Outlaws (TV series)

Barton McLane played U.S. Marshal Frank Caine in Outlaws.

Don Collier as deputy marshal Will Foreman

Outlaws is an NBC western television series, initially starring Barton MacLane (1902–1969) as U.S. Marshal Frank Caine, who performs his duties in a lawless section of Oklahoma Territory about Stillwater.​

## Contents

* 1 Series premise
* 2 Selected episodes
* 3 Production notes
* 4 References

## Series premise[edit]

The program aired fifty one-hour episodes from September 29, 1960, to May 10, 1962. The first season was shot in black-and-white, the second in color. Co-starring with MacLane in the 1960-62 seasons was Don Collier (born 1928) as deputy marshal Will Foreman. In the second season, MacLane left the program, and Collier was promoted to full marshal, with Bruce Yarnell (1935-1973) joining the cast as deputy marshal Chalk Breeson. Jock Gaynor appeared in the first season as deputy Heck Martin, the on-screen nephew of Will Foreman. Slim Pickens (1919-1983) appeared as "Slim" in the second season.[1] Judy Lewis also appeared the second season as Connie Masters, an employee of the Wells Fargo office in Stillwater.[2]​

In the first season, episodes of Outlaws were told from the view of the outlaws themselves. James Coburn starred on February 16, 1961, as "Culley", a confused young outlaw who wants to repent. He stops on a chase from the law to help a blind elderly man (Henry Hull). Judson Pratt appeared in the episode in the role of Daggott. For the second season, telecast in color, the stories were told from the standpoint of the lawmen.[2]​

Others who appeared on Outlaws on at least three occasions were Vic Morrow, Cliff Robertson, Pippa Scott, and Harry Townes. In addition, John Anderson, Edgar Buchanan, and Jackie Coogan each appeared twice in the series.[2]Jimmy Noel was cast in uncredited appearances in four episodes.[3]​

The dog who appeared in Walt Disney's 1957 film Old Yeller was also cast in Outlaws.[4]​

## Selected episodes[edit]

On October 27, 1960, in the segment "The Rape of Red Sky", veteran western film star Roscoe Ates appeared as a bartender. Others in the episode were Skip Homeier (1930-2017), also star of the NBC detective series, Dan Raven.[5]​

A two-part segment entitled "Starfall" aired on November 24 and December 1, 1960, with guest stars John Anderson, Edgar Buchanan, Pippa Scott, Cloris Leachman, James Millhollin, William Shatner, and Jack Warden.[6]Johnny Washbrook, the child actor from My Friend Flicka appeared as Vince Nickels, along with character actor J. Pat O'Malley in the 1960 episode "The Quiet Killer." In another two-parter on January 26 and February 2, 1961, entitled "The Daltons Must Die", Charles Carlson, Robert Lansing, and Larry Pennell played the Dalton brothers outlaw gang, Grat, Frank, and Robert Dalton, respectively. The Daltons failed in a bid to rob two banks at the same time in Coffeyville, Kansas.[7] In December 1960, Clegg Hoyt played the role of Isham Dart in "The Quiet Killer."[8]​

In the 1961 episode "The Brathwaite Brothers," Conlan Carter, later on ABC's Combat! appeared as the outlaw Perry Brathwaite. Barbara Stuart appeared as Juno in the 1961 episode "Roly".[9]John M. Pickard, formerly of the Boots and Saddles television series, appeared as Wick Boley in the 1961 episode, "Return to New March."[10]​

On May 4, 1961, the series aired the episode "Sam Bass" about the outlaw Sam Bass, with Jack Chaplain in the guest starring title role; Gregg Palmer appeared in the episode as Heff. Bass was shot on July 19, 1878, and died two days later on his twenty-seventh birthday in Round Rock, north of Austin, Texas, after having been betrayed by an associate.[11] Cliff Robertson starred in the title role and wrote the episode "The Dark Sunrise of Griff Kincaid", which aired on January 4, 1962. The costars were Ed Asner, Nancy Kulp, and Reta Shaw.[12]​

Judy Lewis, Olive Sturgess, Gina Gillespie, and Jackie Coogan guest starred in the 1962 episode, "The Sisters."[13]​

## Production notes[edit]

Outlaws was filmed in both Bronson Canyon and Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California.[2] The series aired at 7:30 Eastern on Thursday. Its principal competition in the first season were two situation comedies, Guestward, Ho!, starring Mark Miller, [Joanne Dru, and J. Carrol Naish, and The Donna Reed Show on ABC. In the second season, the long-running The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet filled the former Guestward, Ho! time slot. Chill Wills' Frontier Circus western series aired during the same hour from 1961 to 1962 on CBS.[14]​

Ronald Jackson and Doug Abbott in their book, Fifty Years of the Television Western, characterized Outlaws as "a good western for television, but it never got the respect it deserved, and like many other westerns during the early 1960s, it got ran over by the cop and sitcom shows."[1]​

Don Collier thereafter appeared for four seasons from 1967 to 1971 as the ranch foreman in another NBC western, The High Chaparral with co-stars Leif Erickson, Linda Cristal, Cameron Mitchell , Mark Slade, and Henry Darrow.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ronald Jackson and Doug Abbott (2009). Fifty Years of the Television Western. Google Books. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Outlaws credit page. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
3. ↑ Jimmy Noel. Internet Movie Data Base.
4. ↑ "Don Collier: Outlaws from Television Star Book" website:http://www.doncollier.com/articles4.htm
5. ↑ Outlaws: "The Rape of Red Sky". IMDB. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
6. ↑ IMDB, Outlaws: "Starfall": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0668035/
7. ↑ IMDB, The Outlaws, "The Daltons Must Die": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0668045/
8. ↑ The Quiet Killer (December 29, 1960). Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
9. ↑ IMDB, Conlan Carter, acting credits: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1262419993/
10. ↑ John Pickard. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on January 25, 2020.
11. ↑ IMDB, Outlaws, "Sam Bass": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0668033/
12. ↑ IMDB, Outlaws: "The Dark Sunrise of Griff Kincaid":http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0668047/
13. ↑ The Sisters: Outlaws. Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved on January 28, 2021.
14. ↑ 1960-1961 and 1961-62 American network television schedule.