User Reviews

Classic series' initial outing is far from the best, despite impressive production values. Script's wavering tone finally settles on overwrought, with a mystery angle that's bungled in denouement. Episode is chiefly memorable as a vehicle for the charismatic Hugh O'Brian, then riding the crest of popularity from his wildly successful Wyatt Earp series, who embraces his smoldering anti-hero role and plays it to the hilt. Drury is awkwardly addressed several times as "Virginian." His lack of name generally avoided mention in subsequent episodes. If asked, he would merely identify himself as the foreman of Shiloh ranch, which always sufficed.

When a man is hanged after being convicted of killing a woman in town, there are some who aren't all that comfortable with what happened.

Shortly thereafter a new man arrives in Medicine Bow ... the ultimate cowhand. Handsome, good with a horse and good with a gun. He courts the schoolteacher the condemned man named as an alibi ... but she refused to confirm it.

Did she lie out of shame? Is the new man (Hugh O'Brien) a relative or friend of the man the town executed?

Is he a danger to anyone connected to the case, or merely seeking the truth of it all. And should the judge and the Virginian worry about his interest in Betsy?

This is classic Western fare with great acting and a tense story that will disturb your sense of the safety of the characters right through the end.

I had the pleasure of meeting James Drury once, when he came to a party at my parents home in Stockton, California--I was 9 or 10 at the time. He had a kindly, courteous demeanor, and he gave my brother and I empty .45 cartridges as souvenirs. We were thrilled! This is a very impressive opening episode of the series. It has well-drawn and acted guest characters, and that was a hallmark of the whole series. There are fine exteriors giving a sense of space, freedom and the beauty of the Old West. Watching this is really like watching a first-rate theatrical Western film of the time. The cheerful, affectionate relationship between the Virginian, Trampas and Steve is one of the many big pluses both of this episode and the series--"Steve" was in the cast for the early years. This is a classic episode; it's just great television. Highly recommended.

An absolutely excellent storyline. Very thought provoking about human fears and the harm those fears can cause. This is done in a way that is not stereotypical. Hugh O'Brian is great in this episode.

Addendum: I just saw this again. It is still fantastic. I am not sure why someone had a problem with Hugh O'Brian. Some of his acting is the best there is in this episode. I do wish the newspaper woman was kept through the series. The schoolteacher part was acted perfectly and could make someone watching this espisode connect with her feelings. It is if she could walk off the screen and be that character. I wish I could say more, but I do not want a "spoiler" alert. It is a western at its best.

This first episode shows the ambition behind the series at 75 minutes running time, but then it had to be repeated 30 times a year - quite a tall order. Here the focus of the drama is not so much Shiloh as the town of Medicine Bow and the inhabitants who are dealing with the fallout from the hanging of a man some believe may not have been guilty.

For me the episode belongs to three women - Colleen Dewhurst as Celia Ames, whose need to retain her respectability as a schoolteacher is at odds with her desires as a woman, Roberta Shore who beautifully portrays the innocence and optimism of a girl just turning fifteen, and Pippa Scott as newspaperwoman Molly Wood. What did not sit so well with me was the casting of Hugh O'Brien as Paul Taylor. He seemed too old for the part, and the lack of subtlety in his performance left me feeling uncomfortable.

All Season 1 regulars are present - four men (Cobb, Drury, McClure and Clarke) and two women (Shore and Scott). It's such a shame that the character of Molly Wood disappears around the middle of the season. She wasn't replaced, leaving Roberta as the lone female cast regular. Molly's character was so attractive, and Pippa so good in the role, she could easily have carried her own storylines.

There's been a rape and a murder in Medicine Bow and the episode begins with the hanging of the man who was tried and convicted. The alibi witness the deceased claimed to have would not back up his story of being with her when this other woman was being ravaged and killed.

Pippa Scott as a crusading journalist feels something wrong with this case. Lee J. Cobb does not feel right about it either.

Colleen Dewhurst is the spinster school teacher who has a wild side to her that she's most discreet about. She was the alibi witness.

After the hanging a handsome stranger arrives in town. Superficially charming he makes certain folks uneasy, but Hugh O'Brian as the stranger scratches Dewhurst's itch.

If all is not revealed in the end we certainly do know the secrets that both O'Brian and Dewhurst are carrying.

And Pippa Scott does get a story.

A good start to The Virginian series.

It might just be me and I'm perfectly fine being in the minority here but Hugh O'Brian really ruins this episode for me. I wanted to like it and I wanted to finish but I found myself cringing every time he was on screen (which is alot), so much that I couldn't even get into the plot. Idk if it's his mannerisms, the way he talks, or all of it that bothered me. I agree with Judge Garth he just irritates me. I'm glad this is a one off character or I'd never watch another episode of The Virginian.