When the train picks up an abandoned drunk on the trail, he exposes John Darro to be the reviled coward John Thurman who abandoned a previous train during a massacre. Darro's young son Tommy... Read allWhen the train picks up an abandoned drunk on the trail, he exposes John Darro to be the reviled coward John Thurman who abandoned a previous train during a massacre. Darro's young son Tommy is unable to cope with the truth.When the train picks up an abandoned drunk on the trail, he exposes John Darro to be the reviled coward John Thurman who abandoned a previous train during a massacre. Darro's young son Tommy is unable to cope with the truth.
Irene Windust
- Emily Hawks
- (as Irene Corlett)
Ellen Atterbury
- Mrs. Bixby
- (as Ellen Hardies)
Jimmie Booth
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
Art Felix
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
Bob Folkerson
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
Lloyd Ford
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
Chick Hannan
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEddie Albert and Margo, who play husband and wife in this episode, were actually married in real life.
- GoofsJohn Darro is lying on the ground with his wife kneeling beside him. In a close-up, he puts his left arm up across his face. The camera angles changes to show both people, and it's his right arm that's across his face.
Featured review
The second disc of Season 1
I've decided to watch the entire runs of two somewhat similar shows from the classic era of TV westerns: Wagon train, (1957-65) and Rawhide 1959-66). Unfortunately, the Wagon Train DVDs I've sent for don't include seasons.5 & 6. I'm going to alternate watching a DVD of episodes from one series and a DVD of episodes from the other. I'll be traveling north from Texas to Missouri on the cattle drive and west from Missouri to California. To make sure my text is of the required length, I will review the entire DVD each time.
"The Les Rand Story" October 16, 1957 "The Nels Stack Story" October 23, 1957 "The Emily Rossiter Story" October 30, 1957 "The John Darro Story" November 6, 1957
The trend of actors who were mostly doing movies at this time continues. Sterling Hayden plays Les Rand, Marc Stevens Nels Stack, Mercedes McCambridge Emily Rossiter and Eddie Albert John Darro. Hayden had starred in The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, Suddenly, The Last Command, The Killing and Zero Hour!, which was later reimagined as Airplane! In the 1980's. Stevens had bene a Film Noir actor in the 1940's and a film noir actor on TV in Martin Kane, Private Eye and Big Town. McCambridge had won an supporting actress Oscar for All the King's Men and had recently been nominated for the award for Giant. Albert, before he became associated with Green Acres in the 1960's, had been in Roman Holiday, Oklahoma, Teahouse of the August Moon, and, in this same year, The Sun Also Rises and The Joker is Wild.
The first and last of these four stories are the memorable ones. Charley Wooster gets injured in a wagon accident, (he apparently grew his beard while laid up in bed and decided to keep it), and Flint McCullough goes for a doctor. He can find only one town with one but that doctor is out of town, covering various remote locations and Flint has to await his return. Meanwhile Hayden, a recent releasee from a penitentiary arrive in town and befriends McCullough - until he reveals that he wants to kill the doctor, in whose care his wife died while he was incarcerated. Hayden gives a typically larger-than-life performance.
The Nels Stack story lacks credibility. Stack is a former Army Colonel who has joined the train with several wagons and men to guard them, (we don't know what). They have guns but he's become a pacifist, which angers a recalcitrant Confederate veteran played by Kevin Hagen. The problem is, conflicts still surround Stack, who's refusal to fight them only means that others have to do so, including his own men. Stevens looks ill-at-ease in an outfit that is neither western nor film noir.
The Emily Rossiter story is forgettable, with McCullough encountering the title character and her daughter, (played by Susan Oliver who in no way resembles McCambridge), who are under the violent thumb of a man, (John Dehner), Emily unwisely married after her husband died and his two sons. It's predictable and less interesting than it sounds and the story has nothing to do with the wagon train.
The John Darro Story is also predictable but intense and well-acted. Darro was part of a previous wagon train that got wiped out and he was branded a coward. He now has a different name and his son thinks he's a hero. Edgar Buchanan plays a drunken wanderer who was part of the same train with his now-dead family who recognizes Darro and denounces him before everyone. Naturally Darro has to redeem himself and he does. His wife is played by Eddie's real-life wife, Margo, who had had trouble getting work due to the blacklist. Eddie must have insisted she get this role.
"The Les Rand Story" October 16, 1957 "The Nels Stack Story" October 23, 1957 "The Emily Rossiter Story" October 30, 1957 "The John Darro Story" November 6, 1957
The trend of actors who were mostly doing movies at this time continues. Sterling Hayden plays Les Rand, Marc Stevens Nels Stack, Mercedes McCambridge Emily Rossiter and Eddie Albert John Darro. Hayden had starred in The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, Suddenly, The Last Command, The Killing and Zero Hour!, which was later reimagined as Airplane! In the 1980's. Stevens had bene a Film Noir actor in the 1940's and a film noir actor on TV in Martin Kane, Private Eye and Big Town. McCambridge had won an supporting actress Oscar for All the King's Men and had recently been nominated for the award for Giant. Albert, before he became associated with Green Acres in the 1960's, had been in Roman Holiday, Oklahoma, Teahouse of the August Moon, and, in this same year, The Sun Also Rises and The Joker is Wild.
The first and last of these four stories are the memorable ones. Charley Wooster gets injured in a wagon accident, (he apparently grew his beard while laid up in bed and decided to keep it), and Flint McCullough goes for a doctor. He can find only one town with one but that doctor is out of town, covering various remote locations and Flint has to await his return. Meanwhile Hayden, a recent releasee from a penitentiary arrive in town and befriends McCullough - until he reveals that he wants to kill the doctor, in whose care his wife died while he was incarcerated. Hayden gives a typically larger-than-life performance.
The Nels Stack story lacks credibility. Stack is a former Army Colonel who has joined the train with several wagons and men to guard them, (we don't know what). They have guns but he's become a pacifist, which angers a recalcitrant Confederate veteran played by Kevin Hagen. The problem is, conflicts still surround Stack, who's refusal to fight them only means that others have to do so, including his own men. Stevens looks ill-at-ease in an outfit that is neither western nor film noir.
The Emily Rossiter story is forgettable, with McCullough encountering the title character and her daughter, (played by Susan Oliver who in no way resembles McCambridge), who are under the violent thumb of a man, (John Dehner), Emily unwisely married after her husband died and his two sons. It's predictable and less interesting than it sounds and the story has nothing to do with the wagon train.
The John Darro Story is also predictable but intense and well-acted. Darro was part of a previous wagon train that got wiped out and he was branded a coward. He now has a different name and his son thinks he's a hero. Edgar Buchanan plays a drunken wanderer who was part of the same train with his now-dead family who recognizes Darro and denounces him before everyone. Naturally Darro has to redeem himself and he does. His wife is played by Eddie's real-life wife, Margo, who had had trouble getting work due to the blacklist. Eddie must have insisted she get this role.
helpful•10
- schappe1
- Feb 15, 2024
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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