Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV Series) Montana Kid (1959) User Reviews

Unusual, But Good Start, To Second Season

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 14 August 2007]

An odd-sounded wanted poster says "The Outraged Person" on the bottom of it, and that guy wants information about a gambler "Johnny Deuce." The poster also says you can find the gambler if you follow a young boy named "The Montana Kid." Well, our hero "Josh Randall" (Steve McQueen) turns out to be the guy who wrote the wanted poster. After a sheriff lets the boy out of his jail (it's never said why he was in there), Josh, pays the sheriff $100 and then follows the kid, who rides off on horseback. This was an odd start to the second season of this successful television western starring a famous actor, who was just beginning his career.

The episode was good, as usual. One thing I like about this old show; the stories are very diverse. This one about a kid who is card shark and developed his trade from a gambler (played by Steve Brodie) who took him out of the orphanage and "trained" him. What happens to he, the gambler and Josh are all very interesting. There's a neat little dog, here, that's part of the story.

Richard Eyer plays the young boy, the title character: The Montana Kid. He went on to be in a couple of famous movies (see is autobiography here) but retired from films before becoming an adult.

Note: I was sorry to see the DVD did not offer English subtitles, as "Studio Canal of New Line Home Entertainment" company did on the first-season DVD.

Original, Good Writing & Acting

[Johnny_West · 10/10 · 20 June 2022]

This is a story that I always enjoy watching whenever it pops up on syndication. Richard Eyer plays an orphan who is out hustling card games as he goes from town to town, wagon trains, etc. I can imagine people living like that in the Old West, and it was likely a quick way to die. The story is believable, and the Montana Kid (Richard Eyer) is quickly in danger as a result. Menacing Richard Devon makes a villainous appearance as someone who feels cheated, and wants to rough up the kid. Along comes Josh Randall/Steve McQueen to save his bacon.

Eyer is traveling with a talented Jack Russell Terrier that barks and dances when Eyer whistles, so that card bettors get distracted from the cards. Pretty slick so far. McQueen has been tracking the kid in order to find his mentor, played by Steve Brodie. Brodie not only cheated Josh Randall at cards ($700 loss), but he is training the kid to be a cheat like him.

Eventually Randall and the kid (and dog) meet up with Steve Brodie, and all hell breaks loose. At the very end, it looks like Eyer and the dog might be back for another episode. It would have been nice to see what happened to the kid and his dog.

One thing bugged me

[Christopher370 · 6/10 · 19 September 2023]

Josh wanted $700 back that he was cheated out of from the boy's stepdad playing cards, plus another $700 for what he feels he could've won had the cards been unmarked. (that was going just a little too far because he could have legitimately lost it too) Yet when he witnesses the boy cheating someone out of $50 by palming the cards while his dog distracts the player by his whistle, Josh doesn't tell the kid to return the stolen money back to the player.

If he was a victim himself of card cheating, why does he feel he deserves to have his money returned but not the man the boy cheated? Up to this point in the series, Josh's character has been shown to be a fair and just person, but his actions here contradict that.

Overall this is a good episode, but that one incident really bugged me. Especially when Josh worked so hard even printing up posters to get his own lost money back, he should've made the kid return that other player's money too since his money was stolen in the same way that Josh's was.

Why should he feel entitled to recoup his funds, but not the other player? A wrong is a wrong, and if Josh's wrong should be made right, then so should that other player's.

But at the end of the episode the kid even tells Josh that he will return that money back to him if he wants him too.

But Josh says no...let it be a lesson to him not to play cards for money with a little boy. But by the same token, Josh should've let his money go as well then and let it be a lesson to him not to play cards for money with grown men because they can cheat just as little boys do.

I like the episode overall, but was very surprised by Josh's unfairness here.