The Rebel (1961)

Bob Anderson's interview with writer, producer, and co-creator Andrew J. Fenady in the Shout! Factory Season 2 DVD set for The Rebel fails to shed any light on why Fenady and star Nick Adams chose to base their western on a former Confederate soldier. Like his interview with Boyd Magers' Western Clippings web site, which we mentioned in the post on the 1960 episodes, Fenady maintains that he wanted to create a Jack London-type wandering writer who based his works on his own experiences, and since westerns were the dominant genre in terms of popularity on television in the late 1950s, he obviously chose to set the drama in the old west. But that still doesn't explain why he and Adams chose to make Johnny Yuma a former Confederate, or the series completely skirting the issue of slavery and portraying most of the surviving southerners as pitiable victims who have lost an enviable way of life. Anderson completely whiffs on digging into why the series' creators chose to show that there were very fine people on both sides.

However, the interview does shed some light on why The Rebel was canceled. Anderson notes that the series was ABC's highest-rated show airing on Sunday night, even though it never cracked the top 30 of the overall ratings, and Fenady and partner Irvin Kershner decided to develop a companion piece called The Yank, which would tell the story of a young man named Matthew Dorn who on the day he graduates from medical school learns that his father, an officer in the Union Army, is killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg. So rather than pursuing a medical career and taking the Hippocratic Oath, he enrolls at West Point, becomes a Union officer himself under William Tecumseh Sherman, and takes part in the destruction of the South. But once the war is over, Dorn takes to heart the words from Lincoln's second inaugural address about binding the nation's wounds and decides to retrace his path as a soldier and eventually use his medical training to help bring healing to the South. It's worth noting that of the two companion series, the former Union soldier is the one who feels compelled to embark on a tour of atonement, while the former Confederate sees no need to make amends.

Fenady and Kershner filmed a pilot episode that starred James Drury as Dorn, shortly before he landed the title role in The Virginian, with a supporting cast including John McIntire, Harry Townes, L.Q. Jones, and John Sutton. ABC was thrilled with the pilot and wanted to pick it up immediately, but since the 1960-61 season was already half over, they offered production company president Bill Todman 16 episodes to start right away. However, Todman wanted a full-season commitment of 36 episodes and decided instead to shop the show to NBC, where he had a friend in vice president of programming David Levy, offering both it and The Rebel as a package deal. Levy agreed to take both The Yank and The Rebel at 36 episodes each beginning the next season, so Todman went back to ABC and, according to Fenady's account, told them to "go to hell." Understandably ABC dropped The Rebel at the end of its second season. However, before NBC could pick it up for the 1961-62 season, Levy had left NBC in the wake of allegations by producer Ivan Tors during Congressional hearings on sex and violence in TV that Levy had insisted that sex and violence be added to Tors' series The Man and the Challenge before he would agree to add it to NBC's lineup. In other words, Todman's decision to burn his bridges with ABC spelled the demise of The Rebel.

But in the remaining episodes that aired in 1961, Fenady and company try to walk a fine line between exonerating the South while also saying that slavery is wrong, at least when it involves white people. In "The Promise" (January 15, 1961), Yuma rides into the town of Three Points to deliver a watch and a locket from a fallen war buddy to the man's daughter Laurie Buford only to discover that she is in effect enslaved by Hobie Kincaid, leader of a local vigilante outfit. At first Kincaid tries to make it appear that Laurie is merely his housekeeper, but he also plans to force her to marry his nephew Billy Joe as a final repayment for his having paid for her mother's doctor bills when she gave birth to Laurie. Yuma, of course, has to speak up against the marriage at the ceremony, prompting the minster to refuse to complete it, and then eventually Yuma guns down Billy Joe when he and Hobie try to find another minister in the next town and he tries to stop them. Then Hobie attempts to frame Yuma for Billy Joe's murder. Since there are no African-Americans ever depicted in the 1961 episodes of The Rebel, this is as close as the show ever gets to freeing the slaves.

In "Mission--Varina" (May 14, 1961) we see a sympathetic Jefferson Davis, one-time president of the Confederacy, being released from prison but in need of an armed escort to ensure that he can make the journey to a marina where he will be joined by his wife to sail back home. Yuma is recruited as one of Davis' escorts by Mrs. Davis because he served in a fictional secret mission that tried to end the war in 1863 but was sabotaged. Mrs. Davis fears that her husband has enemies on both sides of the war who may try to assassinate him if they learn of his travel plans, and his escort by the U.S. government will end 1 mile short of the marina to avoid drawing attention to his identity aboard the ship. However, another escort is Charles Ashbaugh, another member of the secret mission who was the one who sabotaged the peace deal (though it appears Yuma is the only one who knows this) by firing at a Union officer when the representatives from both sides met to sign the agreement. Unbeknownst to anyone until almost too late, Ashbaugh secretly harbors hate for Davis because he thinks he surrendered too easily, and Yuma has to gun down Ashbaugh when he tries to kill Davis. But before they reach the final confrontation, one of the U.S. government soldiers making up the escort asks Davis how, as a graduate of West Point and a member of the U.S. Army for 9 years, he could choose to secede from the country he had sworn to defend. Davis' answer is the sort of emotionally laden non-answer one expects from a career politician--that when forced to choose between family and country, of course one would choose family. The fact that everyone listening accepts his diversion without blinking an eye is yet another example of the way The Rebel sought to smooth over what really caused the Civil War.

However, the most ironic episode of 1961 is undoubtedly "Paperback Hero" (January 29, 1961) in which Yuma is sought out by Missouri-based newspaper writer Emily Stevens because she is looking for a western hero she can write about to please her editor and father back home. The plot is hardly original--many westerns of the era take potshots at eastern journalists and novelists who are thrilled by the tall tales of the west and decide to head there to witness the sensationalized action firsthand, only to realize that the deadly stakes involved are far more serious than they first realized. So the way the plot evolves is hardly novel, but what is interesting is the way Stevens builds up Yuma's character in her first articles--describing him as adorned with a chestful of medals, swaggering about like a cavalier, and claiming that he fought in the Civil War to "defend the dignity of gracious living." Though his only medal is an eagle's claw given to him by a Kiowa chief who considered him a blood brother because of his bravery, Yuma's depiction on The Rebel is not far off from Stevens' account. He portrays himself as a tough guy, who in the words of Fenady's theme song "figured that he'd been pushed enough," and never has to own up that he fought to defend a way of living that included enslaving other humans. Unwittingly, this episode undercuts Yuma's heroic status by exposing the facade of the South's "noble cause" and provides a perfect example that his character is not all he's cracked up to be. Furthermore, Yuma is engaged in the exact same occupation as Stevens, since he periodically sends sections of his journal to be published in his hometown newspaper in Mason City. Since we never see his completed newspaper columns, how do we know that his accounts of his exploits are any less sensationalized than those of Stevens? As one of Fenady's Shakespeare-quoting characters would have said, "Ay, there's the rub."

The Actors

For the biography of Nick Adams, see the 1960 post for The Rebel.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 2, Episode 16, "The Liberators": Joan Vohs (shown on the near left, played Jan Dearing on My Three Sons and Miss Cummings on Family Affair) plays abandoned physician Dr. Bless Stelling. Jody Warner (shown on the far left, played Penny Cooper on One Happy Family) plays her sister Hope. Nick Dennis (starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, and Kiss Me Deadly and played Nick Kanavaras on Ben Casey and Constantine on Kojak) plays Mexican revolutionary Greco. 

Season 2, Episode 17, "The Guard": Ed Nelson (shown on the right, played Michael Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller on The Silent Force) plays former Union prison guard Clint Mowbree. William Phipps (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his brother Ben. Dee Pollock (Billy Urchin on Gunslinger) plays his brother Charlie.

Season 2, Episode 18, "The Promise": Gigi Perreau (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Betty Hutton Show) plays daughter of Yuma war buddy Laurie Buford. Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays her employer Hobie Kincaid. Victor Izay (starred in Dr. Sex, The Astro-Zombies, and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils and played Judge Simmons on The D.A., Bull on Gunsmoke, and Dr. Matthew Vance on The Waltons) plays general store owner Abel Hawkins.

Season 2, Episode 19, "Jerkwater": John Dehner (shown on the right, played Duke Williams on The Roaring '20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The Baileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on The Virginian, Cyril Bennett on The Doris Day Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays Yuma's fishing partner John Sims. John Marley (starred in Cat Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather) plays Campbelltown patriarch George Campbell. James Chandler (Lt. Gerard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays Campbelltown physician Dr. Raydon. 

Season 2, Episode 20, "Paperback Hero": Virginia Gregg (shown on the left, starred in Dragnet, Crime in the Streets, Operation Petticoat and was the voice of Norma Bates in Psycho and was the voice of Maggie Belle Klaxon on Calvin and the Colonel) plays eastern newspaper writer Emily Stevens. Bobby Diamond (Joey Newton on Fury and Duncan Gillis on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays shoeshine boy Jody Webster. Marie Selland (wife of director Sam Peckinpah) plays a saloon girl.

Season 2, Episode 21, "The Actress": Virginia Field (appeared in Little Lord Fauntleroy, Thank You, Jeeves!, Stage Door Canteen, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) plays renowned actress Lotta Langley. Sandra Knight (shown on the right, ex-wife of Jack Nicholson, appeared in Thunder Road, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Blood Bath) plays her daughter Ruth Revere. Vic Perrin (the narrator on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, the control voice on The Outer Limits, and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission: Impossible!) plays widower farmer Will Arvid. Robert Hickman (makeup artist who worked on Creature From the Black Lagoon and Around the World in Eighty Days as well as TV series Burke's Law, Honey West, and H.R. Pufnstuf) plays a deputy.

Season 2, Episode 22, "The Threat": Trevor Bardette (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Big Rescue Sheriff Ike Howard. Richard Bakalyan (starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop Command, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes) plays extortionist Bart Vogan. Aladdin (Cesare on My Three Sons) plays banker Ambrose Pack.

Season 2, Episode 23, "The Road to Jericho": Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays scam artist Arthur Sutro. Warren Stevens (shown on the right, starred in The Frogmen, The Barefoot Contessa, Deadline U.S.A., and Forbidden Planet, played Lt. William Storm on Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, and was the voice of John Bracken on Bracken's World) plays pacifist Christopher Portal.

Season 2, Episode 24, "The Last Drink": Tom Drake (starred in Meet Me in St. Louis, Words and Music, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College, and The Sandpiper) plays notorious gunslinger Trace Dawes. Steve Marlo (Jack Casey on Ben Casey) plays his pursuer Ben Culver.

Season 2, Episode 25, "The Burying of Sammy Hart": George Wallace (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays rancher Aaron Wallace. Eugene Mazzola (Joey Drum on Jefferson Drum) plays his son Billy. Charles Maxwell (shown on the left, played Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays his foreman Deeb Ericksen. Peggy Stewart (starred in Oregon Trail, Son of Zorro, and Desert Vigilante and played Cherien's mother on The Riches) plays his wife Sarah. Iron Eyes Cody (played the Indian who sheds a single tear in the "Keep America Beautiful" commercial that began running in 1971) plays dying Indian Sammy Hart.

Season 2, Episode 26, "The Pit": Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays wife of missing prospector Charity Bruner. Myron Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays postal clerk Mac MacGowan. Ralph Reed (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his son Slip. Steve Franken (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Slip's friend Ruck. Ned Glass (shown on the right, played MSgt. Andy Pendleton on The Phil Silvers Show, Sol Cooper on Julia, and Uncle Moe Plotnick on Bridget Loves Bernie) plays assayer Sam. Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays enforcer Hunk.

Season 2, Episode 27, "Shriek of Silence": Tom Nolan (Jody O'Connell on Buckskin, Officer Hubbell on Jessie, and Mick on Out of This World) plays deaf/mute boy Paul Fellows. Yvette Vickers (starred in Reform School Girl, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, and Attack of the Giant Leeches) plays saloon girl Nancy. Frank DeKova (shown on the left, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays outlaw Dick Sturgis. Anna Karen (Anna Chernak on Peyton Place) plays farm wife Bess Warren.

Season 2, Episode 28, "Two Weeks": Frank Overton (starred in Desire Under the Elms, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey Stovall on 12 O'Clock High) plays former Union Army prisoner John Galt. Jamie Farr (shown on the right, appeared in The Blackboard Jungle, With Six You Get Eggroll, The Cannonball Run, and Scrooged and played Maxwell Klinger on M*A*S*H and AfterMASH and Dudley on The Cool Kids) plays his ranch-hand Pooch. Shirley Ballard (Miss California of 1944, wife of Jason Evers, continuity supervisor on Water Under the Bridge and The Sullivans) plays Galt's wife Ann. 

Season 2, Episode 29, "Miz Purdy": Patricia Breslin (shown on the left, plated Amanda Peoples Miller on The People's Choice, Laura Brooks on Peyton Place, and Meg Bentley on General Hospital) plays ranch wife Elizabeth Purdy. Jason Evers (starred in The Brain That Wouldn't Die, House of Women, The Green Berets, and Escape From the Planet of the Apes and played Pitcairn on Wrangler, Prof. Joseph Howe on Channing, and Jim Sonnett on The Guns of Will Sonnett) plays ex-Confederate marauder George Tess. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays his cohort Deacon.

Season 2, Episode 30, "The Ballad of Danny Brown": William Bryant (McCall on Combat!, President Ulysses S. Grant on Branded, Col. Crook on Hondo, Lt. Shilton on Switch, and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays just-released ex-con Danny Brown. Gail Kobe (Penny Adams on Trackdown, Doris Schuster on Peyton Place, and Dean Ann Boyd Jones on Bright Promise and produced over 200 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful) plays his fiance Emily Hardy. Tex Ritter (shown on the right, singing cowboy star of 1930s and 40s B westerns, who sang the Oscar-winning theme for High Noon and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame) plays the Shady Grove marshal. Stephen Joyce (Bubba Wadsworth on Texas, Admiral Walter Strichen on Wiseguy, and George Connor on All My Children) plays Emily's nephew Isham.

Season 2, Episode 31, "The Proxy": Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays fugitive banker Houghton. Vic Damone (shown on the left, popular singer once married to Diahann Carroll, starred in Rich, Young and Pretty, Hit the Deck, and Hell to Eternity) plays posse member Jess Wilkerson. Royal Dano (appeared in The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) play posse member Ben Crowe. William Bryant (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays U.S. Army Maj. Lipscott.

Season 2, Episode 32, "Decision at Sweetwater": William Phipps (see "The Guard" above) plays mining engineer Morton Bishop. Carla Belanda (Patricia Hardy on The Mickey Rooney Show, Betty Leonard on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, and Miss Hazllit on Lassie) plays his wife Mary. Yvette Vickers (shown on the right, see "Shriek of Silence" above) plays saloon dancer Catherine Jewel. 

Season 2, Episode 33, "Helping Hand": Ray Stricklyn (Dr. James Parris on The Colbys and Senator Pickering on Wiseguy) plays family feuder Carl Blaine. Lee Erickson (Woody on Lassie) plays his brother Dave. Jack Elam (shown on the left, played Deputy J.D. Smith on The Dakotas, George Taggart on Temple Houston, Zack Wheeler on The Texas Wheelers, and Uncle Alvin Stevenson on Easy Street) plays his Uncle Luce. Eddie Ryder (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays Luce's son Web.

Season 2, Episode 34, "The Uncourageous": George Dolenz (shown on the right, father of Micky Dolenz, appeared in The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler, Vendetta, Scared Stiff, and The Last Time I Saw Paris and played Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo on The Count of Monte Cristo) plays matador Juan Amontillo. Renata Vanni (appeared in Pay or Die!, A Patch of Blue, and Fatso and played Rose Brentano on That Girl) plays his wife Rosa.  

Season 2, Episode 35, "Mission--Varina": Richard Gaines (shown on the left, appeared in The Howard of Virginia, Double Indemnity, Unconquered, and Ace in the Hole and played the judge 14 times on Perry Mason) plays former Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Frieda Inescourt (appeared in Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the Vampire, A Place in the Sun, The She-Creature, and The Alligator People) plays his wife Varina. William Schallert (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays former Confederate soldier Charles Ashbaugh. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays retiring U.S. Army Sgt. Mundale. Ralph Reed (see "The Pit" above) plays his subordinate Pvt. Gaines.

Season 2, Episode 36, "The Calley Kid": Richard Bakalyan (see "The Threat" above) plays wounded outlaw Calley Dawson. 

Season 2, Episode 37, "Ben White": Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays wanted bank robber Ben White. Mary Murphy (shown on the right, appeared in The Wild One, Beachhead, The Mad Magician, The Desperate Hours, and Junior Bonner) plays his wife T. Bruno VeSota (see "Decision at Sweetwater" above) plays cantina owner Basto.

Season 2, Episode 38, "The Found": Karl Held (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays wanted bank robber Danny Heathers. 

Season 2, Episode 39, "The Hostage": Lon McAllister (shown on the left, starred in Winged Victory, Thunder in the Valley, Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, and The Story of Seabiscuit) plays Yuma's war buddy Coley Wilks. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, Dick Martin on As the World Turns, and Ben Grant on Somerset) plays his brother Sheriff Jesse Wilks. Stephen Joyce (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays convicted murderer Frank Daggett. Corey Allen (went on to direct multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare, Police Woman, Dallas, Hunter, and Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays his brother Yancey. Barry Russo (Roy Gilroy on The Young Marrieds) plays Yancey's cohort Charles Kane. Aladdin (see "The Threat" above) plays local Judge Baylon. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays murder victim's widow Martha Randall. William Bryant (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays poker player Bill.

Season 2, Episode 40, "The Executioner": Barry Atwater (Dr. John Prentice on General Hospital) plays Shoshone chief LeBlanc. Arthur Peterson (shown on the right, played The Major on Soap) plays the Carson City sheriff. Charles Aidman (see "Ben White" above) plays hostage Ferguson. Ken Mayer (see "Miz Purdy" above) plays hostage Andrews. Terry Moore (claimed to be secretly married to Howard Hughes though over the same period married and divorced several other men, including football star Glenn Davis, starred in Mighty Joe Young, Come Back, Little Sheba, Daddy Long Legs, and Peyton Place, and played Connie Garrett on Empire and Venus on Batman) plays hostage Janice Dutton.