John Russell plays a gunslinger who regrets killing he's done. He also is hindered by a bad hand. A storyline involving a mother and her son is similar to Hondo. Vince Barnett provides good support as the conscience of the town. Clint Walker shares the spotlight well with Russell in a Western where brains are as important as gun speed.
2 Reviews
"Man that lives by the sword dies by the sword." --Gravedigger
faunafan18 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
On a dreary, rainy afternoon, a cold, wet, and hungry Cheyenne Bodie happens upon a man being buried and then along comes the man who killed him. Matt Reardon is a notorious gunslinger unlike any Cheyenne has ever met. He's wearied of the lifestyle, the notoriety, the loneliness, never took pride in his reputation. Besides all that, he's lost the use of his preferred gun hand. In Moundsville to repay an old debt, he trusts Cheyenne and prevails upon him to stick around until the debt is paid. The surly sheriff, with whom Matt grew up, gives them 48 hours.
Martha Fullerton is an old flame and the wife of Matt's former business partner, Ray, and Matt is there to give her Ray's share of their profits before he moves on. Before he can do that, her impetuous son, Mike, shows up and angrily orders Matt to get out and not come back. Well, Matt had killed his father; never mind that Ray was the instigator. Cheyenne stops the kid from pulling a gun on Matt and the boy whines, "It's my gun; give it to me!" (I half expected the dimwit to stamp his foot.) Anyway, Reardon won't leave until he settles his debt. But Mike Fullerton is determined not only to reject anything from Reardon but to kill him, and gets involved with three ne'er-do-well townsmen to accomplish the job. When Cheyenne tries to convince Matt to leave town, the drained gunslinger refuses, saying, "A man on the run is trying to get away from someone. Trouble is, I can't get away from myself." After more saber-rattling, young Fullerton finally succeeds, but not in the way he planned and he doesn't even know that he did. Matt's touching last words are, "You're my friend, Cheyenne." The only true friend he'd had in a very long time. The final scene echoes the first one, Cheyenne watching the gravedigger put a man in the grave to "rest in peace."
This, like many stories in the series, is an obvious morality tale. It's a valid one, though, very well told without heavy-handed moralizing. John Russell is Matt Reardon; his handsome, weathered face convincingly mirrors the torment of the man inside. Audrey Totter plays Martha Fullerton, a woman who has suffered much loss in her life; first, losing Matt all those years ago, then her husband at Matt's hands, and now terrified that she's about to lose her impetuous son. He's played by Sean Garrison. You can't help but sympathize with the boy and at the same time want to knock some sense into him. The head ruffian is good old bad guy Hal Baylor, often Cheyenne's intentional nemesis but this time an accidental one. Vince Barnett is Miklos, the tavern/hotel keeper who, although barely five feet tall, steps in more than once to stick up for Cheyenne Bodie. Tod Griffin plays the prickly sheriff who, by the end, has learned a couple of valuable lessons about how to uphold the law.
Clint Walker's Cheyenne Bodie exudes empathy and common sense throughout this episode, qualities that are an indelible and appealing part of his character. He proves to be a good friend to a man whose past he can't help but deplore but whose present journey he respects to its inevitable conclusion. In the end, Cheyenne is able to say, "He died a man of peace."
Martha Fullerton is an old flame and the wife of Matt's former business partner, Ray, and Matt is there to give her Ray's share of their profits before he moves on. Before he can do that, her impetuous son, Mike, shows up and angrily orders Matt to get out and not come back. Well, Matt had killed his father; never mind that Ray was the instigator. Cheyenne stops the kid from pulling a gun on Matt and the boy whines, "It's my gun; give it to me!" (I half expected the dimwit to stamp his foot.) Anyway, Reardon won't leave until he settles his debt. But Mike Fullerton is determined not only to reject anything from Reardon but to kill him, and gets involved with three ne'er-do-well townsmen to accomplish the job. When Cheyenne tries to convince Matt to leave town, the drained gunslinger refuses, saying, "A man on the run is trying to get away from someone. Trouble is, I can't get away from myself." After more saber-rattling, young Fullerton finally succeeds, but not in the way he planned and he doesn't even know that he did. Matt's touching last words are, "You're my friend, Cheyenne." The only true friend he'd had in a very long time. The final scene echoes the first one, Cheyenne watching the gravedigger put a man in the grave to "rest in peace."
This, like many stories in the series, is an obvious morality tale. It's a valid one, though, very well told without heavy-handed moralizing. John Russell is Matt Reardon; his handsome, weathered face convincingly mirrors the torment of the man inside. Audrey Totter plays Martha Fullerton, a woman who has suffered much loss in her life; first, losing Matt all those years ago, then her husband at Matt's hands, and now terrified that she's about to lose her impetuous son. He's played by Sean Garrison. You can't help but sympathize with the boy and at the same time want to knock some sense into him. The head ruffian is good old bad guy Hal Baylor, often Cheyenne's intentional nemesis but this time an accidental one. Vince Barnett is Miklos, the tavern/hotel keeper who, although barely five feet tall, steps in more than once to stick up for Cheyenne Bodie. Tod Griffin plays the prickly sheriff who, by the end, has learned a couple of valuable lessons about how to uphold the law.
Clint Walker's Cheyenne Bodie exudes empathy and common sense throughout this episode, qualities that are an indelible and appealing part of his character. He proves to be a good friend to a man whose past he can't help but deplore but whose present journey he respects to its inevitable conclusion. In the end, Cheyenne is able to say, "He died a man of peace."
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