Sun 23 Aug 2015
A Western TV Review by Jonathan Lewis: STORIES OF THE CENTURY: “Joaquin Murietta” (1954).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[8] Comments
“Joaquin Murietta.” An episode of Stories of the Century. Syndicated / Republic Pictures, 16 April 1954 (Season 1, Episode 13). Jim Davis, Mary Castle, with Rick Jason as Joaquin Murietta. Screenplay: Milton Raison. Director: William Witney.
In this Stories of the Century episode, Matt Clark, Railroad Detective (Jim Davis) and his female partner, Frankie Adams (Mary Castle) take on legendary/quasi-fictional bandit Joaquin Murietta. Directed by William Witney, this episode plays like an extended serial or a very short B-Western. Unlike many other television Westerns from this era, the hero not only has a female partner, but a strong willed and independent one more than willing to speak her mind.
The plot is adequate, but some details don’t make a whole lot of logical sense. The characters, such as they are, aren’t all that developed, although it should be noted that Murietta is portrayed as both as a ladies man and as a cruel bandit. Still, there’s action, gun-fighting, allusions to gold treasure a plenty. Most importantly, there’s a Whitneyesque drawn out, bare-knuckles fistfight at the very end. How could there not be?
You can watch the entire episode on the YouTube videobelow:
August 23rd, 2015 at 4:02 pm
After you watch the imbedded episode, when the other choices pop up on the screen, the next one to watch should be “The Wild Bunch Of Wyoming”, just to see who’s playing the title roles (no spoilers – see for yourself).
Stories Of The Century was the Western Gangbusters, showing how all the major bandits of the Old West were brought down by the same stalwart Railroad Detectives, aided by Republic Pictures’s vast library of stock footage (and stock music).
The whole series is available on DVD, from several sources.
Great fun at parties …
August 23rd, 2015 at 4:09 pm
This series took the names of real-life outlaws and dropped them into standard shoot ’em-up scripts. Kudos to the writers for coming up with some lesser-known bad guys (like Sontag and EVans) but the stories were otherwise oblivious to the facts.
August 23rd, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Mike Doran – You piqued my curiosity, so I just watched the “Wild Bunch of Wyoming” episode. Loved the casting choices for the outlaws, miles apart from Newman & Redford. And who knew the name of Butch Cassidy’s partner was really the SMILING Kid? LOL
August 23rd, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Another show I had never heard of, partly because we didn’t get a TV until about this time and then none of the channels we did get aired it.
August 23rd, 2015 at 8:55 pm
I’d heard of the show, but only vaguely, so I was taken by surprise when Mary Castle was introduced as Jim Davis’s partner, Frankie. I’m sure there have been male-female detective team-up’s before, but not too many. (I’m thinking of detective duos who are both professionals, not amateurs, thus excluding Miss Withers & Oscar Piper and Nick & Nora Charles.)
Bertha Cool and Donald Lam come to mind. Any other early ones?
August 23rd, 2015 at 11:47 pm
Someone has to point out there were no railroad detectives when Murietta was caught, and no railroads in California. Murietta is separated from the Wild Bunch by thirty or forty years, a figure from the early days of California statehood and one model for Zorro —- though the latter managed to keep his head.
The series also did a good and fairly accurate version of ‘good’ outlaw Bill Doolin with Davis standing in for Frank Tilghman, the real Marshall who brought him in.
Like most history on early television leeway often resembled a ten lane thruway when they finished.
August 23rd, 2015 at 11:57 pm
Re male female tec teams as equals I suppose you could count the Dol Bonner team ups with Wolfe and Archie and her outing with Tecumseh Fox. A policewoman teams with Bulldog Drummond in Gerard Fairlie’s CALLING BULLDOG DRUMMOND, I seem to recall Fred Nebel’s Cardigan working with a female op once in a while.
Actual recurring teams are rarer though in some ways the Spider’s mistress Nita was an equal member of the team as apt to rescue him as be rescued. I’m sure there is someone obvious we are all missing. The closest I can think of is James O’Hanlon’s husband and wife private eye team.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:13 am
Richard Sale’s Daffy Dill often teamed with a female reporter, but both were amateurs. Most husband and wife teams featured one pro and one amateur even if the amateur did the sleuthing.