The Mary Halstead Story (20 Nov. 1957)

Mary Halstead is in search of a son she gave up a long time ago. With months to live, she comes west on the trail of someone who could be her son, but he may also turn out to be a notorious outlaw.

Director:

Jus Addiss

Writers:

Robert E. Thompson (teleplay), Leo Lieberman (teleplay),

Stars:

Ward Bond, Robert Horton, Agnes Moorehead

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ward Bond	...	Major Seth Adams
Robert Horton	...	Flint McCullough
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mary Halstead
Tom Pittman	...	Tom 'Tommy' Nichols
Vaughn Taylor	...	James Ferguson
Tom Laughlin	...	Earl 'Laramie Kid' Halstead
Walter Coy	...	Tracey
Gregg Palmer	...	Groton
Jack Lambert	...	Creegar
Robert Patten	...	Kermit
Paul Sorensen	...	Marshal Crocker
Terry Wilson	...	Bill Hawks
Frank McGrath	...	Charlie Wooster
Craig Duncan	...	Peters
Ruth Lee	...	Paula Wallace

Storyline

The Laramie Kid's gang captures a young man Tom who steals a gun and fatally wounds the Laramie Kid. They try to hang Tom but a posse forces the gang to leave him. The wagon train finds Tom and Mary Halstead who is looking for her abandoned son nurses him back to health. She has only a few months to live and has come west to see what progress the lawyer Ferguson has made in finding her son Earl. Eventually events lead Tom to realize he killed Mary's son Earl who was the Laramie Kid. Tom tries to hide the truth about Earl from Mary but Ferguson tells her the truth. The gang captures Tom and Mary is forced to try to save him.

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Plot Keywords:

interrupted hanging | lost child | face slap | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 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

Did You Know?

Quotes

Tracey: [to Tom] I'm gonna hang you slow, and I'm gonna leave you dangling there.

User Reviews

Living Only To Be Reunited With Kin

Agnes Moorehead plays the title role in this episode of Wagon Train as a woman gone west to find her son who ran away west many years ago. She's a widow now and this is her one goal in life to find her kid and be reunited with him.

A young man played by Tom Pittman is rescued from an outlaw camp after he shoots the leader, Tom Laughlin, and is wounded himself. Moorehead takes pity on him and takes him into her wagon. The two bond, but later it turns out the outlaw Pittman killed was her son who now goes by the moniker, The Laramie Kid. And the outlaw band he headed wants revenge for their leader.

Agnes Moorehead is touching as the widow who lives only for seeing her son again. Young Tom Pittman died the following year in a terrible automobile crash. In his memoirs, Them Ornery Mitchum Boys, John Mitchum speaks very highly of him, apparently they were close. Young Pittman had disappeared and for about a week no one knew what had happened to him until the wreckage of the car and Pittman's body were found at the bottom of a canyon.

Pittman and Moorehead have some good scenes together and it was nice to see Moorehead as a nice woman for a change. Probably the change was good for her too.