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Red Ryder: Gun Trouble Valley
pilot episode
USA 1955
produced by Louis Gray, Allan Lane (executive) for Red Ryder Productions
directed by George Archainbaud
starring Rocky Lane (= Allan Lane), Louis Lettieri, Elizabeth Slifer, James Best, Sally Fraser, William Henry, Gregg Barton, Dan White, Tex Palmer
screenplay by Paul Franklin, based on the comic strip by Stephen Slesinger, Fred Harman
TV-pilot Red Ryder, Red Ryder (Allan Lane)
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Red Ryder (Rocky Lane) and his boy sidekick Little Beaver (Louis
Lettieri) catch their shady neighbour Bat Killgore (William Henry)
red-handed as he and his henchmen are trying to steal their hay. They run
Bat and company off and then make it to town to report him to the Sheriff
(Dan White). But Bat has beaten them to town, where he challenges one of
Red's friends, Perry (James Best), who was in town for a wedding licence,
to a duel, but Perry refuses to draw - much to the dismay of his
bride-to-be Kathy (Sally Fraser), who immediately calls the wedding of, as
she wants to be married to a real man. Having been a witness of that, Red
is quick to come up with a way to re-instate the honour of his emasciated
friend, and he lets him guard the hay. Of course, Bat Killgore strikes
again, and again Perry doesn't draw his gun, letting Bat and company get
away. But he and Red take up pursuit, and eventually the baddies' way is
blocked by Red's motherly friend Duchess's (Elzabeth Sliver) wagon, who
just happens to have Kathy with her, and with Bat and gang cornered, Red
and Perry give them a really good beating, with Perry finally proving his
manhood. And now it's revealed why he never drew on Bat (or anyone else
for that matter): He has once killed a man in self defense and since then
has made it a habit to carry a gun without bullets. And Bat, recognizing
him from back when, knew that and took advantage of it ... Launched
in 1938 by Stephen Slesinger and Fred Harman, the Red
Ryder comic strip was adapted into a serial, The Adventures
of Red Ryder, only two years later by Republic
Pictures, who eventually also produced 23 B-westerns around the
character between 1944 and 1947, starring Wild Bill Elliott and later
Rocky Lane (with 4 additional Red
Ryder-movies produced from 1949 to 1950 by Eagle-Lion,
starring Jim Bannon) - so it's no wonder that a handful attempts were made
to turn the well-loved character into a TV series in the 1950s and 60s
(including a backdoor pilot in 1963 as part of the series Gunsmoke),
but for some reason, neither pilot caught on - and at least with this one
it's easy to see why: The story's really just too harmless (after all,
there's nothing fancier at stake than hay) and a little
over-simplified - of course both to play well with the kiddie crowd,
but that at the same time means the story lacks bite. And of course, from
today's point of view, this pilot's attitude towards manliness feels badly
outdated, but of course it was another time back when ...
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