Daniel Boone (TV Series) The Courtship of Jericho Jones (1965) User Reviews

To Marry or Not?

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 6 April 2014]

DANIEL BOONE – The Courtship of Jericho Jones - 1965

This is the 29th episode of the long running 1964-70 series about the life of American frontiersman and explorer, Daniel Boone. The lead is played by Fess Parker. Also in the mix are Albert Salmi, Ed Ames, Patricia Blair, Veronica Cartwright and Darby Hinton.

Young trapper, Robert Logan, has fallen in love with the daughter, Anne Helm, of a chief of a Shawnee village. The two have decided to run off and get married. They show up at Fort Boonesborough with the rather upset Chief, Stuart Randall in pursuit.

Hand over the girl or the Shawnee will attack the fort. Daniel Boone (Fess Parker) invites the Chief, Randall, in for a friendly chat to try and settle the matter. They decide that the girl will stay with Parker's family to learn the settler's ways. Logan, will be brought back to the village to learn the Shawnee ways. If after a month, the two still wish to be a couple, Randall will not stop the union. Ed Ames is sent along to keep an eye on Logan and make sure he stays the month.

It does not take long before both Helm and Logan have had enough of the others way of living. They decide that the wedding is a bad idea and part as friends. This of course makes the Shawnee happy as pie.

a decent episode that moves along at a good clip under the direction of former film director, Nathan Juran. Juran had a good reputation for turning in good B-films, even when saddled with shoestring budgets. Examples of his work include, THE BLACK CASTLE, DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER, LAW AND ORDER, HIGHWAY DRAGNET, THE CROOKED WEB, GOOD DAY FOR A HANGING, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, THE DEADLY MANTIS, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN and THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD. (b/w)

Young adult frontier fiction

[militarymuseu-88399 · 6/10 · 15 January 2024]

Settler Jericho Jones (Robert Logan) runs out of a Creek village with the chief's daughter, Sumah (Anne Helm) in tow. They plan on nuptials, but a Creek war party and Daniel decline to hold their peace to keep frontier peace. To deter Cupid, Daniel arranges a one month cultural exchange; Sumah to Boonesborough, Jericho to the Creeks.

This is the last of the DB black and white episodes, and a soft human-interest landing story for Season 1; a better finale would have been the two-part Boonesborough siege a couple of installments back. Teen-heartthrob attempt Logan, looking sufficiently Beatles and Monkees-like, would go on to an extended run as a Boone sidekick for several seasons. In the 70's and 80's he would play an updated frontiersman as a young father in several modern-set outdoors films. Little required of him here except to play the greenhorn, which he delivers. Canadian and sometime Elvis Presley escort Helm had a number of prime time guest turns through the 80's, but is only assigned baby-talk dialogue here.

The hour is not an overly welcome preview of what the series would look like at the end; starting to catch flak over TV violence from a Vietnam-averse viewing public by 1969, NBC would instead serve up helping after helping of comedy and human-interest DB episodes. All the elements are on parade here - lots of Boonesborough schtick, Cincinatus' nattering, domestic complaint from Rebecca, the Boone kids' antics, a half-funny tavern brawl (though initiated by Me Too level harassment), etc. Logan gets razzed by the tribesmen, and Sumah learns about household drudgery, and the whole thing seems to reflect an attempt by late middle aged writers to attempt a teen-oriented story. Fess Parker learns it is ok to play hooky for extended stretches, which he will hone to a fine art by his general absences in the final seasons.

Not a great wagonload of historical context to finish Season 1. The Creeks seem to be ranging a little far north from their Deep South homeland, but score high on costume accuracy. A rather far stretch to import established settlement disapproval of interracial marriage (not that Logan and Helm are attempting "Look Who's Coming to Dinner") to a frontier context; the American frontier saw many unions between long hunters and Native American women.

Unfortunate to see the black and white era end; the format does well in conjuring up an otherworldly and believable frontier setting. And though its a rather pedestrian outing to end Season 1 on, a welcome climb to the series' peak is underway.