This Zane Grey Theater opens with John Payne stopping the lynching of young Stuart Whitman. Not that he cares for Whitman, but Nevada is up for statehood in 1864 and he wants to make sure that the place doesn't get a bad reputation for lynchings.
In point of fact in 1864 with the Civil War going on Abraham Lincoln was determined to get Nevada into the Union come what may because of the Comstock Lode. He and others wanted that silver in Yankee hands and I don't think he would have cared about whether Stuart Whitman or anyone else got lynched.
Still Payne stands for law and order, but when Whitman breaks jail and kills again a man's got to do what a man's got to do.
Like host Dick Powell, John Payne started in musicals and abandoned them for dramatic parts. And like Powell he got real good at them.
Powell, Whitman, and Carolyn Jones as the widow of one of Whitman's victims all stand out here. Zane Grey Theater produced some quality short western stories and this was one of them.
In point of fact in 1864 with the Civil War going on Abraham Lincoln was determined to get Nevada into the Union come what may because of the Comstock Lode. He and others wanted that silver in Yankee hands and I don't think he would have cared about whether Stuart Whitman or anyone else got lynched.
Still Payne stands for law and order, but when Whitman breaks jail and kills again a man's got to do what a man's got to do.
Like host Dick Powell, John Payne started in musicals and abandoned them for dramatic parts. And like Powell he got real good at them.
Powell, Whitman, and Carolyn Jones as the widow of one of Whitman's victims all stand out here. Zane Grey Theater produced some quality short western stories and this was one of them.
