Ring of Darkness (1 Dec. 1969)

Ben Hurley, a poor farmer, steals horses for outlaws to get enough money to take his blind daughter Susan to Kansas City, where she can learn to read and lead a better life. Newly tries to ... See full summary »

Director:

Bernard McEveety

Writer:

Howard Dimsdale

Stars:

James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake

Cast

Episode cast overview:
James Arness	...	Matt Dillon
Milburn Stone	...	Dr. Galen 'Doc' Adams
Amanda Blake	...	Kitty Russell
Ken Curtis	...	Festus Haggen
Buck Taylor	...	Newly O'Brien
Tom Drake	...	Ben Hurley
John Crawford	...	Pinto
Rex Holman	...	Carr
Anthony Caruso	...	Gulley
Pamela Dunlap	...	Susan Hurley

Storyline

Ben Hurley, a poor farmer, steals horses for outlaws to get enough money to take his blind daughter Susan to Kansas City, where she can learn to read and lead a better life. Newly tries to find the rustlers and becomes involved in the young girl's plight.

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 1969 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

An episode that tried to pull at heart strings- but failed

This is one of the shows that you try hard to like. You have a blind girl living with her father in the rural west and it already makes for a heartwarming story. But for some reason this episode never caught hold of the warmth that it was trying to project.

The blind girl named Susan lived with her father as they did the best they could from day to day. Her father, Ben, had been trying to take her daughter to a blind school in Kansas City so that she can be taught how to read and write but he just did not have enough money to make that trip happen. So Ben now takes up a life of crime as he steals horses and sells them to outlaws for a small price. And with the money from the ill-gotten-gains is what he is going to use to take Susan to Kansas City.

Newly stumbles up on the farm as Ben is away and becomes smitten with Susan. But when Ben returns with stolen horses, Deputy Newly is tied up and Ben tells his daughter that Newly is the one stealing the horses.

After the outlaws force there way into their house, Susan finally puts two and two together and knows her father is a criminal. As she pleas for him to turn his self into the law, the outlaws have a different intention for the entire gang.

I found one part of the show extremely irritating. When blind Susan would ask a question no one would tell her what was going on around her. Her father, Newly or the outlaws would not answer her questions. For 'God Sakes' somebody answer her questions! Even though Pamela Dunlap played the part of Susan with excellent results, the dialog failed this episode. An episode that was to be heartwarming ended with just a few smoldering embers.