Jim Hardie is sent by Wells Fargo to Comanche, Texas to find the Rucker brothers who are hanging around there. Unknown to Hardie, John Wesley Hardin is there, a cousin to the Rucker brothers... Read allJim Hardie is sent by Wells Fargo to Comanche, Texas to find the Rucker brothers who are hanging around there. Unknown to Hardie, John Wesley Hardin is there, a cousin to the Rucker brothers and still holding a grudge against Hardie.Jim Hardie is sent by Wells Fargo to Comanche, Texas to find the Rucker brothers who are hanging around there. Unknown to Hardie, John Wesley Hardin is there, a cousin to the Rucker brothers and still holding a grudge against Hardie.
Forest Burns
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Bill Clark
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Joe Garcio
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Leonard P. Geer
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBody count 3, two killed by Jim Hardie.
Featured review
"You made a fool out of me, faced me down in front of a lot of people. You think I'd forget a thing like that?"
After Wells Fargo received word the wanted Rucker brothers have been hanging in Comanche, Texas, Jim Hardie is assigned to go after them. When he arrives in town undercover using the name Henshaw, he encounters a former adversary, John Wesley Harden, who is still angry about Hardie getting the best of him with a swivel holster in Season 2. Although Hardie is not after Hardin, he'll have to deal with him if he wants to bring in the Ruckers, who are cousins of Hardin. Complicating the matter is a renegade sheriff who knows Hardie, and he wants to bring in Wes Hardin to gain a reputation.
Up front, my apologies for length of this review, but it's warranted.
This is the second and final appearance of Lyle Bettger in the role of John Wesley Hardin, and for the first time ToWF avoids playing fast and loose with actual history, as is typical. For starters, Hardin appears to be around 40 in this episode, and that tracks with his actual life as he had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a man at the age of 24, of which he served 16 years. His wife Jane appears and it's implied they haven't been married long, although in actuality Hardin had married his first wife, Jane Bowen, at the age of 19. But history reports his first wife died before he was released from prison, at which point he married his second wife, Carolyn Jane "Callie" Lewis, although she was only 15. So it appears the Jane Hardin character in this episode is a mixture of Hardin's two actual wives, which I don't penalize. Hardin studied law while in prison, and when he was released he passed the Texas state bar and received his license to practice law, which is referenced in the episode. Also, Hardin continued to be involved in deadly altercations and was shot dead about a year after being pardoned, which tracks with what Jane Hardin says to Hardie when she confesses she fears the gunfights will continue. And, Hardie doesn't claim Wes Hardin had a long, successful career as a lawyer in the epilogue as he did with Doc Bell, so no errors there. Additionally, Bettger's Hardin claimed he invented a shoulder holster in S2, and the real Hardin was known to have two holsters sewn into the sides of his vest with the gun butts facing inward, which he would cross his arms to draw quickly, so that tracks. But he wasn't known for the level of trickery he displayed in ToWF, with a spring-loaded derringer and other concealed weapons. And finally, history reports that Hardin returned to Gonzales, Texas before moving to El Paso after being released from prison, and Gonzales is about 200 miles from Comanche. But Hardin had no cousins named Rucker, that would be Clements and Dixon, but they were reportedly involved in numerous deadly incidents with Hardin in Gonzales. So it's very interesting that ToWF didn't go completely fictional with Harden as they did with other historical figures.
I also found it amusing how the previous episode was about a prolific gunman named John Leslie Nagel. Not to mention how he was called Les, when Jane Harden called her husband Wes. And last episode Hardie was after the Manning brothers, this one it's the Rucker brothers. Seems kinda familiar, huh? Like one actor appearing in the series in consecutive episodes as different characters? Oh well, back then no one had any inkling that the shows would be watched and scrutinized with such detail as they are now.
The plot was considerably involved with a good deal (or 'goodeal' as Hardie pronounces it) of intrigue, and a number of interesting characters with lively dialogue. Again, the Jim Hardie cool factor is at a high level, and his encounters with Wes Hardin and his wife are quite good. There's a grudging respect between the two, and their scenes together, while serious, include an appropriate amount of humor. There is also some decent action with a horse race and the showdown with the Ruckers and sheriff Welch.
The cast is fairly large but only has a couple familiar names. Lyle Bettger reprises his role as John Wesley Hardin, and he was typecast in smooth, well dressed villainous roles, but he played them very well. Rand Brooks appears as McGuire, and had been a regular member of the Hopalong Cassidy film series in 12 pictures when he took over the role of Lucky Jenkins from Russell Hayden. Jan Harrison appears as Jane Harden, and she had a short career. Joe Abdullah played slimy sheriff Welch pretty well, and John Millford played a heckuva lot of tough guys as he did here.
So this episode turns out to be quite interesting, and is a darned decent watch. But watching Jim Hardie is always a good way to spend half an hour, so catch it when you can.
Up front, my apologies for length of this review, but it's warranted.
This is the second and final appearance of Lyle Bettger in the role of John Wesley Hardin, and for the first time ToWF avoids playing fast and loose with actual history, as is typical. For starters, Hardin appears to be around 40 in this episode, and that tracks with his actual life as he had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a man at the age of 24, of which he served 16 years. His wife Jane appears and it's implied they haven't been married long, although in actuality Hardin had married his first wife, Jane Bowen, at the age of 19. But history reports his first wife died before he was released from prison, at which point he married his second wife, Carolyn Jane "Callie" Lewis, although she was only 15. So it appears the Jane Hardin character in this episode is a mixture of Hardin's two actual wives, which I don't penalize. Hardin studied law while in prison, and when he was released he passed the Texas state bar and received his license to practice law, which is referenced in the episode. Also, Hardin continued to be involved in deadly altercations and was shot dead about a year after being pardoned, which tracks with what Jane Hardin says to Hardie when she confesses she fears the gunfights will continue. And, Hardie doesn't claim Wes Hardin had a long, successful career as a lawyer in the epilogue as he did with Doc Bell, so no errors there. Additionally, Bettger's Hardin claimed he invented a shoulder holster in S2, and the real Hardin was known to have two holsters sewn into the sides of his vest with the gun butts facing inward, which he would cross his arms to draw quickly, so that tracks. But he wasn't known for the level of trickery he displayed in ToWF, with a spring-loaded derringer and other concealed weapons. And finally, history reports that Hardin returned to Gonzales, Texas before moving to El Paso after being released from prison, and Gonzales is about 200 miles from Comanche. But Hardin had no cousins named Rucker, that would be Clements and Dixon, but they were reportedly involved in numerous deadly incidents with Hardin in Gonzales. So it's very interesting that ToWF didn't go completely fictional with Harden as they did with other historical figures.
I also found it amusing how the previous episode was about a prolific gunman named John Leslie Nagel. Not to mention how he was called Les, when Jane Harden called her husband Wes. And last episode Hardie was after the Manning brothers, this one it's the Rucker brothers. Seems kinda familiar, huh? Like one actor appearing in the series in consecutive episodes as different characters? Oh well, back then no one had any inkling that the shows would be watched and scrutinized with such detail as they are now.
The plot was considerably involved with a good deal (or 'goodeal' as Hardie pronounces it) of intrigue, and a number of interesting characters with lively dialogue. Again, the Jim Hardie cool factor is at a high level, and his encounters with Wes Hardin and his wife are quite good. There's a grudging respect between the two, and their scenes together, while serious, include an appropriate amount of humor. There is also some decent action with a horse race and the showdown with the Ruckers and sheriff Welch.
The cast is fairly large but only has a couple familiar names. Lyle Bettger reprises his role as John Wesley Hardin, and he was typecast in smooth, well dressed villainous roles, but he played them very well. Rand Brooks appears as McGuire, and had been a regular member of the Hopalong Cassidy film series in 12 pictures when he took over the role of Lucky Jenkins from Russell Hayden. Jan Harrison appears as Jane Harden, and she had a short career. Joe Abdullah played slimy sheriff Welch pretty well, and John Millford played a heckuva lot of tough guys as he did here.
So this episode turns out to be quite interesting, and is a darned decent watch. But watching Jim Hardie is always a good way to spend half an hour, so catch it when you can.
- ben-thayer
- Feb 2, 2024
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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