The Night of the Hangman 

Jim and Arte go undercover to overturn a hanging verdict unjustly given to an innocent man.

Director:

James B. Clark

Writers:

Michael Garrison (creator), Peter G. Robinson

Stars:

Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, Martin E. Brooks

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Robert Conrad	...	Jim West
Ross Martin	...	Artemus Gordon
Martin E. Brooks	...	Franklin Poore (as Martin Brooks)
Sarah Marshall	...	Eugenia Rawlins
Paul Fix	...	Judge Blake
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Lucius Brand (as Dean Stanton)
Charles Lane	...	Roger Creed
Carolan Daniels	...	Mrs. Brand
Jesslyn Fax	...	Mrs. Peacock
John Pickard	...	Amos Rawlins
Gregg Palmer	...	Sheriff Jonas Bolt
Ahna Capri	...	Abigail Moss (as Anna Capri)

Storyline

When West and Gordon are present when a town's philanthropist is shot and West chases the shooter and finds him just sitting clutching the gun as if nothing happened. At his trial, a witness claims that he's the shooter. And the banker who denied a loan he asked for, who appears to have been the actual target, testifies that the man threatened him. The defendant claims to have no memory from the night before till West found him. He's found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging withing two days. When Gordon raises some anomalies, they decide to look into it deeper. They start by talking to the defendant who tells them of why he woke up just as West found him. They check it out and find a device that was used but someone burns the place and they have no evidence to give to the judge and the prosecutor convinces the judge not to delay the execution so they have to rush to prove the man's innocence.

---

Plot Keywords:

man tied up | framed for murder | trial in saloon | pregnant wife | impersonating a clergyman | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

The speech Artie gives to guide Jim to the source of the sounds is the opening sentence of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

---

Goofs

In the Ace Novelty Company are dolls of Raggedy Ann & Andy, characters created by cartoonist Johnny Gruelle in the 1910s.

---

Quotes

James T. West: How did you get into the Secret Service with hayfever?
Artemus Gordon: Kept it a secret.

User Reviews

Remember 11.22.1963?

Or you can replace Harry Dean Stanton character as a kind of Lee Harvey Oswald...That's my own interpretation of this basic story; the only link that first came to my mind. A rather unusual W W WEST show indeed, but with some recurrent elements though. And I also found weird the more than supporting character, just at the beginning, whom the camera focuses on, with no reasons at all, this old rude man at the buffet.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Sierra Railroad, Jamestown, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 51 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1