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Reviews
Rawhide: Retreat (1965)
One of the best episodes of Rawhide
Rawhide's hour long format often had trouble sustaining interest because many of the yarns could fit into a 30 minute format, so a lot of talky padding was added to carry the story through 60 minutes of network air time.
This drama concerning a career military officer near retirement on the frontier is one of the singular exceptions during the long run of the series.
Character player John Anderson offers up a master class of acting the role of the conflicted man throughout the narrative. Avoiding cliches of the genre, the story arc is carried to it's unexpected but thoroughly engrossing conclusion when the the writing, direction and performances of all concerned are firing on every cylinder. This segment moves swiftly and economically from the first frame to the last with no words wasted.
Look for up and coming actor Steve Ihnat in the catalyst role of an otherwise decent young soldier who is tempted by a crime of opportunity that sets the entire conflict in motion. This Rawhide entry was broadcast near the end of the series in March 1965. Four months earlier on November 21 and 28, 1964, Steve Ihnat starred in the only two part episode of The Outer Limits titled The Inheritors. It remains one of the most compelling science fiction films ever made and, like this entry of Rawhide, is not to be missed.
Wagon Train: The Duke Le May Story (1959)
One of the best episodes of Wagon Train
This is one of the more intriguing yarns in the series and tells a compelling story about a fugitive, his pursuer and their involvement with a friendly family scratching out a hard life on the frontier.
There's a pivotal and moving narrative within the film involving an old horse which comes close to death but is saved by the love of the rancher's young son and the intervention of the fugitive, who may not be a villain after all, but sent by providence to help the family members who are in dire straits because of an ongoing drought.
Also of note is a climactic and mystical moment in the episode which ratchets the segment up a notch or two above the more mundane examples of Wagon Train and is not to be missed.
Death Valley Days: Brute Angel (1966)
Robert J. Wilke Remembered
Robert J. Wilke was a familiar presence in many western films
and episodic western televison series. He most often played a
very convincing villain in nearly all these roles, probably most
famous as the belligerent cowhand in The Magnificent Seven,
killed by a thrown knife in a stockyard duel with the
character played by James Coburn.
In this Death Valley Days story, Wilke's character is an aging
sheriff who accepts the responsibility of arresting a volatile gunman
who may likely kill him when the confrontation arrives.
There is a very moving scene in the film when Wilke, alone in his
hotel room late at night, reads from the bible and prays to a higher
power for guidance in his difficult task.
His prayer is answered in an unforeseen but satisfying and remarkable way.
The Restless Gun: Day of the Dragon (1958)
Do You Know Where God Is, Now?
This is nominally the story of a young man whose parents are killed by renegade members of a native people on the American frontier during the years of the Civil War.
It is in fact one of the best written stories ever produced for television, or any other media for that matter.
The yarn avoids all clichés and is one of the most moving meditations on the crisis of human conscience, of violence and evil that crosses all boundaries, and a resolution in the eyes of God however we conceive him to be.
Kudos to everyone involved in the production, including John Payne, the supporting cast of actors, the producer, director, music supervisor, et al, and especially the writer, John Tucker Battle.
Do not miss this brief but compelling film. It will remain poignantly in your memory for days, months, even years after you see it.