Boots and Saddles (1957– )

Creator:

Robert A. Cinader

Stars:

John Pickard, Patrick McVey, Gardner McKay

Cast

Series cast summary:
John Pickard	...	Capt. Shank Adams (38 episodes, 1957-1958)
Patrick McVey	...	Lt. Col. Wesley Hayes (38 episodes, 1957-1958)
Gardner McKay	...	Lt. Dan Kelly (38 episodes, 1957-1958)
Dave Willock	...	Lt. Binning (38 episodes, 1957-1958)
John Alderson	...	Sgt. Bullock (38 episodes, 1957-1958)
Michael Hinn	...	Luke Cummings, Scout (38 episodes, 1957-1958)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

sergeant | apache | cavalry

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

The Story of the Fifth Cavalry

Filming Locations:

California National Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

California National Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (39 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The western fort set used on the series was in Kanab, Utah, and was originally built for the western Pony Express. It was also seen in the opening credits of TV's Branded and was featured extensively in Duel at Diablo.

User Reviews

From the opening notes of the theme song the show as magic.

From the opening lines of the theme song (a ghostly, echoing bugle version of "Boots and Saddles") the show kept its implied promise by evoking the gritty loneliness, danger and drama of life on a frontier army post. The cast-from Captain Shank Adams (West Point class of '73) through the gruff (but decent) Sgt. Bullock and the comical Private Hatfield and his fellow private buddy (whose name escapes me)- formed an army family not equaled until the advent of "Mash" in the 1970s.

My personal favorite among the episodes was the one in which Capt. Adams was wounded and a rancher (who had once been an officer in the Prussian army) took over command. Another episode, about a wounded trooper with a pathological jealousy about his wife, showed psychological depth. Somehow the show was able to step deftly from comedy to pathos to epic adventure in a bare half hour. It gave some of the satisfaction one could derive from John Ford's cavalry trilogy (at a much more modest budget). The theme music was always effective in matching the mood of the material.