One of the standard plots found in TV westerns had the leading man arrested on trumped-up charges and then sentenced to perform slave-labor on some sort of chain-gang project, usually a mine. Since there'd obviously be no release from this servitude, our hero had to plan an escape for himself and his fellow prisoners. Two of the prime examples for this plot could be found in a "Cheyenne" episode featuring Clint Walker titled "The Trap" (12-18-56) and a "Cimarron City" episode featuring George Montgomery titled "Terror Town" (10-18-58).
One advantage of this plot involved the "beefcake" factor. While laboring in that mine, the leading man could appear in all his sweaty, bare-chested glory, with the adding "bondage" factor of often having to work in chains.
Robert Horton had his chance to go this route in "The Amos Gibbon Story" in which, after being given a drugged drink by a saloon girl, he wakes up inside a tunnel where guards armed with guns and a whip intend to put him to work with other prisoners finishing the tunnel for a future railroad extension. Curiously, though, despite Horton's flair for bare-chested scenes, particularly those involving bondage, he keeps his shirt on throughout this episode, and that guard with a whip never gets around to using it on Horton's back. (Horton's bare back finally tasted the lash in an episode from December of 1961 called "The Traitor.") This reluctance to show off Horton's photogenic torso makes the whole episode seem a bit of a tease and the predictability of its plot and its lack of a memorable villain offer little in the way of other compensations.
One advantage of this plot involved the "beefcake" factor. While laboring in that mine, the leading man could appear in all his sweaty, bare-chested glory, with the adding "bondage" factor of often having to work in chains.
Robert Horton had his chance to go this route in "The Amos Gibbon Story" in which, after being given a drugged drink by a saloon girl, he wakes up inside a tunnel where guards armed with guns and a whip intend to put him to work with other prisoners finishing the tunnel for a future railroad extension. Curiously, though, despite Horton's flair for bare-chested scenes, particularly those involving bondage, he keeps his shirt on throughout this episode, and that guard with a whip never gets around to using it on Horton's back. (Horton's bare back finally tasted the lash in an episode from December of 1961 called "The Traitor.") This reluctance to show off Horton's photogenic torso makes the whole episode seem a bit of a tease and the predictability of its plot and its lack of a memorable villain offer little in the way of other compensations.