The Westerner (1960)

Critically acclaimed by some when it first aired and now considered a cult classic of the western television drama, The Westerner owes its lofty reputation to being an early work of controversial and revered director Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah's knowledge of the wild west was secondhand but perhaps more real than all the other directors and producers who churned out cookie-cutter horse operas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had grown up near Fresno, California where his grandfather ran a ranch that not only allowed the young Peckinpah to experience ranch life first hand but to also hear the stories of descendants of 19th century miners and ranchers who worked on his grandfather's spread. After a stint in the Marines in which he served in the Pacific and witnessed firsthand the brutality of war between the Chinese and Japanese, he enrolled at California State University, initially studying history until his first wife Marie Selland got him interested in theater and directing. He went on to earn a master's degree from USC, worked as a stage hand on local TV, and worked for director Don Siegel as a dialogue coach on several of his films. With Siegel's recommendation he began getting scriptwriting assignments for western TV series such as Gunsmoke, Have Gun -- Will Travel, and Broken Arrow. His script for an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre became the basis for the series The Rifleman, for which Peckinpah directed four episodes and wrote several others. His association with Powell's anthology series eventually led to The Westerner as his 1959 episode "Trouble at Tres Cruces" became the unofficial pilot for the 1960 series. The pilot revolved around a high-powered Winchester repeating rifle which is bequeathed to drifter Dave Blassingame (played by Brian Keith) and which he uses to exact revenge on the killer of the rifle's original owner. Initially the series was to be called The Winchester and focus strongly on the high-powered gun, much like Lucas McCain's trademark gun in The Rifleman.

While the Winchester does figure prominently in The Westerner's first episode "Jeff" (September 30, 1960) and "The Old Man" (November 25, 1960), it is not central to the theme of these two episodes and is rarely seen in the other 11 episodes. But the violence and brutality that earned Peckinpah the nickname "Bloody Sam" is very much a part of the series, though the intensity of the violent episodes is leavened by the series' three comic episodes--"Brown" (October 21, 1960), "The Courting of Libby" (November 11, 1960), and "The Painting" (December 30, 1960)--all three directed by Peckinpah and co-starring John Dehner as Blassingame's friend and foil Burgundy Smith. As film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle, and Nick Redman note in their commentary for the 2017 DVD release, The Westerner is a case study in Peckinpah's skill as a director and script writer even before he made his first feature film and an exploration of his demythologizing of the old west. Though he sometimes gets miscast as a promoter of graphic violence, these film historians point out that in The Westerner violence has real-world  and often tragic consequences, unlike almost all the other westerns from the era.

The standard formula for television westerns by 1960 centered around a mythic hero (sometimes a duo, as in Laramie and Lawman, or ensemble, as in Wagon Train and Gunsmoke) who was either bound to a place (again, Gunsmoke, Lawman, and The Rifleman) or wandered freely dispensing justice (Cheyenne and Have Gun -- Will Travel). In the single-location westerns, evil typically comes from outside the community. In the picaresque-style westerns, the hero encounters evil in the places he visits. In both cases, while the hero can be occasionally wounded, he is invincible and the agent for defeating evil or enabling the downtrodden to do so. Such a formula rarely allows for real tragedy because the villains get what they deserve. Though occasionally a character will begin as the embodiment of evil, we may learn that he is misguided and has a change of heart, allowing him to be redeemed in this life, or if his sins prove too severe, he is allowed to give his life to restore order and therefore achieve redemption in the next life.

But this is not how the narratives generally play out in Peckinpah's world, though "The Old Man" perhaps fits closest to the standard redemption trope when dying patriarch Tyler McKeen willingly gives up what short time remains for him to ensure that his estate passes to his grandson rather than to the vulture-like distant relatives who show up and demand that he bequeath his effects to them. McKeen even gives a dying speech to his grandson that he would not have wanted to go out any other way. But in the series opener "Jeff," Blassingame travels many miles to try to rescue his childhood girlfriend currently trapped in an abusive and exploitative relationship with a brutal former boxer named Denny Lipp. Though Blassingame nearly convinces her to come away with him and endures a violent shoot-out with Lipp's Indian bartender and a brawl with Lipp himself, Jeff ultimately decides to stay in her sado-masochistic relationship with Lipp because she cannot forgive herself for her descent into prostitution and she believes that no one else can either. Blassingame as savior is foiled and is forced to leave beaten and empty-handed. This is hardly the sort of "all's right with the world" ending that pervaded 1960s westerns.

While the film historians mentioned above consider the comic episode "Brown" to be an extended depiction of the kind of drunken bender that the notorious alcoholic Peckinpah himself experienced on many occasions, he shows the other side of the coin in how drunkenness can lead to pointless tragedy in "Line Camp" (December 9, 1960). In this episode Blassingame runs across a traveling company of horse wranglers and lands a job after finding one of their members dead along the trail. After joining them he learns that the group also includes someone he has worked with before, Ben Prescott, who is clearly an alcoholic and takes advantage of their foreman's absence to break company rules in buying alcohol from some traveling hunters and then getting drunk with the other wranglers, including Blassingame. But when the foreman returns and fires Blassingame and Prescott for breaking the rules, Blassingame accepts the decision and says he is guilty but he does not want to travel with Prescott because he knows what kind of man he is from their past acquaintance. This offends Prescott, still obviously intoxicated, who begins spouting off that Blassingame intends to kill him once they both leave camp, and even though Blassingame peacefully goes outside and tries to saddle up to leave alone, Prescott follows him outside with his gun, begins firing at him, and wounds him in the leg, forcing Blassingame to fire back and kill Prescott. Blassingame reiterates that Prescott's behavior was senseless as he posed no threat to him, and the foreman asks how he is going to explain to his company how he wound up with one wrangler dead and another one incapacitated due to his leg wound. There is no sense of justice at the end of this episode because even though Prescott behaved foolishly and proved to be a threat to Blassingame, he was not motivated by evil, only a paranoid obsession brought on by too much alcohol. Here Peckinpah strips away the myth of good triumphing over evil and shows the dire consequences of bad decisions, a much more realistic depiction of human behavior than is found in all the other westerns of the era.

The episode "Hand on the Gun" (December 23, 1960) paints a similar picture of someone taking things too far and receiving more than he bargained for. In this case, it is easterner Calvin Davis, who joins Blassingame's group of wild horse wranglers thinking that because he has read about the west and can do a few gun tricks that he can take on anyone. The greenhorn who gets in over his head is common trope in television westerns, but is usually played for comic effect. Peckinpah's version is grimmer because it shows that gunplay is not a kid's game. Besides feeling like he has something to prove, Davis also displays a racist streak in calling Blassingame's friend Oresquote Solera a "pepper gut," an insult because of Solera's Mexican heritage. After the group has delivered the horses they've captured and have been paid, Davis wants to continue in Blassingame's employ, but the latter doesn't want him because he has seen how reckless and hard-headed he is. Davis tries to strike back by repeating his insult to Solera and will not be satisfied with anything other than a showdown in the street. Earlier in the episode Blassingame tries to each Davis the real-world consequences of a gun wound by having Solera show him where a bullet entered his abdomen and then exited from a much larger hole in his back, a wound that laid Solera up for 8 months recovering. But Davis fails to heed the warning, and when he faces Solera in the street he gets off the first shot at point blank range but misses. Solera doesn't miss in returning fire, and Davis drops to the street in shock, still not believing that the duel didn't play out the way he imagined, as Blassingame and Solera ride out of town, leaving him to die. Here another life is wasted because someone failed to grasp the serious, tragic consequences of the violence that a gun can deliver. Rather than being a champion of bloodshed and violence, as he is often labeled, Peckinpah is unblinking and graphic in his depiction of violence to show the viewer what can really happen in the real world, which is nothing like the morality plays that pervaded the television airwaves in 1960.

Peckinpah's attempt to offer a more realistic depiction of western life didn't stop with the stories--the character of Dave Blassingame was far from the one-dimensional characters seen in other western series, where men tended to be bolt upright defenders of justice, irredeemable villains, or simple-minded comic foils. Blassingame generally tries to do what's right and doesn't go out seeking violence, but he is prone to bouts of drunkenness and delusion, thinking a woman like Libby Lorraine in "The Courting of Libby" would be a suitable partner for a penniless trail bum like him. However, he strikes a particularly poor figure in "Treasure" (November 18, 1960) in which he discovers U.S. Government saddlebags laden with golden coins hidden out in the desert after being stolen from an army payroll some years ago. He knows they are stolen because an old prospector wanders by shortly after his discovery, obviously looking for the same treasure, and tells him the tale of this missing payroll. When the prospector observes that Blassingame is acting oddly, he decides to stick around, hoping that Blassingame will make a mistake that will let him walk away with the coins. Neither man is willing to bargain with the other or admit to the other what they are after, so that when Blassingame finally nods off while guarding the hole in a rock formation where the saddlebags are hidden, the prospector makes his move and tries to kill him with a knife. Blassingame is able to fend him off and shoot the prospector dead, but in the process scares off the prospector's mule. He is then forced to ride back to town and the strain of the saddlebags finally does in his horse, which he has to shoot. He refuses to share his water with his dog Brown, another character who doesn't fit the mold of the heroic canine forged by Lassie and Rin Tin Tin, because he says there might not be enough for the both of them. In fact, he leaves Brown to die of thirst in the desert and makes it back to town, where he finds that the local Marshal Frank Dollar has not only found the dead prospector after getting a tip and rescued Brown from sure death, but he also has a pretty good idea of what Blassingame dragged back to town in his saddle bags. But rather than admit the jig is up, Blassingame takes the marshal at knifepoint and then gunpoint and forces him to drive him to the Mexican border with Brown and the gold coins so that he can sneak across the border and live high off the stolen treasure. So at this point he has allowed greed to justify killing another man, abandoned his dog in the desert, and kidnapped a law officer to escape with stolen money. Hardly a resume worthy a western hero. In the end he comes to his senses when he sees that Brown will not be able to make it across the Mexican desert, and he returns back to the U.S. and hands the money over to the marshal who is patiently waiting for him. It's not clear why this time he decides to stay loyal to Brown when he was not before, perhaps further reflection made him realize the payoff would not be worth the price, but he is allowed to ride off scott free after turning over the money to Dollar, thereby perhaps avoiding the karma visited upon characters like Calvin Davis and Ben Prescott in other episodes. Whatever his rationale, Blassingame is a highly fallible character who doesn't always do right, unlike the other western heroes of 1960s television.

However, Peckinpah was too far ahead of his time. A show like The Westerner would fit nicely alongside more recent television dramas like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, but in 1960 it was too dark and failed to connect with a public used to more shine and polish rather than grit. It didn't help being shown in the same time slot as the popular Route 66 and The Flintstones. The series was canceled after 13 episodes, and when shown in syndication thereafter was lumped with other more common fare such as Black Saddle with inane introductory commentary by Keenan Wynn. But Peckinpah's association with Brian Keith paid off because the latter got Peckinpah assigned as director for his next feature film The Deadly Companions in 1961. Peckinpah revisited The Westerner  in a 2-part episode of Dick Powell Theater in 1962. Now with its release on DVD, present-day viewers can finally see why this short-lived series has such a vaunted reputation.

Most of the music for The Westerner was composed by Herschel Burke Gilbert, whose biography can be found in the 1960 post for The Rifleman.

The complete series has been released on DVD by Shout!Factory.

The Actors

Brian Keith

Robert Alba Keith was born in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1921. His parents were both actors on the stage and they brought him with them during their performances. After they divorced, Keith lived with his father and stepmother, actress Peg Entwistle, in Hollywood, appearing in his first film at age 3 in the silent feature Pied Piper Malone. Entwistle famously committed suicide by jumping from the "H" in the Hollywood sign in 1932, and Keith would be raised by his grandmother in Long Island, New York, where he graduated from high school in 1939. He served in the Marines during World War II as an airplane machine gunner and received an Air Medal, but when he applied for an officer's commission with the Merchant Marine in 1945, he was turned down because of poor algebra scores. After his military service he worked in stock theater, on radio, and for carnivals before moving to Hollywood, where he made his first uncredited film appearance in 1947. By 1951 he was appearing on television series such as Hands of Mystery and Shadow of the Cloak. He made his first credited feature film in 1953's Arrowhead and continued to balance feature film roles and TV guest spots until landing his first starring television role as reporter Matt Anders in Crusader, which ran from 1955-56. He continued making numerous appearances on drama anthologies such as Studio 57 as well as feature films such as Chicago Confidential, Violent Road, Desert Hell, and Villa! through the remainder of the 1950s before being cast as Dave Blassingame on The Westerner.

Besides getting Sam Peckinpah his first feature film directing job in The Deadly Companions in 1961, Keith starred opposite Maureen O'Hara and Hayley Mills in Disney's 1961 comedy The Parent Trap, showing that he could handle comic roles as well as drama. Thereafter he became a Disney regular, appearing in Moon Pilot(1962), Savage Sam (1963), A Tiger Walks (1964), and Those Callaways (1965). The following year made him a household name when he was cast as Uncle Bill Davis on Family Affair, though he also appeared in such notable features as Nevada Smith and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! in 1966. Family Affair ran for 5 seasons, but Keith continued to maintain a steady workload in feature films such as Reflections in a Golden Eye, With Six You Get Eggroll, and Krakatoa: East of Java. Yet he is said to have turned down a role in Peckinpah's masterpiece The Wild Bunch because it conflicted with his work on Family Affair. Disappointed at the series' cancellation in 1971, Keith nevertheless was never out of work, landing the Hawaii-based doctor series The Brian Keith Show from 1972-74, followed by the very brief The Zoo Gang in 1974 and Archer in 1975. In 1975 he also played Theodore Roosevelt in the acclaimed feature The Wind and the Lion. He had four appearances on the TV series How the West Was Won and played Sheriff Axel Dumire on the mini-series Centennial to close out the 1970s. In 1983 he scored another major TV role as retired Judge Milton C. Hardcastle on the popular Hardcastle & McCormick, followed by the role of Prof. Roland G. Duncan on Pursuit of Happiness in 1987-88 and as B.L. McCutcheon on Heartland in 1989. Then came the role of Walter Collins on Walter & Emily in 1991-92 as well as a host of other TV guest spots on shows as diverse as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Touched by an Angel, and Walker, Texas Ranger as well as an assortment of minor feature roles. Suffering from emphysema and terminal lung cancer, Keith committed suicide on June 24, 1997 at age 75, two months after his 27-year-old daughter Daisy had committed suicide.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 1, "Jeff": Diana Millay (shown on the left, played Laura Collins on Dark Shadows) plays Blassingame's childhood girlfriend Jeff. Geoffrey Toone (Steve Gardiner in The Odd Man, Jacques Charlustin on Contract to Kill, Sergeant Baines on 199 Park Lane, and Von Gelb on Freewheelers) plays former boxer Denny Lipp. Michael Greene (Deputy Vance Porter on The Dakotas) plays abusive drunk Waggoner. Warren Oates (starred in In the Heat of the Night, The Wild Bunch, and Stripes and played Ves Painter on Stoney Burke) plays a drunk. Marie Selland (wife of director Sam Peckinpah) plays evangelist Glorie.

Season 1, Episode 2, "School Days": Margaret Field (mother of actress Sally Field) plays school teacher Eleanor Larson. R.G. Armstrong (shown on the right, played Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E. Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th) plays her admirer Shell Davidson. John Anderson (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays her killer's brother Leth Ritchie. Richard Rust (Hank Tabor on Sam Benedict) plays local lawman Deputy Tyson. William Mims (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays posse member Ray Huff. Bill Quinn (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays posse member Ted Manning. Dub Taylor (starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on Casey Jones, Mitch Brady on Hazel, and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays posse member Walt Smith.

Season 1, Episode 3, "Brown": John Dehner (shown on the left, 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 con man Burgundy Smith. Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays South Fork Sheriff Tom Lacette. Conlan Carter (C.E. Caruthers on The Law and Mr. Jones and Doc on Combat!) plays his jail keeper Mead. 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 the bartender.

Season 1, Episode 4, "Mrs. Kennedy": Paul Richards (appeared in Playgirl and Beneath the Planet of the Apes and played Louis Kassoff on The Lawless Years) plays poor dirt farmer Marsh Kennedy. 

Season 1, Episode 5, "Dos Pinos": Jean Willes (shown on the right, appeared in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ocean's 11, and Gypsy) plays cantina owner Sal. Adam Williams (appeared in Flying Leathernecks, The Big Heat, Fear Strikes Out, and North by Northwest) plays cattle worker Pauk. Warren Tufts (voiced Captain Fathom on Captain Fathom, and worked on animation for Space Angel, Jonny Quest, The New 3 Stooges, Sealab 2020, Challenge of the Superfriends, and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends)  plays his accomplice Gator. Malcolm Atterbury (starred in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, The Birds, and The Learning Tree and played John Bixby on Wagon Train and Grandfather Aldon on Apple's Way) plays Dos Pinos sheriff Andy. Marie Selland (see "Jeff" above) plays an injured man's wife Jenny. Marianna Hill (appeared in Roustabout, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, The Godfather: Part II, and High Plains Drifter and played Rita on The Tall Man) plays saloon girl Cora.

Season 1, Episode 6, "The Courting of Libby": Joan O'Brien (shown on the left, starred in Operation Petticoat, The Alamo, It Happened at the World's Fair,  and It'$ Only Money) plays Blassingame's love interest Libby Lorraine. John Dehner (see "Brown" above) returns as Burgundy Smith. 

Season 1, Episode 7, "Treasure": Arthur Hunnicutt (starred in The Red Badge of Courage, The Last Command, The Cardinal, and Cat Ballou) plays an old prospector. Malcolm Atterbury (see "Dos Pinos" above) plays Dos Pinos Marshal Frank Dollar. 

Season 1, Episode 8, "The Old Man": Sam Jaffe (shown on the right, starred in Lost Horizon, Gunga Din, The Asphalt Jungle, and Ben-Hur and played Dr. David Zorba on Ben Casey) plays dying patriarch Tyler McKeen. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays his son Stuart. Dee Pollock (Billy Urchin on Gunslinger) plays his grandson Billy. Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, and Night Passage and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays covetous relative Murdo McKeen. Michael Forest (starred in Ski Troop Attack, Atlas, and The Glory Guys and was the voice of Capt. Dorai on Street Fighter II: V and Olympus on Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue) plays his partner Troy McKeen. Marie Selland (see "Jeff" above) plays distant relative Addie McKeen.

Season 1, Episode 9, "Ghost of a Chance": Joseph Wiseman (shown on the left, starred in Detective Story, Viva Zapata!, Les Miserables (1952), Dr. No, and The Valachi Papers and played Manny Weisbord on Crime Story) plays Mexican bandito Serafin. Roberto Contreras (Pedro on The High Chapparal) plays one of his henchmen Pedro. Katy Jurado (appeared in High Noon, Arrowhead, Trapeze, and One-Eyed Jacks and played Rosa Maria Rivera on a.k.a. Pablo and Justina on Te sigo amando) plays bar hostess Carlotta Jimenez. 

Season 1, Episode 10, "Line Camp": Karl Swenson (Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie) plays camp foreman Ben Potts. Robert Culp (shown on the right, starred in Sunday in New York, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Breaking Point and played Hoby Gilman on Trackdown, Kelly Robinson on I Spy, Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero, and Warren on Everybody Loves Raymond) plays wrangler Ben Prescott. Slim Pickens (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 camp cook Oscar Hudson. Hari Rhodes (Mike Makula on Daktari, D.A. William Washburn on The Bold Ones: The Protectors, and Mayor Dan Stoddard on Most Wanted) plays wrangler Jones. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank on Gunsmoke) plays hunter Sample.

Season 1, Episode 11, "Going Home": Virginia Gregg (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 wanted outlaw's mother Sabetha. Mary Murphy (appeared in The Wild One, Beachhead, The Mad Magician, The Desperate Hours, and Junior Bonner) plays outlaw's wife Suzy. Jack Kruschen (appeared in The War of the Worlds, The Apartment, Lover Come Back, and Freebie and the Bean and played Tully on Hong Kong, Sam Markowitz on Busting Loose, Papa Papadapolis on Webster, and Fred Avery on Material World) plays lawman Rigdon. 

Season 1, Episode 12, "Hand on the Gun": Michael Ansara (shown on the left, appeared in Julius Caesar, The Robe, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Harum Scarum, played Cochise on Broken Arrow and Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart on The Rifleman and the Law of the Plainsman, and voiced General Warhawk on Rambo) plays Blassingame's fellow wrangler Oresquote Solera. Ben Cooper (appeared in Johnny Guitar, The Rose Tattoo, and Support Your Local Gunfighter and played Waverly on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays eastern tenderfoot Calvin Davis. John Pickard (Capt. Shank Adams on Boots and Saddles and Sgt. Maj. Murdock on Gunslinger) plays disgruntled wrangler Mazo. 

Season 1, Episode 13, "The Painting": John Dehner (see "Brown" above) returns as Burgundy Smith. Madlyn Rhue (shown on the right, played Marjorie Grant on Bracken's World, Angela Schwartz on Fame, and Hilary Mason/Madison on Executive Suite) plays painting subject Carla de Castiliano. Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley on Dallas) plays painting seeker Walker.

The Tall Man (1960)

The Tall Man was based on the historical figures of Pat Garrett and William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, though the series bears little resemblance to actual history other than the names of the characters. The series title refers to Garrett, who was nicknamed Juan Largo or Long John because of his 6'3" frame. The television series is set in 1870s New Mexico, where Garrett moved after brief stints as a cowboy in Texas and a buffalo hunter. He opened a saloon in New Mexico and his rumored friendship with Bonney, whose real name was Henry McCarty, supposedly stemmed from his bartending days, though there is no documented evidence that the two were really friendly.

After his predecessor resigned with two months to go on his term, Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico on a platform of establishing law and order. One of his first assignments was to arrest McCarty, for whom the New Mexico governor offered a $500 reward. Four days after Garrett killed one of McCarty's associates in a gunfight, he arrested McCarty and his gang members, killing another in the process. McCarty was tried and convicted but escaped from jail in April 1881. Garrett tracked him to Fort Sumner and ambushed him in a dark bedroom on July 14, 1881. The way in which Garrett killed Billy the kid, with the rumor of their prior friendship adding a dose of betrayal to the event, damaged Garrett's reputation such that he lost his bid for re-election and was unsuccessful in several attempts to be elected sheriff of other New Mexico towns. However, he published a book about McCarty, The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid, and later became a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, though his association with known gambler Tom Powers eventually made the friendship too embarrassing for the politician. After retiring to a ranch in New Mexico, Garrett ran up his own gambling debts and to settle these he was forced to loan some of his land for grazing to one of his debt-holder's associates, Jesse Wayne Brazel. Garrett was eventually shot and killed by Brazel on February 29, 1908 after the two had several arguments over Brazel's insistence on grazing goats rather than cattle on Garrett's land. Brazel was tried for first-degree murder but was acquitted.

In the television version, Garrett and Billy have established some sort of friendship before the first episode, though there is no detailed explanation of when and how that occurred, at least in the first 16 episodes that aired in calendar year 1960. In the debut episode, "Garrett and the Kid" (September 10, 1960), Garrett has just been hired as deputy of Lincoln, New Mexico by Sheriff John Brady, and he and Billy take part in a shooting contest that ends in a draw, showing that the two of them are equally expert marksmen. As with many of the early episodes, the two express the hope that they will never have to shoot it out against each other, though they hint that this may someday become a necessity because Garrett is a staunch advocate of the rule of law, while Billy has a looser interpretation of what's right and wrong. This first episode also establishes the nature of their relationship--Garrett is portrayed as a father figure or older brother trying to steer the somewhat reckless Billy down the right path, always concerned that Billy will veer off into trouble or danger. For example, in "The Parson" (October 29, 1960) forces Billy to have a talk with the town's new parson John Lesley, a former gunslinger who found religion while serving jail time. However, by episode's end it is Billy who comes to the parson's aid when the preacher is hunted down by a blind man bent on revenge.

Billy, for his part, sometimes resists Garrett's direction but remains completely loyal, even when offered $2000 by corrupt town boss Paul Mason to kill Garrett in "Garrett and the Kid" or when asked by pretty, flirtatious Agatha Evans to let her escape after she has perpetrated a series of feud-related revenge killings in "And the Beast" (November 26, 1960). Billy explains to those who would have him betray Garrett that the lawman was the only one who stood by him when others said he was a no account destined for ruin. When Billy is accused of bank robbery in "A Bounty for Billy" (October 15, 1960), of shooting a man in a bar dispute in "Billy's Baby" (December 24, 1960), and of stealing a prize Winchester '73 that Garrett won in another shooting contest in "One of One Thousand" (December 31, 1960), Billy's initial reaction is to run away, not believing that he will receive a fair trial because he figures most people want to see him hang. Even though two of these events happen in towns other than Lincoln with their own sheriffs, Garrett persuades them that they will never catch Billy and that he is the only one who will be able to convince him to come back and stand trial. Both times Billy is willing to surrender because he has implicit trust that Garrett will ensure that he is treated fairly.

But when Billy tries to extend this same level of tolerance to another outcast, an Apache brave in "Tiger Eye" (December 17, 1960), events do not proceed as smoothly. When Garrett and Billy find the titular character tied up with wooden stakes on top of an ant mound, Billy is not satisfied with freeing the brave but also wants to take him back to town, provide him with clothing and shelter and even get him a job as a swamper at the local saloon. Garrett is more cautious, telling Billy that he doesn't know anything about the young man or whether he can be trusted. When the young brave is cruelly teased by a drunk saloon patron and then cursed by his employer, he retaliates by ambushing the taunter in a dark alley and stabbing him to death, then running away. Billy, like Garrett, tracks down the accused killer and tries to convince him to come back and stand trial, but the brave refuses and reveals that he was cast out by his tribe and staked on the ant mound because he killed a girl he loved in a fit of rage after she rejected him because of his monstrous-looking eye. Instead of trusting Billy, Tiger Eye engages him in a knife fight and is about to inflict a fatal blow before Garrett shows up and shoots him dead. The fact that Billy is unable to earn the trust of Tiger Eye is meant to serve as an indication of the unique and special relationship he has with Garrett.

Though the show has its share of recycled plots--"Counterfeit Law" (November 19, 1960) concerns a renegade self-appointed judge whose corrupted form of justice rules over a remote settlement, and "Bitter Ashes" (December 3, 1960) depicts Garrett as the single lawmen who lost the love of his life to a vengeful villain--they all find a way to work in the relationship between Garrett and Billy, with one typically bailing the other out of trouble. "Bitter Ashes" actually takes an unexpected final twist when it is Billy who reminds Garrett that justice must be distributed by the courts when he stops Garrett short of beating his wife's killer to death. The producers also try to inject some levity amongst all the fatal gunplay and fisticuffs by including two episodes featuring veteran comedy star Andy Clyde in the role of alcoholic and out-of-the-loop father Pa McBean, whose daughters May and June engage in horse stealing in "Larceny and Young Ladies" (November 12, 1960) and whiskey-running in "McBean Rides Again" (December 10, 1960). Due to the corny, see-it-from-a-mile-away humor, these episodes are the least enjoyable in the series, though they were apparently popular with someone because McBean was brought back for three more episodes in later years.

The choice of musical director for The Tall Man was also puzzling--the king of Space Age Bachelor Music, Juan Garcia Esquivel, whose music would seem more suited for a situation comedy than a dramatic western. Esquivel's music was known for its quirky use of unusual instruments like steel guitar in a large orchestral setting, wordless backing vocals, and wild stereo ping-pong panning from one channel to the other. His theme for The Tall Man is a kind of orchestral march punctuated by organ bursts that apparently are meant to mimic gun shots. His scores for individual episodes sometimes contained seemingly inappropriate accompaniment, such as a spritely bouncing number in the middle of a particularly dramatic or tense moment, making one wonder if the composer actually watched the film before composing or merely provided whatever struck his fancy at the time. The bulk of Esquivel's recorded output was released in the 1950s and 1960s, though the Lounge Music revival of the 1990s saw several of his albums reissued on CD, and in 1996 he did a voice-over for the band Combustible Edison on Merry Christmas From the Space Age Bachelor Pad. He died January 3, 2002 at the age of 83 in his homeland of Mexico.

The complete series has been released on DVD by Timeless Media Group.

The Actors

Barry Sullivan

Patrick Barry Sullivan, the seventh son of a seventh son, gave up playing semi-pro football and took up acting when told that because of his 6'3" height and good looks all he would have to do is stand on a stage to make lots of money. While he successfully made the switch to the stage, many of his theatrical productions were flops. He moved on to film, starting in the 1930s, playing the lead in B-movie fare such as The Gangster but more often playing supporting roles such as with Alan Ladd in the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby and as a movie director opposite Kirk Douglas in The Bad and the Beautiful. Prior to being cast as Pat Garrett on The Tall Man, he played the lead role of Capt. David Scott in the TV series The Harbormaster, which ran for a single season in 1957-58.

After The Tall Man, Sullivan continued to get supporting film roles and TV guest appearances, as he would until he retired from acting in 1980. He had another lead TV role as Ben Pride on The Road West in 1966-67 and played Senator Paxton in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man, Book II in 1976-77. His daughter Jenny became an actress and later a theater director and was at one time married to rock musician Jim Messina. His daughter Patricia became the face of Yardley cosmetics in the 1960s at the age of 12 and later married songwriter Jimmy Webb. Sullivan died of respiratory failure at the age of 81 on June 6, 1994.

Clu Gulager

William Martin Gulager was born in Holdenville, Oklahoma, the son of a vaudevillian and cowboy entertainer who once worked with George M. Cohan. Gulager, whose claimed his nickname came from the clu-clu birds, or martins, that nested near their home; his mother, in a  November 26, 1960 TV Guide feature article about him, says that he was named after an uncle who was an Oklahoma state senator. He is himself a cousin of western entertainer Will Rogers and can trace his roots to the Cherokee Native American tribe. After serving in the Marines directly after World War II, Gulager studied theatre in Paris under actor Jean-Louis Barrault before returning to the States and appearing in theatre productions at Baylor University. One of those productions, A Different Drummer, was moved to New York in 1956 and proved to be his big break, as work on New York-based drama anthology shows followed soon thereafter. After moving to Hollywood, Gulager had a smattering of guest appearances on shows like Laramie, Have Gun Will Travel, and Wanted: Dead or Alive before he was signed to play the part of Billy the Kid on The Tall Man.

After the show's two-year run, Gulager joined the cast of The Virginian as Emmett Ryker for five years, from 1963-68. In 1971 he played the character of Abilene in Pete Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show and continued making occasional guest appearances on shows like Mannix, Bonanza, Mod Squad, and Kung Fu during the 1970s. He played Cuda Weber in the short-lived 1979 TV series The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove and was the original choice to play Chase Gioberti in the unaired pilot of Falcon Crest, though the role went to Robert Foxworth once the series started actual production. In the 1980s he appeared in many B-grade horror films, most notably Return of the Living Dead, but also starred as Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan in the mini-series North and South, Book II. He has continued making sporadic appearance in TV shows like Walker, Texas Ranger and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman as well as budget horror flicks like Feast, with his most recent role in 2012's Piranha 3DD. His 1969 short film, A Day With the Boys, was nominated for the Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, though he has not written, directed, or produced anything else since then. His sons John and Tom are both actors, and John directed some of the later horror films Gulager has appeared in.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 1, "Garrett and the Kid": 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 Silver Springs Marshal Dave Leggert. Vaughn Taylor (shown on the left, starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays Silver Springs Judge Riley. Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays Silver Springs boss Paul Mason. Sam Flint (Mr. Armstead on Father Knows Best) plays an unnamed marshal in Lincoln County. King Donovan (appeared in Angels in the Outfield, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Defiant Ones and played Harvey Helm on The Bob Cummings Show) plays the Silver Queen saloon barker. Linda Lawson (jazz singer who played Renee on Adventures in Paradise, Pat Perry on Don't Call Me Charlie, and Laura Fremont on Ben Casey) plays an unnamed saloon girl singer.

Season 1, Episode 2, "Forty Dollar Boots": Ford Rainey (shown on the right, appeared in 3:10 to Yuma, Flaming Star, and The Sand Pebbles and played Lloyd Ramsey on Window on Main Street, Jim Elgin on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, Nate on Ned and Stacey, and Mickey on The King of Queens) plays Lincoln Sheriff John Brady. 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 cattle baron Andy Gorman. Jim Davis (Matt Clark on Stories of the Century, Wes Cameron on Rescue 8, Marshal Bill Winter on The Cowboys, and Jock Ewing on Dallas) plays Gorman's henchman Bob Orringer. Ron Soble (Dirty Jim on The Monroes) plays Billy's friend Charlie Evers.

Season 1, Episode 3, "Bad Company": Ralph Votrian (King Lexian in Masked Rider) plays second-generation immigrant Johnny Nagle. Adele Lamont (starred in The Brain That Wouldn't Die) plays cantina dancer Camilla. Guy Wilkerson (played Panhandle Perkins in 22 westerns) plays Lincoln citizen Jake Marlow. 

Season 1, Episode 4, "The Shawl": Gregory Walcott (starred in Badman's Country and Plan 9 From Outer Space and played Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct) plays outlaw Jim Roberts. Daria Massey (Naja on The Islanders) plays Billy's girlfriend Maria Perez. Linda Dangcil (Sister Ana on The Flying Nun) plays Maria's friend Rosita.

Season 1, Episode 5, "The Lonely Star": Ford Rainey (see "Forty Dollar Boots" above) returns as Sheriff Brady. Ken Lynch (shown on the left, see "Forty Dollar Boots" above) returns as cattle baron Andy Gorman. Jim Davis (see "Forty Dollar Boots" above) returns as henchman Bob Orringer. Henry Norell (Henry Slocum on Oh, Those Bells) plays Lincoln Mayor Baldwin. 

Season 1, Episode 6, "A Bounty for Billy": Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock on Star Trek, Paris on Mission: Impossible, and Dr. William Bell on Fringe) plays new Lincoln deputy Johnny Swift. Malcolm Atterbury (starred in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, The Birds, and The Learning Tree and played John Bixby on Wagon Train and Grandfather Aldon on Apple's Way) plays lynch-minded citizen Jaggers. Robert J. Stevenson (bartender Big Ed on Richard Drum and Marshal Hugh Strickland on Stagecoach West) plays citizen Beldon. Charles Seel (the bartender on Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on The Road West) plays Tundell camp cook Dan.

Season 1, Episode 7, "The Parson": 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 vengeful blind man Ben Myers. Richard Devon (Jody Barker on Yancy Derringer) plays new parson John Lelsey. Ed Prentiss (Mr. Bailey on Leave It to Beaver and Carl Jensen on The Virginian) plays banker Mr. Colby. 

Season 1, Episode 8, "Night Train to Tularosa": Claude Akins (shown on the left, played Sonny Pruett on Movin' On and Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo on B.J. and the Bear and on Lobo) plays prison-bound convict Dan Rees. Robert McQueeney (Conley Wright on The Gallant Men) plays vengeful brother Max Bragg. 

Season 1, Episode 9, "Larceny and Young Ladies": Andy Clyde (shown on the right, see the post for The Real McCoys) plays new settler Pa McBean. Cynthia Chenault (Carol Potter on The Tom Ewell Show) plays his daughter May. Judy Vincent (Jet Maypen on Walt Disney Presents: Annette) plays his daughter June. Phil Chambers (Sgt Myles Magruder on The Gray Ghost and Jed Ransom on Lassie) plays a swindled horse buyer. 

Season 1, Episode 10, "Counterfeit Law": George MacReady (starred in Gilda, The Black Arrow, Julius Caesar, Paths of Glory, and The Alligator People and played Martin Peyton on Peyton Place) plays renegade judge Barlow. 

Season 1, Episode 11, "And the Beast": Regis Toomey (starred in Alibi, Other Men's Women, The Finger Points, His Girl Friday, and The Big Sleep and played Joe Mulligan on The Mickey Rooney Show, Lt. Manny Waldo on Four Star Playhouse, Lt. McGough on Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Det. Les Hart on Burke's Law, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres) plays Lincoln's Doc Corbin.

Season 1, Episode 12, "Bitter Ashes": R.G. Armstrong (shown on the left, played Police Capt. McAllister on T.H.E. Cat and Lewis Vendredi on Friday the 13th) plays land-grabber Neal Bailey. Paul Baxley (stunt coordinator on Riverboat, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, T.H.E. Cat, Wonder Woman, and The Dukes of Hazzard) plays his henchman Williams. 

Season 1, Episode 13, "McBean Rides Again": Andy Clyde (see the post for The Real McCoys) returns as Pa McBean. Judy Vincent (see "Larceny and Young Ladies" above) returns as his daughter June. Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays his daughter May.

Season 1, Episode 14, "Tiger Eye": 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 Cherokee outcast Tiger Eye. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays saloon keeper Joe. Michael Hinn (Luke Cummings on Boots and Saddles and George Haig on Johnny Ringo) plays posse member Forbes.

Season 1, Episode 16, "One of One Thousand": 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 buffalo hunter Jim Miles. Harry Carey, Jr. (shown on the right, starred in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Mister Roberts, and The Searchers and played Bill Burnett on The Adventures of Spin and Marty) plays Fort Sumner resident Dusty.