Sun 12 Mar 2023
A TV Western Review: SHOTGUN SLADE “Crossed Guns†(1960).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[6] Comments
SHOTGUN SLADE “Crossed Guns.†Syndicated / Revue. 13 May 1960 (Season One, uEpisode 30). Scott Brady. Guest Cast: Barry Atwater, Sue Ane Langdon, Rick Turner, Larry Thor, Francis X. Bushman. Series created by Frank Gruber. Screenwriter: Barry Shipman, Director: Will Jason. Currently available on YouTube.
One of the gimmicks of this show that separated it from other westerns at the time (and there were many) was that he was a PI for hire, only in the Old West. The other being his weapon of choice, a dual-barrelled hybrid shotgun combination that has a .32-cal. rifle upper barrel and a 12-gauge shotgun lower barrel. (Without IMDb I could not tell you otherwise.)
The western PI aspect of the series is not much in evidence in this episode , however , unless you call himself his own client. When he rides into Grover’s Bend, it is to confront a man he sent to prison five years ago and who has just been released. The latter’s revenge, however, turns out to be by proxy, as he has lost his right hand while in prison, and a young local gunfighter named Billy has agreed to shoot it out with Slade on the main street of town.
Complicating matters is that Billy has been secretly romancing the sheriff’s daughter. How Slade gets out of this without either himself or Billy killed is the essence of the story.
Which is neither terribly good nor really down and out awful. It’s good enough to find another one to watch, and if/when I do, you’ll probably read about it on this blog.
March 12th, 2023 at 7:44 am
This recalls the days when you could watch a Western on one of the 3 network channels pretty much any night of the week!
March 12th, 2023 at 9:09 am
I love Shotgun Slade! Scott Brady was at the height of his career and attractiveness, and the Western PI angle was pretty fresh. Plus the show had a Peter Gunn-influenced jazz score, which might seem like a strange idea but actually works well, as it keeps everything jaunty.
March 12th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
I have been wondering about the Western PI angle. Wouldn’t Paladin qualify as having come along earlier and arguably better I’ll have to watch anther of the SLADE shows to see Slade more in action as such.
But I certainly do agree that the jazzy musical soundtrack worked very very well, a la Peter Gunn.
March 12th, 2023 at 6:53 pm
It was a good idea for a series, but never quite gelled the was TALES OF WELLS FARGO, Gruber’s other series did. There are good individual episodes well worth watching.
March 12th, 2023 at 8:32 pm
As to that, I have discovered that there are plenty of other episodes to choose from floating around here and there on YouTube.
March 14th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
Larry Thor –radio announcer for numerous serials (even Rocky Jordan, sponsored by Del Monte) and even a starring lead himself in “Broadway is my Beat”. The latter, one of the strangest shows I’ve ever sampled.