The Rifleman (TV Series) The Actress (1961) User Reviews

We learn that everyone has their faults

[kfo9494 · 8/10 · 25 April 2013]

Lucas's crusty older neighbor, Jacob Black, is injured in an accident and the doctor is not sure that he is going to live. Jacob reveals that he got married a few weeks ago and ask Lucas if he can go bring her to his bedside. Lucas has to ride three days away from North Fork to pick up the woman but he makes a promise to Jacob to deliver his wife.

When Lucas gets to the location, he finds a young woman that is more happier in dance halls than being in a farm town. The lady, Elizabeth, at first refuses to go but Lucas forces her to see her dying husband.

On the way back to North Fork, Elizabeth puts some moves on Lucas. But Lucas, being the man he is, rejects the advances saying that she is a married woman. When they arrive in town Liz meets Jacob right before he dies. But it seems that she is not the only one playing a part.

The story was lacking and not interesting until something happens right near the end. A twist by the writers make an otherwise uninteresting script stunning. It takes the entire episode to get to the point but it was worth the watch. As we learn everyone has faults.

Diana Outstanding

[spiritof67 · 7/10 · 11 February 2022]

Spoiler alert here..

Diana Millay plays a woman of minimal repute who has married an older man with whom she does not live, and on his deathbed he wants to see her. The wife is played by Diana Millay, who probably shows more and deeper cleavage than any other actress in this series ever did, and to good advantage. Girl really had it up front, she did.

The story has been done before. She does well in the role, actually (expectedly) making a play for Lucas because a woman like her would do that, wouldn't she?

Worth a watching.

Cynicism rears its head

[thekingschild-65274 · 7/10 · 26 May 2021]

This episode shows Lucas at his most unflattering side. A neighbor is gravely injured and Lucas makes him a promise to bring back the woman this man married on the spur of the moment. Lucas goes to retrieve her to find this woman, Elizabeth, a cross between a bold brassy actress and a brazen party girl. Lucas ends up taking her by force to see a man who she really does not know. On the way, Elizabeth challenges Lucas's unfailing moral code and even tries to seduce him in a weak moment. She constantly goads him for his gallantry and in the final analysis does raise a question as to what Lucas's motives really were. I found this one of the more cynical episodes where the conclusions drawn were neither the most altruistic or based on the purest of motives. It showed human nature at its most grasping with all its characters. Even those who had a form of righteousness wanted a personal advantage in this situation.

The Rifleman - The Actress

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 21 February 2015]

"The Actress" was a bit frustrating to me, I must confess. I wanted to like it, but the end results were rather disappointing. This episode of The Rifleman deals with an old man that is the neighbor of Lucas (Chuck Connors) hit by a cowboy riding his horses through town. This neighbor is on his death bed, requesting Lucas to go to Willow Springs near St. Louis to fetch his wife! Yep, this dying old timer who has been denying Lucas' request for a spot of land for years, but he is willing to go to find the wife out of "the goodness of a neighbor". Well, she's an actress always with an act as Lucas soon realizes. She doesn't even plan to come; the guys in the saloon actually convince her otherwise. It isn't until Lucas throws her over his shoulder and puts her on a horse does she decide to leave with him! Diana Millay is familiar to me because she portrayed the icy wife of Roger Collins on Dark Shadows and her turn as the actress that really puts it to Lucas regarding his "holier than thou" personality and integrity kind of left a rather sour impression on me. That was the intent in that she is to be this fake that an old man saw extreme value in, putting on performances for him even though there was zilch in terms of sincerity. Her Elizabeth has been so alone and looked at for beauty, nothing else, with no family or compassion for so long that the idea of any chivalry not yet dead seems damn near impossible to her. She looks for faults in Lucas; she is looking for this pillar of strength and moral turpitude to fail in some way so she can be correct. So the entire time she tests Lucas' humanity, to see if there are "flaws in his perfection". When Old Man Jacob (Morris Ankrum) deeds a strip of that land Lucas has been wanting for years, Elizabeth points this out nastily, questioning if his bringing her to him was in the hopes of attaining that than any good will intended. So Lucas must admit that he knew that was possible and opted not to argue with Elizabeth, who walks away proud of herself. The final minutes are devoted to Lucas explaining love to his boy, and his having to admit that he has flaws just like everyone else. I think the 30 minute format sometimes did shows like this favors, but I often wonder what an hour of television might have done for episodes such as "The Actress" which seems to fail to truly develop fully its story to a satisfying conclusion. She only appeared on one episode of The Rifleman so her story concludes her leaving a lot open to debate. With Jacob gone, would she stay on the land provided her or go back? How could Jacob and her possibly co-exist? How could he help her raise the land and why on earth would she want to leave behind all the pandering of men frequenting the bar she performed in? A lot of questions unanswered, and I just felt this story needed a proper finish that is denied us to the lack of time to fully flesh out its story. Thus is the case sometimes in 30 minute-episodic television. Interestingly, Lucas almost succumbs to a seductive attempt by Elizabeth near a camp fire before they arrive back to North Fork the following day. I guess I'm not a fan of Millay's acting rather than the understanding her character is a master manipulator with no hope in humanity considering how she has been mistreated throughout her life. I hoped we see that there are reasons we should sympathize and even embrace the character on some level, realizing that she is this way based on a past of troubles, but her coldness left me at a distance.