Wagon Train (TV Series) The Doctor Willoughby Story (1958) User Reviews

Before there was Dr. Quinn

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 1 February 2018]

Jane Wyman guest stars on this Wagon Train story about a physician of the female gender who is going west to a settlement where a doctor is needed. She's had a lot of problems gaining acceptance and oddly enough from members of her own sex. But as Wyman says the members of Ward Bond's Wagon Train are much better than the women citizens of Boston where she hails from.

Wyman faces two crises in this episode. One is helping Alan Marshal who is a friend of Ward Bond's traveling west who is a hopeless alcoholic, but is now suffering physically because of it.

The other is to help a seriously Cheyenne war chief by removing a bullet and overcoming Indian prejudices that don't allow for medicine women.

Bond starts showing a little romantic interest in her, but Wyman seems destined for a place in Marshal's affections.

This is a nicely done story with Wyman and Marshal outstanding.

Lady doctor

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 17 February 2018]

During her long career Jane Wyman appeared in many hit films and television series. One of her more interesting roles occurred when she played Dr. Carol Willoughby in this episode of Wagon Train. It probably led to her being cast more than thirty years later as the mother of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

Wyman's character is said to be from Boston, where Michaela Quinn also comes from. Like Dr. Quinn, Dr. Willoughby is just as determined to fight the prejudices facing women in this line of work-- prejudices harbored by white folks as well as natives.

The writers have also included a little romance between Dr. Willoughby and an incorrigible drunk named Bart Grover (Alan Marshal). But despite the sparks that fly, they are both headed in different directions with their lives. At the end of the story, Dr. Willoughby chooses to continue her career, instead of settling down with Bart Grover.

During the episode Dr. Willoughby develops a friendship with Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond) despite his initial reluctance to have her along on the train. Things take a dramatic turn when she is forced to accompany the major to a hostile native camp. Her services are needed to save a leader who has a bullet lodged in his chest. Since the tribe has very strict rules against letting women practice medicine, the major must perform the operation to dislodge the bullet with Dr. Willoughby instructing him. What probably would have been a routine scene with other actors becomes a special moment in the capable hands of Bond and Wyman.

In fact, I developed a newfound appreciation for Bond who really seems to put everything he's got into his performances without going over the top. Wyman favors a more low-key approach to the material. She keeps her hair plain and uses minimal stage makeup. I can think of no better cure for a lot of the junk that passes for TV today than to prescribe this satisfying episode of Wagon Train.

Great episode

[bonnerwf · 18 March 2022]

Episode was very contemporary . Goes to show my parents generation were more open minded than given credit for .Ward Bond was terrific and so wasn't Jane Wyman . Jane Wyman was Ronald Reagans first wife .