Randall (McQueen) is offered $400 to guide a NY photographer (Olan Soule) to the notorious Mexican bandit, El Gato (Noah Beery, Jr.). El Gato is planning a revolution, but currently he's held up in a cave, with a couple of his bandit loyalists and a chica as his eye candy (and to feed him; she's quite obedient). Meanwhile, Randall and Archie Warner (Soule) encounter federales looking for El Gato, having to evade them or else face a firing squad! Archie is desperate to get out from under the shadow of a famous photographer, Matthew Brady, responsible for a recognized portrait of Lincoln. El Gato is his ticket. But when El Gato wants Brady to stay with him to photograph his dethroning of the current Mexican government, not taking no for an answer, Randall will have to come up with a strategy to free themselves so they can get back into the States
The light tone of the episode assures that nothing about the plot will develop any real form of tension or suspense. That's okay, really. A mix of comedy and melodrama keeps a series honest, and even the likes of "Have Gun Will Travel" and "The Rifleman" added some humorous, light-hearted episodes in with the serious-toned western dramas. If you go light, it is important to cast well. That is the case here: Beery, Jr. is all big-smiles and cheerful disposition (if he feels threatened, though, he can get serious quick) while Soule's scrawny, diminutive size (as unimposing a little man as you could expect) makes him a funny sight when faced against federales and bandits offering peril towards his person. Randall is more or less a means to get the photographer in and out of danger, doing so cleverly. Fun if not spectacular episode allows McQueen a rare chance to participate as the straight man in a series of playful back-and-forths with comic actors.
The light tone of the episode assures that nothing about the plot will develop any real form of tension or suspense. That's okay, really. A mix of comedy and melodrama keeps a series honest, and even the likes of "Have Gun Will Travel" and "The Rifleman" added some humorous, light-hearted episodes in with the serious-toned western dramas. If you go light, it is important to cast well. That is the case here: Beery, Jr. is all big-smiles and cheerful disposition (if he feels threatened, though, he can get serious quick) while Soule's scrawny, diminutive size (as unimposing a little man as you could expect) makes him a funny sight when faced against federales and bandits offering peril towards his person. Randall is more or less a means to get the photographer in and out of danger, doing so cleverly. Fun if not spectacular episode allows McQueen a rare chance to participate as the straight man in a series of playful back-and-forths with comic actors.