Black Saddle
Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck as that aired 44 episodes on NBC from January 10, 1959, to May 6, 1960. The half-hour program was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television, and the original backdoor pilot was an episode of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, with Chris Alcaide originally portraying the principal character, Clay Culhane.[1]
| Black Saddle | |
|---|---|
 Peter Breck as Clay Culhane and Anna Lisa as Nora Travers (1959) | |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | Hal Hudson John McGreevey |
| Written by | Antony Ellis George Fass Gertrude Fass John Falvo Richard Fielder Frederick Louis Fox Hal Hudson Jack Jacobs Stuart Jerome Paul Kelly Paul King Ken Kolb Richard Levinson Robert Libott William Link John McGreevey Don Mullally Rod Peterson Joseph Stone John Tucker Battle |
| Directed by | Frank Baur William F. Claxton John English William D. Faralla Robert Florey Roger Kay Francis D. Lyon Gerd Oswald David Lowell Rich Boris Sagal James Sheldon Elliott Silvertstein |
| Starring | Peter Breck Russell Johnson Anna-Lisa J. Pat O'Malley Walter Burke |
| Theme music composer | Jerry Goldsmith Arthur Morton |
| Composers | Michael Hennagin Arthur Morton |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Hal Hudson |
| Producers | Antony Ellis Hal Hudson |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 24 mins. |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC (1959) ABC (1959-1960) |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural Stereo |
| Original release | January 10, 1959 – May 6, 1960 |
Synopsis
Detailed in the second episode of season two ("The Saddle"), series star Peter Breck's character, Clay Culhane, is a gunfighter who becomes a lawyer after his two brothers are killed in a bushwhack. Clay is seriously injured, but survived thanks to a man who nursed him back to health, whom he finds out was a judge who seems to have retired after sentencing one of his sons to death for murder. Under McKinney, Culhane decides that his life should take a different direction, and studies the judge's law books, and is further taught court procedure by the judge. A year later, having been taught by the ex-judge, he passes a verbal examination and becomes a lawyer. His mentor is then killed by his other son, who hates his father for sentencing his twin brother to death.
Breck starred along with Russell Johnson (several years before his role as the Professor on Gilligan's Island) and Anna-Lisa in the roles of US Marshal Gib Scott and Nora Travers, respectively. Other recurring roles were filled by character actors J. Pat O'Malley in eight episodes as Judge Caleb Marsh and Walter Burke in five segments as Tim Potter.
In the episode "Client Neal Adams" (May 9, 1959), James Drury (more than three years before the premiere of his own series The Virginian on NBC) guest stars as Neal Adams, an old friend of Culhane's who has robbed a bank of $8,000. Shot in the back by a pursuing bounty hunter, played by Charles Aidman, Adams asks Culhane for help. Adams claims that the bounty hunter is the brother of a man whom Adams had earlier killed in self-defense. From the start, Marshal Scott doubts Adams' story and questions Culhane's judgment in the matter.[2]
In "Client Peter Warren" (October 30, 1959), John Lupton, a year after the close of his Broken Arrow Western series, plays a man accused by townspeople of starting a fire that caused the death of his estranged wife's wealthy and respected aunt. The motive is inheritance of joint property from the aunt's pending estate. Culhane agrees to defend Warren, but instead finds evidence that Warren had been present at the scene of the fire. Ed Nelson portrays Lee Coogan, a hot-headed man and a former suitor of Mrs. Warren, played by Aneta Corsaut. Coogan is also determined to show Warren's guilt.[3]
In "Apache Trail" (November 20, 1959), Culhane and Nora go to an Indian outpost to collect a debt owed to her. There, they encounter Sam King (DeForest Kelley), accused of defrauding tribesmen. King is beaten with a whip, but survives the ordeal, only to be shot and killed.[4]
Cast
Main cast
- Peter Breck as Clay Culhane
- Russell Johnson as Marshal Gib Scott
- Anna-Lisa as Nora Travers
- J. Pat O'Malley as Judge Caleb Marsh
- Walter Burke as Tim Potter
Guest cast
Some of the Black Saddle guest stars include Chris Alcaide (who portrayed Clay Culhane in the original pilot), John Anderson, Parley Baer, Raymond Bailey, Paul Birch (in the role of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in the episode "Mr. Simpson"), Lane Bradford, Paul Burke, James Coburn, John Dehner, Frank Dekova, Buddy Ebsen, Hampton Fancher, James Franciscus, Jack Ging, Dabbs Greer, Clu Gulager, Robert Harland, Stacy Harris, Brett King, Robert Knapp, John Marley, Ann McCrea, Patrick McVey, Vic Perrin, Stafford Repp, Bing Russell, Richard Rust, Robert F. Simon, and Patrick Macnee.
Episodes
Season 1 (1959)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Client: Travers" | John English | John McGreevey | January 10, 1959 |
| 2 | 2 | "Client: Meade" | Roger Kay | John McGreevey | January 17, 1959 |
| 3 | 3 | "Client: McQueen" | John English | Robert Yale Libott | January 24, 1959 |
| 4 | 4 | "Client: Dawes" | Roger Kay | John McGreevey | January 31, 1959 |
| 5 | 5 | "Client: Starkey" | John English | Robert Yale Libott | February 7, 1959 |
| 6 | 6 | "Client: Tagger" | John English | Frederick Louis Fox | February 14, 1959 |
| 7 | 7 | "Client: Robinson" | John Florea | Jack Jacobs | February 21, 1959 |
| 8 | 8 | "Client: Martinez" | Francis D. Lyon | John Tucker Battle | March 7, 1959 |
| 9 | 9 | "Client: Northrup" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | March 14, 1959 |
| 10 | 10 | "Client: Steele" | Francis D. Lyon | Rod Peterson | March 21, 1959 |
| 11 | 11 | "Client: Mowery" | David Lowell Rich | Frederick Louis Fox | March 28, 1959 |
| 12 | 12 | "Client: Braun" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | April 4, 1959 |
| 13 | 13 | "Client: Banks" | John English | Antony Ellis | April 11, 1959 |
| 14 | 14 | "Client: Jessup" | John English | Stuart Jerome | April 18, 1959 |
| 15 | 15 | "Client: Frome" | John English | Frederick Louis Fox | April 25, 1959 |
| 16 | 16 | "Client: Nelson" | Boris Sagal | John McGreevey | May 2, 1959 |
| 17 | 17 | "Client: Neal Adams" | William D. Faralla | Ken Kolb | May 9, 1959 |
| 18 | 18 | "Client: Brand" | Gerd Oswald | Joe Stone & Paul King | May 16, 1959 |
| 19 | 19 | "Client: Reynolds" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | May 23, 1959 |
| 20 | 20 | "Client: Vardon" | William D. Faralla | Frederick Louis Fox | May 30, 1959 |
Season 2 (1959–60)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Freebooters" | William D. Faralla | John McGreevey | October 2, 1959 |
| 22 | 2 | "The Saddle" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | October 9, 1959 |
| 23 | 3 | "The Long Rider" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | October 16, 1959 |
| 24 | 4 | "The Hotel" | James Sheldon | Antony Ellis | October 23, 1959 |
| 25 | 5 | "Client: Peter Warren" | David Lowell Rich | Donn Mullally | October 30, 1959 |
| 26 | 6 | "The Freight Line" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | November 6, 1959 |
| 27 | 7 | "Murdock" | David Lowell Rich | Fred Frieberger | November 13, 1959 |
| 28 | 8 | "Apache Killer" | William D. Faralla | Joe Stone & Paul King | November 20, 1959 |
| 29 | 9 | "Four from Stillwater" | David Lowell Rich | George & Gertrude Fass | November 27, 1959 |
| 30 | 10 | "The Deal" | David Lowell Rich | William Link & Richard Levinson | December 4, 1959 |
| 31 | 11 | "Change of Venue" | William D. Faralla | John McGreevey | December 11, 1959 |
| 32 | 12 | "Blood Money" | Frank Baur | John McGreevey | December 18, 1959 |
| 33 | 13 | "The Killer" | William F. Claxton | Antony Ellis | January 1, 1960 |
| 34 | 14 | "Letter of Death" | David Lowell Rich | Frederick Louis Fox | January 8, 1960 |
| 35 | 15 | "Mr. Simpson" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | January 22, 1960 |
| 36 | 16 | "Means to an End" | Frank Baur | John McGreevey | January 29, 1960 |
| 37 | 17 | "The Indian Tree" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey & Antony Ellis | February 19, 1960 |
| 38 | 18 | "The Apprentice" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | March 11, 1960 |
| 39 | 19 | "Burden of Guilt" | TBA | TBA | March 18, 1960 |
| 40 | 20 | "The Cabin" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | April 1, 1960 |
| 41 | 21 | "The Return" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | April 8, 1960 |
| 42 | 22 | "A Case of Slow" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | April 15, 1960 |
| 43 | 23 | "The Penalty" | William D. Faralla | John Falvo | April 22, 1960 |
| 44 | 24 | "End of the Line" | William F. Claxton | Richard Fielder | May 4, 1960 |
Production
Filming
Black Saddle was filmed at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California. Several years later, Peter Breck starred as Nick Barkley in another, more successful Four Star series, The Big Valley, on ABC.
Scheduling
Black Saddle originally aired on NBC at 9 pm on Saturdays from January 10—May 30, 1959, before moving to ABC in October of that year, where it aired at 10:30 pm on Fridays after another Four Star production, The Detectives, starring Robert Taylor. Its competition on CBS was the interview program Person to Person created by Edward R. Murrow. NBC aired the 45-minute Gillette Cavalcade of Sports in the same time slot.
Theme
Although the Black Saddle TV series was cancelled over 50 years ago, its original theme song, written by Herschel Burke Gilbert and Arthur Morton, has lived on... and is still often performed. Many cover versions of the song have been recorded, some available on YouTube.
Syndication as The Westerners
For syndicated reruns, Black Saddle was combined with three other Western series from the same company: Law of the Plainsman starring Michael Ansara, Johnny Ringo starring Don Durant and Mark Goddard, and The Westerner with Brian Keith, under the umbrella title, The Westerners, with new hosting sequences by Keenan Wynn.
References
- Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 54. ISBN 9781476662503. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Black Saddle: "Client Neal Adams", May 9, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- "Black Saddle: "Client Peter Warren", October 30, 1959". imdb.com. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- "Apache Trail, November 20, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Black Saddle. |
- Black Saddle at IMDb
- Black Saddle at TV.com
- Black Saddle at TVAddicts
- Black Saddle: Season 2, Ep.2 "The Saddle."