Sun 19 Jun 2022
A TV Episode Review: LUKE AND THE TENDERFOOT “The Boston Kid” (1955).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[8] Comments
LUKE AND THE TENDERFOOT “The Boston Kid.†Ziv Productions, unsold pilot, 1955. Edgar Buchanan, Carleton Carpenter. Guest Cast: Nancy Hadley, Lee Van Cleef, Dabbs Greer, Michael Landon, Leonard Nimoy, Jim Bannon. Producer/screenwriter: Steve Fisher. Director: Montgomery Pittman. Currently available on YouTube here.
In this early 30 minute black-and-white western pilot, Edgar Buchanan plays Luke Herkimer, a bewhiskered itinerant peddler slash con man in the Old West, and if you can picture Edgar Buchanan in such a role, you probably will not be surprised if I were to tell you that he’s not all that good as either of the two.
As he pulls into the nest town on his travels he meets a naive young man named Pete Quinn (Carleton Carpenter) stepping off a stage, straight from the East and wearing straight from the East clothes, which makes him the center of laughter from a gang of school kids as well as a bunch of local rowdies. You know, the kind of rowdies who are always hanging around small western towns in the movies being, well, rowdy.
Before he knows it, Pete has been persuaded by Luke to fight three of the rowdies in a boxing match, posing as the “Boston Kid.†Pete’s resemblance to a notorious boxer is nil, zilch, none, and much hilarity ensues.
In spite it all, though, Luke and Pete decide to patch things up and become partners of some sort, tin pans clanging as their wagon heads on out of sight.
Enjoyable enough, you might say, but there’s certainly not enough meat on this to build a series on. There was a second episode made, one entitled “The John Wesley Hardin Story,” that one source says was actually aired by CBS in 1963. Most of the fun in watching this one comes from looking for members of the cast whose faces you can still recognize today. Well, mostly so. For some reason I never placed Leonard Nimoy in this one by his face. I will have to watch it again.
But to be honest, though, not right away.
Note: Thanks to Mike Grost and his occasional email newsletter for tipping me off to this one.
June 20th, 2022 at 6:25 am
Great supporting cast. Very weak plot, though. Carpenter was a fairly successful mystery novelist in the 70s and 80s, with at least seven books.
June 20th, 2022 at 10:32 am
“Weak plot” sums it up nicely. Several plot threads are left dangling, with the fight scene going on way too long. And the naiveté of Carlton Carleton’s character eventually borders on sheer goofiness (but perhaps not a totally bad thing).
June 20th, 2022 at 10:37 am
Good news! The second episode of LUKE AND THE TENDERFOOT is also on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mdtozyb5ZY
I haven’t watched it yet myself, but in the guest cast are Charles Bronson and Richard Jaeckel, to drop a couple more well-known names.
June 20th, 2022 at 8:58 pm
I suspect they thought this one would get by on pure charm from the two leads and that great cast, but it is hard to imagine how they thought it would develop.
As is, the early sightings of the various soon to be stars and familiar character actors is the only real attraction.
June 20th, 2022 at 10:12 pm
I’ve now had a chance to watch the second episode they filmed. It’s not quite as goofy as the first one, but Herkimer does get into trouble by telling tall stories about his “friendship” with John Wesley Harding.
It is also a lot more violent than the first, with Hardin shooting and killing three people before the show is over.
June 22nd, 2022 at 3:00 pm
I enjoyed the sweet good nature of this.
Nimoy and Michael Landon are two of the three obnoxious rowdies. Their job is to make conformity look awful.
Carlton Carpenter is a favorite.
June 22nd, 2022 at 4:39 pm
Carlton Carpenter is even more limber-limbed than Dick Van Dyke in good-natured goofiness.
June 22nd, 2022 at 7:33 pm
That’s a good comparison!
Both Carpenter and Van Dyke were expert song and dance men.
Carpenter flourished in musicals:
Two Weeks With Love
Lady in the Dark (on TV)