Forty Rifles (22 Sep. 1965)

With a massive cattle drive about to begin - 3,000 steers, 550 miles in 24 days - Heath has problems gaining the respect of the 40 hands needed to carry it off. His problems escalate when a... See full summary »

Director:

Bernard McEveety

Writers:

A.I. Bezzerides (creator), Louis F. Edelman (creator),

Stars:

Richard Long, Peter Breck, Lee Majors

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Richard Long	...	Jarrod Barkley
Peter Breck	...	Nick Barkley
Lee Majors	...	Heath Barkley
Linda Evans	...	Audra Barkley
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Victoria Barkley (as Miss Barbara Stanwyck)
Andrew Duggan	...	General Wallent
John Milford	...	Barrett
Charles Briles	...	Eugene Barkley
Calvin Brown	...	Dillard
Douglas Kennedy	...	McColl
Walker Edmiston	...	Spock (as Walter Edmiston)
Allen Jaffe	...	Cota
Lincoln Tate	...	Schad
Michael Fox	...	De Koven
Charles Bail	...	Brown (as Chuck Bail)

Storyline

With a massive cattle drive about to begin - 3,000 steers, 550 miles in 24 days - Heath has problems gaining the respect of the 40 hands needed to carry it off. His problems escalate when a decorated ex-general of the Civil War agrees to join the drive, because the former general has designs of recruiting the hands and starting his own army.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle drive | bare chested male | bunkhouse | shot in the leg | fire | 

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1965 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four Star Productions, Margate

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[Nick has just countermanded one of Heath's orders]
Jarrod Barkley: Nick, you just chopped his legs off at the knees.
Nick Barkley: I'd have done it to you and you'd have done it to me!
Jarrod Barkley: Nick, it's not the same.
Nick Barkley: We're all Barkley's aren't we?
Jarrod Barkley: We were born to the name, Nick, that gives us immunity.

User Reviews

An old army General of Nicks has other motives for a cattle drive

In this second episode of the entire series we get our first story, of many, that features Heath not being accepted as a full Barkley until he proves himself. This being the first time this plot is used makes this show interesting but the fifth or sixth time it begins to lose it luster. This is the first where Heath has to prove to people outside the Barkley clan that he is truly a Barkley.

The story begins when Barkleys along with other farmers in the area have to get their cattle to San Diego in order to take advantage of the nice price being offered. Nick and Heath are to lead the drive with the cowboys from the ranch. And Nick is lucky enough to have an old army buddy that was the leader of his unit, General Wallent, help with the cattle since he knows the outlay of the land.

It becomes apparent from the beginning that Wallent has another motive in mind other than herding cattle. He has to find a way to get men so that he can again lead men into battle. He feels that whatever he says men will do it because they want to be lead. Since the men already do not respect Heath the only person standing in Wallent's way is Nick.

General Wallent hires some men to shoot Nick to get him out of the way thus leaving Heath alone which is the wish of Wallent. He then talks the men into leaving the cattle drive and go with him for riches. Everything goes well until the cowboys see that General Wallent may want to re-live a portion of his life that is gone. But will they be able to accept Heath as a real Barkley?

This was a good story with an interesting plot and ending. Barbara Stanwyck has some inspiration words for both Heath and Nick which always leads to an entertaining show and a good watch. It was easy to see that Lee Majors needed work on his acting skills because he was weak at times in this show. But for a young actor it will come with a few more performances.