Cimarron City (TV series)
Cimarron City is an American one hour Western television series, starring George Montgomery as Matt Rockford and John Smith as Lane Temple, that aired on NBC from 1958 to 1959. Cimarron City is a boomtown in Logan County, Oklahoma north of Oklahoma City. Rich in oil and gold, Cimarron City aspires to become the capital of the future state of Oklahoma, to be created in 1907.
| Cimarron City | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Western |
| Written by | Norman Jolley Richard Morgan Tom Seller |
| Directed by | Richard Bartlett Abner Biberman John Meredyth Lucas |
| Starring | George Montgomery John Smith Audrey Totter Dan Blocker |
| Theme music composer | Frederick Herbert Stanley Wilson |
| Composer | Paul Dunlap |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Richard Bartlett Norman Jolley |
| Cinematography | Jack MacKenzie William A. Sickner John F. Warren |
| Editor | Lee Huntington |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Mont Productions Revue Studios |
| Distributor | MCA TV (1963-1964) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2004-2011) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monoaural |
| Original release | September 27, 1958 – April 4, 1959 |
Synopsis
Matthew Rockford is the son of the founder of Cimarron City as well as the mayor and an area cattle rancher. Lane Temple, the blacksmith, serves also as the deputy sheriff. He maintains the law amid the crooked schemes concocted in Cimarron City.
Audrey Totter played Beth Purcell, the owner of the boarding house. The episodes were supposed to rotate equally among Montgomery, Smith, and Totter. The writers, however, did not give Totter enough stories as promised, and she left the series. Cimarron City also featured Dan Blocker pre-Bonanza in two roles. In the second episode, Blocker plays outlaw Carl Budinger and is killed. In the fourth episode he reappears as Carl's good-hearted brother, Tiny Budinger, who becomes one of Rockford's ranch hands.
Cast
- George Montgomery as Matt Rockford, Mayor
- John Smith as Deputy Lane Temple
- Audrey Totter as Beth Purcell
- Dan Blocker as Tiny Carl Budinger
- Wally Brown as Jed Fame
- Claire Carleton as Alice Purdy
- Pete Dunn as Dody Hamer
- George Dunn as Jesse Williams
- Tom Fadden as Silas Perry
- Stuart Randall as Sheriff Art Sampson
- Addison Richards as Martin Kingsley
- Fred Sherman as Burt Purdy
Guest stars
- Nick Adams
- Morris Ankrum
- Frank Bank (uncredited)
- Edgar Buchanan
- John Carradine
- Walter Coy
- Linda Darnell
- Dan Duryea
- Olive Carey
- Mike Connors
- Eduard Franz
- Peter Graves
- Myron Healey
- Ed Hinton
- Gary Hunley
- Vivi Janiss
- Richard Jaeckel
- Douglas Kennedy
- Barbara Lawrence
- John Litel
- June Lockhart
- Fred MacMurray
- John McIntire
- Dorothy Malone
- Gary Merrill
- Elizabeth Montgomery
- Rita Moreno
- J. Carrol Naish
- Debra Paget
- Luana Patten
- Jason Robards, Sr.
- Pernell Roberts
- Dean Stockwell
- Randy Stuart
- Gloria Talbott
- William Talman
- Lee Van Cleef
- Larry Pennell
- Robert Fuller
Production notes
The series was filmed at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth in Los Angeles County, California.
Cimarron City was placed opposite two more successful half-hour western programs on the rival CBS network, Richard Boone's Have Gun, Will Travel and James Arness' Gunsmoke.
Episode list
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "I, The People" | October 11, 1958 |
| 1-2 | "Terror Town" | October 18, 1958 |
| 1-3 | "To Become a Man" | October 29, 1958 |
| 1-4 | "Twelve Guns" | November 1, 1958 |
| 1-5 | "The Medicine Man" | November 8, 1958 |
| 1-6 | "Hired Hand" | November 15, 1958 |
| 1-7 | "Kid On a Calico Horse" | November 22, 1958 |
| 1-8 | "The Beast of Cimarron" | November 29, 1958 |
| 1-9 | "A Respectable Girl" | December 6, 1958 |
| 1-10 | "The Bloodline" | December 13, 1958 |
| 1-11 | "Cimarron Holiday" | December 20, 1958 |
| 1-12 | "McGowan's Debt" | December 27, 1958 |
| 1-13 | "The Bitter Lesson" | January 3, 1959 |
| 1-14 | "A Legacy of Ossie Harper" | January 10, 1959 |
| 1-15 | "Child Of Fear" | January 17, 1959 |
| 1-16 | "Burn the Town Down" | January 24, 1959 |
| 1-17 | "Runaway Train" | January 31, 1959 |
| 1-18 | "The Beauty and The Sorrow" | February 7, 1959 |
| 1-19 | "Return of the Dead" | February 14, 1959 |
| 1-20 | "Blind Is the Killer" | February 21, 1959 |
| 1-21 | "The Unaccepted" | February 28, 1959 |
| 1-22 | "The Ratman" | March 7, 1959 |
| 1-23 | "Have Sword, Will Duel" | March 14, 1959 |
| 1-24 | "Chinese Invasion" | March 21, 1959 |
| 1-25 | "The Town Is A Prisoner" | March 26, 1959 |
| 1-26 | "The Evil One" | April 4, 1959 |
Home media
On March 6, 2012, Timeless Media Group released Cimarron City: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[1]
References
- McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0
External links
- Cimarron City at IMDb
- http://www.westernclippings.com/remember/gmontgomery_doyouremember.shtml%7C%7CWestern%5B%5D Western Clippings George Montgomery interview
- Cimarron City at TV.com
- Cimarron City at epguides.com