The Sacketts (TV 1979)

Two part TV adaptation of Louis L'Amour's third novel in the Sackett series. The story follows the three Sackett brothers out west from their Tennessee home. Along the way the oldest, Tell,... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Totten

Writers:

Jim Byrnes, Louis L'Amour (novels)

Stars:

Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, Jeff Osterhage

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Elliott	...	Tell Sackett
Tom Selleck	...	Orrin Sackett
Jeff Osterhage	...	Tyrel Sackett
Glenn Ford	...	Tom Sunday
Ben Johnson	...	Cap Rountree
Gilbert Roland	...	Don Luis
John Vernon	...	Jonathan Pritts
Ruth Roman	...	Rosie
Jack Elam	...	Ira Bigelow
Gene Evans	...	Benson Bigelow
L.Q. Jones	...	Belden
Paul Koslo	...	Kid Newton
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Ma Sackett
Slim Pickens	...	Jack Bigelow
Louis L'Amour	...	Himself

Storyline

Two part TV adaptation of Louis L'Amour's third novel in the Sackett series. The story follows the three Sackett brothers out west from their Tennessee home. Along the way the oldest, Tell, prospects for gold, while the two younger Orin and Tye herd cattle and later help bring order to a racially divided Santa Fe.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle | tv movie | tennessee | cowboy | west | 

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

15 May 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts

Filming Locations:

Buckskin Joe Frontier Town & Railway - 1193 Fremont County Road 3A, Canon City, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Douglas Netter Productions, M.B. Scott Productions, Shalako Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min 198 min (Video Version)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, and Jeff Osterhage had such a good time doing this project together, they reunited on another 'Louis L'Amour' story, The Shadow Riders, years later.

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Goofs

After the dummy gets shot in the jail cell, Tyrel and Orrin run out to catch the shooter. When the camera goes back to the prisoner in the other cell, you can see Tyrel moving around behind him.

User Reviews

Standard Western fare

This is pretty much standard Western fare with a cattle drive, gold prospecting, town taming and gun play. Sam Elliot, Tom Selleck and Jeff Osterhage play the three Sackett brothers. The oldest one, Tell (Elliot) is the one looking for gold. In the meantime, the other two leave their home in Tennessee and head west, hooking up with a cattle drive. When the cattle are delivered, they head to racially divided Santa Fe to help a beautiful Mexican senorita whose family is threatened by a dishonest businessman.

Much of the strength of this story lies in the supporting cast, including Western veterans Glenn Ford, Ben Johnson, Jack Elam, Slim Pickens and Gene Evans. Ford is Tom Sunday, ramrod of the cattle drive. He and the two younger Sacketts go into business together rounding up stray cattle before taking them to Santa Fe. Then Sunday's relationship with the Sackett boys begins to spiral downward, and when Orrin (Selleck) gets the sheriff job Sunday has his heart set on, a grudge develops that will not abate. Ben Johnson is a hoot as Cap Roundtree. He was going to join in the stray cattle venture, but when he meets up with Tell, his eyes light up with gold fever and off they go to the mountains. Elam, Pickens and Evans are the Bigelows. They aim to get revenge against Tell for the slaying of their brother and this leads to the final confrontation. Elam, with his long handlebar mustache and black garb, including gloves, looks especially menacing.

The Sacketts is not the best Western to come along, but it is always a pleasure to watch those guys who appeared in so many of the bygone classics and have since passed on.