Wild Heritage (1958)

The Breslins (Jake, Emma, three boys, and nubile daughter) cross the plains in a covered wagon, then pause in a lawless western town where Jake is shot by gunslingers Arn and Jud. But ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles F. Haas (as Charles Haas)

Writers:

Paul King (screenplay), Joseph Stone (screenplay)

Stars:

Will Rogers Jr., Maureen O'Sullivan, Rod McKuen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Will Rogers Jr.	...	Judge Copeland
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Emma Breslin
Rod McKuen	...	Dirk Breslin
Casey Tibbs	...	Rusty - Trail Boss
Judi Meredith	...	Callie Bascomb (as Judy Meredith)
Troy Donahue	...	Jesse Bascomb
George Winslow	...	Talbot Breslin
Gigi Perreau	...	'Missouri' Breslin
Gary Gray	...	Hugh Adam David Breslin
Jeanette Nolan	...	Ma (Janet) Bascomb
Paul Birch	...	Jacob 'Jake' Breslin
John Beradino	...	Arn - Rustler
Phil Harvey	...	Jud - Rustler
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Josh Burrage
Stephen Ellsworth	...	Bolivar Bascomb

Storyline

The Breslins (Jake, Emma, three boys, and nubile daughter) cross the plains in a covered wagon, then pause in a lawless western town where Jake is shot by gunslingers Arn and Jud. But folksy Judge Copeland persuades them to go on. At Break Wagon Hill, their wagon does the obvious and they homestead on the spot. We follow their trials and joys and those of neighbors, the Bascombs. Finally, violence reappears in the form of a pair of rustlers...our old friends Arn and Jud.

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Taglines:

Boys, who grew to quick manhood---behind blazing guns! Girls, who loved them and fought them like the wild land itself!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death Rides This Trail

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Judge Copeland: [to the rustlers] You better ride. I won't be responsible if you don't.
Jud (Rustler): Hang on, listen to that tenderfoot lawyer man. You won't be responsible for what? Holding back these sodbusters?
Judge Copeland: Fort Laramie isn't that far away.
Arn, (Rustler): No soldiers are interested in judging me. They got Indians to fight. This is a country for men. A man carries a gun, he better be ready to use it.

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Soundtracks

When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Music and lyrics by Louis Lambert
Sung while traveling cross country by covered wagon by Paul Birch, Maureen O'Sullivan, Rod McKuen, Gary Gray, Gigi Perreau, and George Winslow

User Reviews

The Beslins and the Bascombs

A couple of people who would obtain stardom in the 60s, actor Troy Donahue and folksinger Rod McKuen are in the cast of this B western for Universal about a pair of families the Breslins and Bascombs who settle in the west. Will Rogers, Jr. is first billed in Wild Heritage but basically he doesn't do anything but watch over the pioneer families. Rogers is a judge but they have no courts and no sheriff and really no law.

Which is why a couple of outlaw brothers can shoot the Breslin family patriarch Paul Birch down and nothing done about it. Later on Stephen Ellsworth the head of the Bascombs is killed in a wagon accident. Which leaves widows Breslin and Bascomb played by Maureen O'Sullivan and Jeanette Nolan to carry on and homestead with their kids.

The kids who are Gigi Perreau, Rod McKuen, Gary Gray, and George Winslow for O'Sullivan and Troy Donahue and Judi Meredith for Nolan don't really get along for the most part. But pioneer life and the elements of nature and the common enemies of those two who shot down Birch make allies.

Wild Heritage is nothing spectacular, but it holds up well as a nice family film even for today.