– The Onslaught – 1965 This is the pilot episode for the 1965-66 western series, A Man Called Shenandoah. The series, which ran for 34 episodes, starred Robert Horton.
It is the dead of winter, a lone rider, Robert Horton, enters a small town. He books a room and a bath. While he is stripping down for the bath, a gunman, Richard Devon, breaks in and starts blasting. Horton just escapes with his life after knocking Devon down with a solid punch. He grabs Devon's pistol and hurries down the back stairs. Once outside, two more men start firing at him. Horton returns fire and kills the two.
With only his pants on, and Devon's pistol, he grabs a horse and flees into the foul weather. Devon recovers and follows Horton. He tracks down the half frozen Horton and puts two rounds from his Winchester into him, one in the shoulder and one in the head. He then leaves Horton to die.
A short time later, two prospectors come upon Horton. They sling him across the packhorse and cart him back to the nearest town. The two wonder if he might be an outlaw, so they stop at the local law to see if there is a reward. No luck there, so they drop Horton at the saloon.
The local doc, Noah Keen, is called to have a look at the unconscious and battered Horton. He removes the bullet from Horton's shoulder and bandages the head wound, which turns out to be minor. It had simply knocked him unconscious.
Horton is then hauled upstairs and put to bed. Beverly Garland, the singer dancer at the saloon, tends his wounds. Horton comes to 3-4 days later and asks where he is. Doc Keen asks him how he feels etc and what is his name. Horton is unable to answer. He has no memory of who he is, or how he ended up being shot. Several more days go by and Horton swiftly regains his strength. His memory though is still a blank. Needing to call him something, Doc Keen starts calling him Shenandoah, the name of Keen's hometown.
A few more days pass and who should show up in the saloon? Gunman Devon of course. He knocks back a few drinks and starts making some unwanted moves on Miss Garland. When the barkeep steps up to stop the unwanted attention, Devon pistol whips the man.
Horton, hearing the screams of Garland, grabs a pistol from the Doc's case and roars downstairs. Devon's eyes go wide as he sees Horton, "You! I'll kill you this time for sure!" Yells Devon as he goes for his pistol. Horton is faster off the mark and drills Devon in the chest, killing him.
Horton walks up to the corpse and looks at Devon. "He knew me." He whispers.
So starts the tale of, A Man Called Shenandoah. The series then follows Horton as he searches for clues as to who he is, and what he was.
This is a pretty brisk moving episode that was directed by Paul Wendkos. Wendkos directed, THE BURGLAR, one of the best of the film noir era.
This is a great looking series, that features some wonderful looking opening and closing credits film work. (b/w)
It is the dead of winter, a lone rider, Robert Horton, enters a small town. He books a room and a bath. While he is stripping down for the bath, a gunman, Richard Devon, breaks in and starts blasting. Horton just escapes with his life after knocking Devon down with a solid punch. He grabs Devon's pistol and hurries down the back stairs. Once outside, two more men start firing at him. Horton returns fire and kills the two.
With only his pants on, and Devon's pistol, he grabs a horse and flees into the foul weather. Devon recovers and follows Horton. He tracks down the half frozen Horton and puts two rounds from his Winchester into him, one in the shoulder and one in the head. He then leaves Horton to die.
A short time later, two prospectors come upon Horton. They sling him across the packhorse and cart him back to the nearest town. The two wonder if he might be an outlaw, so they stop at the local law to see if there is a reward. No luck there, so they drop Horton at the saloon.
The local doc, Noah Keen, is called to have a look at the unconscious and battered Horton. He removes the bullet from Horton's shoulder and bandages the head wound, which turns out to be minor. It had simply knocked him unconscious.
Horton is then hauled upstairs and put to bed. Beverly Garland, the singer dancer at the saloon, tends his wounds. Horton comes to 3-4 days later and asks where he is. Doc Keen asks him how he feels etc and what is his name. Horton is unable to answer. He has no memory of who he is, or how he ended up being shot. Several more days go by and Horton swiftly regains his strength. His memory though is still a blank. Needing to call him something, Doc Keen starts calling him Shenandoah, the name of Keen's hometown.
A few more days pass and who should show up in the saloon? Gunman Devon of course. He knocks back a few drinks and starts making some unwanted moves on Miss Garland. When the barkeep steps up to stop the unwanted attention, Devon pistol whips the man.
Horton, hearing the screams of Garland, grabs a pistol from the Doc's case and roars downstairs. Devon's eyes go wide as he sees Horton, "You! I'll kill you this time for sure!" Yells Devon as he goes for his pistol. Horton is faster off the mark and drills Devon in the chest, killing him.
Horton walks up to the corpse and looks at Devon. "He knew me." He whispers.
So starts the tale of, A Man Called Shenandoah. The series then follows Horton as he searches for clues as to who he is, and what he was.
This is a pretty brisk moving episode that was directed by Paul Wendkos. Wendkos directed, THE BURGLAR, one of the best of the film noir era.
This is a great looking series, that features some wonderful looking opening and closing credits film work. (b/w)
