Herb Jeffries, forever etched in western movie history as the first black singing cowboy, plays notorious gunslinger Frank Hammel in this smart, subtle episode. Frank is not the typical, moody gun hawk viewers expect. He's friendly and courteous, never making an aggressive move or hostile gesture. Yet he's feared, and shunned. A mother forbids her child to accept candy from him. A saloon patron demands that the bartender refuse service to him. When a character finally cuts loose with "we don't want his kind in this town," it becomes apparent that an undercurrent is flowing beneath the story's surface that the writer didn't need to clarify.
3 Reviews
A Quiet Day in Medicine Bow
bkoganbing2 July 2020
It'a a quiet day in Medicine Bow and James Drury is in town doing some errands for Shiloh. A notorious gunfighter Herb Jeffries gets off the stagecoach and ostensibly Jeffries is just changing coaches. Bt no one
believes that. In fact about ha;f the town thinks that tis fast draw is after them.
Drury knows he's not a target because he's got good history with Jeffries. But the episode provides us with about half a dozen suspects who could be targets.
This is a good Virginian episode with elements of the Audie Murhy classic No Name On The Bullet and the Dana Andrews western Three Hours To Kill in the story.
Drury knows he's not a target because he's got good history with Jeffries. But the episode provides us with about half a dozen suspects who could be targets.
This is a good Virginian episode with elements of the Audie Murhy classic No Name On The Bullet and the Dana Andrews western Three Hours To Kill in the story.
Herb Jeffries is fabulous
deswind-1506215 August 2022
This is worth watching for Herb Jeffries, who is a great actor here and makes the episode. The directing is also very good. It has a great theme that includes projections of people, their fears, and the inability to really open up to the personality of someone they really do not know. The ending could be a little better and the Virginian's role could have been better. Some of the supporting actors are fabulous. Overall, this is one of the better episodes.
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