station master Trinidad.
Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best,
Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe
Kingston on Wichita Town, Phillip
Toomey on The Rifleman, and Mr.
Wheeler on Green Acres) plays the
leader of a band of miners.
Season 1, Episode 3, "West of Boston": Kenneth
Tobey (starred in Angel Face, The Thing From Another World, and It Came From Beneath the Sea and played
Chuck Martin on Whirleybirds and Russ
Conway on I Spy) plays bank robber
Wyatt Cady. Frank de Kova (shown on the left, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays a Shoshone chief. Carolyn Craig (starred in Giant, House on Haunted Hill, and Studs
Lonigan and played Cynthia Allison on General
Hospital) plays Flip's fiancé Priscilla Cabot. Adrienne Marden (Mary
Breckenridge on The Waltons) plays her
aunt Jean. Arthur Hunnicutt (starred in The
Red Badge of Courage, The Last
Command, The Cardinal, and Cat Ballou) plays buffalo hunter Reb
Haslett. Bob Steele (starred in Breezy
Bill, Of Mice and Men, and The Big Sleep, played Billy the Kid in 6
westerns and Tucson Smith in 19 others, and played Trooper Duffy on F Troop) plays an unnamed station
master. Guy Mitchell (popular singer backed by Mitch Miller who appeared in Those Redheads From Seattle, Red Garters, and The Wild Westerners and played George Romack on Whispering Smith) plays stage driver
Murdock.
Season 1, Episode 4, "The High Bridge": George
Wallace (starred in Radar Men From the
Moon, Destry, and Forbidden Planet and played Judge Milton
Cole on Hill Street Blues and Grandpa
Hank Hammersmith on Sons and Daughters)
plays renegade Matt Dooley. Rayford Barnes (Ike Clanton on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his brother Tom. Robert
McQueeney (Conley Wright on The Gallant
Men) plays convicted killer Jim Arville. Whitney Blake (Dorothy Baxter on Hazel) plays his alleged accomplice Kate
Maxwell. Arthur Space (appeared in Black
Beauty, The Cockeyed Miracle, and
Target Earth and played Herbert Brown
on National Velvet and Dr. Frank
Weaver on Lassie) plays the judge who
sentences them. John Anderson (Virgil Earp on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Dr. Herbert Styles on Dallas, and Harry Jackson on MacGyver) plays the Lodestone marshal.
Nora Marlowe (Martha Commager on Law of
the Plainsman, Sara Andrews on The
Governor and J.J., and Mrs. Flossie Brimmer on The Waltons) plays his deputy Mary. Linda Lawson (Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Laura Fremont
on Ben Casey) plays saloon girl Ruby.
Burt Mustin (Foley on The Great
Gildersleeve, Mr. Finley on Date With
the Angels, Gus the fireman on Leave It to Beaver, Jud Fletcher on The Andy Griffith Show, and Justin Quigley on All in the Family) plays High Bridge station master Len Mullen.
Season 1, Episode 5, "Westbound
Stage": Adam West (shown on the right, played Det. Sgt. Steve Nelson on The Detectives, Bruce Wayne on Batman,
Captain Rick Wright on The Last Precinct,
and Dr. Noah Goddard on Black Scorpion)
plays sheriff Wild Bill Hickock. Edward Platt (The Chief on Get Smart) plays fugitive doctor John
Manderly. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol) newlywed Jody Cabel. Suzanne Lloyd (Raquel Toledano
on Zorro) plays army wife Ann
Cambers. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green
Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank
on Gunsmoke) plays an old codger.
Alan Carney (played Mike Strager in a series of RKO comedies in the 1940s and
appeared in The Absent-Minded Professor,
Son of Flubber, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Herbie Rides Again) plays saloon owner Darby James. Mark Stevens
(Martin Kane on Martin Kane and Steve
Wilson on Big Town) plays James'
saboteur Wade.
Season 1, Episode 6, "All the O'Mara's Horses": Sean
McClory (see "The O'Mara's Ladies" above) returns as casino owner Tim
O'Mara. Roy Barcroft (Col. Logan on The
Adventures of Spin and Marty and Roy on Gunsmoke)
plays the Carson City marshal. Mary Tyler Moore (shown on the left, played Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary Brenner on Mary, and Annie McGuire on Annie
McGuire) plays rancher's daughter Joan Ransom. Dan Sheridan (Summers on Lawman) plays an O'Mara gunman. Jack
Reitzen (Chopstick Joe on Terry and the
Pirates and Flores on Not for Hire)
plays former Kelly employee Jarvis. Kelly Thordsen (Colorado Charlie on Yancy Derringer) plays wanted outlaw
Chino. Karen Sharpe (Laura Thomas on Johnny
Ringo) plays saloon girl Kathy.
Season 1, Episode 7, "Daughter of the Sioux": Harry
Guardino (see "Perilous Passage" above) returns as Johnny Caldwell. Frank
Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend
Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place,
and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction)
plays fur trader Jason Coolidge. Mario Alcalde (Yellow Hawk on The Texan and Chuck Atwell on Peyton Place) plays Sioux chief Bloody
Hand. Gilman Rankin (Deputy Charlie Riggs on Tombstone Territory) plays the elder Sioux chief.
Season 1, Episode 8, "Lawyer in Petticoats": George
Tobias (shown on the right, starred in Sergeant York, This Is the Army, and Yankee Doodle Dandy and played Pierre
Falcon on Hudson's Bay, Trader
Penrose on Adventures in Paradise,
and Abner Kravitz on Bewitched) plays
miner Hardrock Jackson. Dianne Foster (starred in Night Passage, The Last
Hurrah, and The Deep Six) plays his
daughter Helen. Barton MacLane (starred in The
Prince and the Pauper, High Sierra,
The Maltese Falcon, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre and played
Marshal Frank Crane on Outlaws and
Gen. Peterson on I Dream of Jeannie)
plays his partner Big Jed Braddock. Read Morgan (Sgt. Hapgood Tasker on The Deputy) plays Braddock's brother
Phil. Denver Pyle (Ben Thompson on The
Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Grandpa Tarleton on Tammy, Briscoe Darlingon The Andy Griffith Show, Buck Webb on The
Doris Day Show, Mad Jack on The Life
and Times of Grizzly Adams, and Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays the Hastings sheriff. Olan Soule
(Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain
Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet
(1952-59), and Fred Springer on Arnie)
plays a traveling photographer. Walter Sande (appeared in To Have and Have Not, A Place
in the Sun, and Bad Day at Black Rock
and played Capt. Horatio Bullwinkle on The
Adventures of Tugboat Annie and Papa Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter) plays stage clerk Sam Morton. John Qualen
(starred in The Three Musketeers(1935),
His Girl Friday, The Grapes of Wrath, Angels
Over Broadway, Casablanca, Anatomy of a Murder, and A Patch of Blue) plays the circuit
judge.
Season 1, Episode 9, "The Vigilantes of Montana": Walter
Coy (Zoravac on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger
and the narrator on Frontier) plays Banic
Sheriff Plummer. Myrna Fahey (shown on the right, played Katherine "Kay" Banks on Father of the Bride) plays his daughter
Harriet. Werner Klemperer (shown on the left, starred in Five
Steps to Danger, Operation Eichmann,
and Judgment at Nuremberg and played
Col. Klink on Hogan's Heroes) plays store
owner Arnold Braun. Sherwood Price (Gen. Jeb Stuart on The Gray Ghost) plays stage robber Sam Kemp. Charles Maxwell
(Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives
and the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's
Island) plays his accomplice Tex Tobey. James Chandler (Lt. Girard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays Overland
clerk Jake Horan. Alan Dexter (Frank Ferguson on Days of Our Lives) plays vigilante Ben.
Season 1, Episode 10, "Fire in the Hole": Claude
Akins (Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and
Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J and the Bear
and on Lobo) plays tunnel digger
Jumbo. Susan Cummings (Georgia on Union
Pacific) plays his girlfriend Nitro Nell. Robert Bray (Simon Kane on Stagecoach West and Corey Stuart on Lassie) plays rival stage employee Matt
Peak. John Pickard (Capt. Shank Adams on Boots
and Saddles and Sgt. Maj. Murdock on Gunslinger)
plays miner straw-boss Cavanaugh. Lane Chandler (Tom Pike on Lawman) plays an unnamed miner. Frank
Warren (Officer Simpson on Highway Patrol)
plays another unnamed miner. Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand on Star Trek) plays a saloon girl.
Season 1, Episode 11, "Mission Into Mexico": Robert
Loggia (shown on the right, starred in The Greatest Story
Ever Told, Revenge of the Pink
Panther, Scarface, and Big and played T. Hewitt Edward Cat on T.H.E. Cat, Admiral Yuri Burkharin on Emerald Point, N.A.S., Nick Mancuso on Mancuso, FBI, Ben Benedict on Sunday Dinner, and Judge Thomas O'Neill
on Queens Supreme) plays Mexican
insurgent Porfirio Diaz. Barbara Luna (Maria on One Life to Live) plays fellow insurgent Estrelita. Rodolfo Hoyos,
Jr. (Luis Valdez on Viva Valdez)
plays sadistic insurgent Carlos Hernandez. Ron Hayes (Wyatt Earp on Bat Masterson, Lincoln Vail on Everglades, Ben Jones on The Rounders, and Hank Johnson on Dallas) plays Overland station master
Luke. John van Dreelen (starred in The
Leech Woman, 13 Ghosts, and Topaz) plays hussar commander Capt.
Fortesque.
Season 1, Episode 12, "First Stage to Denver": Peter
Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The
Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The
Beverly Hillbillies) plays Governor George Sutcliff. Kelton Garwood (Beauregard
O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beat and
Percy Crump on Gunsmoke) plays outlaw
Chisolm. Peter Brocco (Peter the waiter on The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays imposter Dr. Courtney.
Season 1, Episode 13, "Sour Annie": Mercedes
McCambridge (shown on the right, starred in All the King's
Men, Johnny Guitar, Giant, and A Farewell to Arms and played Kate Wells on Wire Service) plays prospector Annie Tatum. Richard Devon (Jody
Barker on Yancy Derringer) plays mustang
catcher Harlan Deal. Slim Pickens (shown on the left, starred in The Story of Will Rogers, Dr.
Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, and The Howling and played Slim on Outlaws, Slim Walker on The Wide Country, California Joe Milner
on Custer, and Sgt. Beauregard Wiley
on B.J. & the Bear) plays mustang
catcher Vince Allard. Andrew Prine (starred in The Miracle Worker, The
Devil's Brigade, Bandolero!, and Chisum and played Andy Guthrie on The Wide Country, Dr. Roger Helvick on Dr. Kildare, Timothy Pride on The Road West, Dan Costello on W.E.B., and Wayne/Wyatt Donnelly on Weird Science) plays mustang catcher
Hank Paulson.
Season 1, Episode 14, "The Baron Comes Back":
Gerald Mohr (narrator on 19 episodes of The
Lone Ranger, Christopher Storm on Foreign
Intrigue, and voice of Mr. Fantastic and Reed Richards on Fantastic 4) plays mythical con man
James Addison Reavis. Denver Pyle (see "Lawyer in Petticoats" above)
plays prospective farmer Jonathan Kale. Ken Lynch (appeared in I Married a Monster From Outer Space, Anatomy of a Murder, and Dead Ringer and played Lt. Thomas Brand
on Checkmate, Det. Lt. Tom Handley on
Arrest and Trial, Lt. Barney Keller
on Honey West, and Police Sgt. Grover
on McCloud) plays stage robber Quint.
Michael Hinn (Luke Cummings on Boots and
Saddles) plays bridge worker Jacobs. Milton Frome (starred in Pardners, The Delicate Delinquent, and The
Swinger and played Lawrence Chapman on The
Beverly Hillbillies) plays a bartender. Barry Kelley (starred in The Asphalt Jungle, The Manchurian Candidate, and The
Love Bug and played Mr. Slocum on Pete
and Gladys and Mr. Hergesheimer on Mister
Ed) plays saloon owner Jake Talby.
Season 1, Episode 15, "Escort Detail": David Wayne
(starred in Adam's Rib, M, How
to Marry a Millionaire, The Three
Faces of Eve, and The Andromeda
Strain and played Preston Norby on Norby,
The Mad Hatter on Batman, Charles
Dutton on The Good Life, Inspector
Richard Queen on Ellery Queen, and
Doctor Amos Weatherby on House Calls)
plays U.S. Cavalry Lt. Adam King. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays U.S. Cavalry Maj.
Evans. James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard) plays Pvt. Cullen. John Marley (starred in Cat Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather)
plays Sioux chief Crazy Horse. Pat Hogan (Black Cloud on Brave Eagle) plays renegade Sioux Running Dog.
Season 1, Episode 16, "The Reckoning": Monica
Lewis (shown on the right, popular singer who starred in Excuse
My Dust, Affair With a Stranger,
and The D.I.) plays blind estranged
wife Anne Michaels. Harold J. Stone (John Kennedy on The Grand Jury, Hamilton Greeley on My World and Welcome to It, and Sam Steinberg on Bridget Loves Bernie) plays her
estranged husband John. Denny Miller (Duke Shannon on Wagon Train and Mike McCluskey on Mona McCluskey) plays her son Jimmy. John Carradine (starred in Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, House of
Frankenstein, House of Dracula, The Ten Commandments, and Sex Kittens Go to College and played
Gen. Joshua McCord on Branded) plays
newspaper publisher Caleb Nash. Forrest Taylor (starred in True Nobility, Big Calibre,
Too Much Beef, and The Lost Planet and played Doc Brannon
on Man Without a Gun) plays the
Laramie doctor. Stuart Randall (Sheriff Art Sampson on Cimarron City, Al Livermore on Lassie,
and Sheriff Mort Corey on Laramie)
plays the Laramie marshal.
Season 1, Episode 17, "Most Dangerous Gentleman": John
McIntire (shown on the left, starred in Call Northside 777,
The Street With No Name, Winchester '73, Psycho, and Elmer Gantry
and played Lt. Dan Muldoon on Naked City,
Christopher Hale on Wagon Train, Clay
Grainger on The Virginian, and Dutch
McHenry on Shirley) plays railroad
baron Gen. William Palmer. Lang Jeffries (Skip Johnson on Rescue 8) plays his construction engineer Mike Day. Jeff Donnell (Alice
on The George Gobel Show, Evelyn
Driscoll on Dr. Kildare, and Mrs.
Bennett on Julia) plays his secretary
Jennifer Dean. Ron Randell (starred in Pacific
Adventure, Bulldog Drummond at Bay,
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, Lorna Doone, and Kiss Me Kate, was the host for The
Vise and played Capt. Frank Hawthorn on O.S.S.)
plays hired saboteur Bill Jordan. Robert Emhardt (Sgt. Vinton on The Kids From C.A.P.E.R.) plays rival
railroad baron Jonathan Edwards. Christine White (Abigail Adams on Ichabod and Me) plays co-conspirator
Miss Traynor. Onslow Stevens (starred in The
Three Musketeers (1935), The Creeper,
Angel on My Shoulder, Mark of the Gorilla, and Them!) plays President Ulysses S. Grant.
Wesley Lau (Lt. Andy Anderson on PerryMason and Master Sgt. Jiggs on The
Time Tunnel) plays Grant's bodyguard Maj. Daniels.
Thank you for the run-down on this short-lived series! I always find your posts highly informative and interesting. I want to see the Wesley Lau episode, but have debated whether the series is one I would like enough to warrant purchasing the series set. I'm still not quite sure. I've heard it described as a light-hearted, humorous series. It sounds from your description as though it could be. Does it lean more towards a light-hearted tone rather than serious?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ladybug. The series does have an overall light-hearted feel, particularly the give-and-take between the two principal characters. The Wesley Lau episode does not feature him on camera a lot--he is a secondary-rung supporting character who doesn't show up until at least halfway through the episode. On the other hand, the price for the series is pretty reasonable--only $17 on Amazon; $15 on eBay.
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