Paladin and prisoner Ebsen are rescued in the desert by revenge-minded old prospector Hartman who wants to kill Ebsen.
Good desert locations add to entry. Those sands look dry as a proverbial bone. Still, I had to wonder about Paladin's careless behavior that gets them stranded. Hartman shines as the wacky old prospector who thinks Ebsen is his long, lost brother, the man responsible for killing his wife, and now wants revenge.
Ebsen can do a great baddie, but here he doesn't really get the chance, in something of a secondary role. It's really Hartman who gets the spotlight. Poignant touch having the illiterate old prospector thirst for knowledge out of a hundred-year old encyclopedia that Paladin reads to him. The upshot may be surprising and likely implies something about living alone on the desert. An episode more interesting than suspenseful.
Good desert locations add to entry. Those sands look dry as a proverbial bone. Still, I had to wonder about Paladin's careless behavior that gets them stranded. Hartman shines as the wacky old prospector who thinks Ebsen is his long, lost brother, the man responsible for killing his wife, and now wants revenge.
Ebsen can do a great baddie, but here he doesn't really get the chance, in something of a secondary role. It's really Hartman who gets the spotlight. Poignant touch having the illiterate old prospector thirst for knowledge out of a hundred-year old encyclopedia that Paladin reads to him. The upshot may be surprising and likely implies something about living alone on the desert. An episode more interesting than suspenseful.
