The Julie Gage Story (18 Dec. 1957)

A head strong Julie Gage is determined to ride her wagon to California. Losing her pa to fever, many suitors step up to help but she'll have none of it until one comes down with fever himself and she's the only one who will tend to him.

Director:

Sidney Lanfield

Writers:

Kermit Shelby (story), Aaron Spelling (teleplay)

Stars:

Ward Bond, Robert Horton, Anne Jeffreys

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Ward Bond	...	Major Seth Adams
Robert Horton	...	Flint McCullough
Anne Jeffreys	...	Julie Gage
Robert Sterling	...	Tobe Cannon
James Komack	...	Buck Pierce (as Jimmy Komack)
Don Megowan	...	Jess Winn
Esther Dale	...	Grandma Birch
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Mr. Bixby
Ellen Atterbury	...	Mrs. Bixby (as Ellen Hardies)
Terry Wilson	...	Bill Hawks
Frank McGrath	...	Charlie Wooster
Irene Windust	...	Emily Hawks
Ron Foster	...	Mr. Hedson

Storyline

Julie Gage's father becomes ill with a fatal fever. The fever has everyone scared but the Major and Tobe Cannon take care of laying out her father. Julie is quite attractive and now alone so the Major with urging from others starts pairing Julie with single men to help her drive the wagon and take care of the maintenance on it. Julie is not interested in them for work or otherwise but when Tobe is convinced to help she accepts it. Tobe comes down with the fever and Julie with some help from the Major is left alone to tend to him for several days. When the women start taking issue with the arrangement, Julie has the Major "half marry" her to Tobe. When Tobe recovers, he is still not interested in the other "hal" of the marriage, yet.

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Plot Keywords:

fistfight | whip | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1957 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revue Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Great stars shine

Growing up as a child, among my favorite TV series was TOPPER, so it was a thrill to accidentally see its classic stars Anne Jeffreys & Robert Sterling team up again in this "Wagon Train" episode, recently re-aired on the Encore Westerns cable channel.

Though there are dramatic moments, particularly as Sterling's character comes down with fever and is nursed by Jeffreys, this is a light-hearted episode, with even Ward Bond less avuncular than usual. Stunt casting of the famous TV (and real-life) couple would have been appreciated in 1957 by avid fans, and so this was not the usual soap operatics "Wagon Train" outing.

Convincingly clashing as radically different personalities, the two are thrown together by necessity, as Jeffreys needs a new driver to keep her wagon on schedule as Bond's motley crew makes their way Westward. Neither one can stand the other, making for effective romantic dramedy.

I would be curious to see younger people's reactions to the piece, perhaps not aware of the casting gimmick -one could easily assume that Anne and Robert had never worked together. I thought it held up well, despite a certain predictability endemic to these '50s episodic series.