Cheyenne becomes the trail boss for a widow, and her disobedient crew, to help drive her cattle, but she is unaware the he is the one who killed her bushwhacking husband earlier.Cheyenne becomes the trail boss for a widow, and her disobedient crew, to help drive her cattle, but she is unaware the he is the one who killed her bushwhacking husband earlier.Cheyenne becomes the trail boss for a widow, and her disobedient crew, to help drive her cattle, but she is unaware the he is the one who killed her bushwhacking husband earlier.
- Lariat Sanga
- (as Mike Forest)
- Nub Tanner
- (as John Merrick)
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
- Cowhand
- (uncredited)
- Barfly
- (uncredited)
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title refers to the final chore every evening during a cattle drive: pointing the tongue of the chuck wagon at the North Star so that drovers could get their bearings the next morning.
- GoofsCheyenne rides out of China Hat. He doesn't have a bag of goods hanging down from the right side of his saddle. As he approaches the ambush, he does.
- Quotes
Faith Swain: Why aren't you rather generous with my beef? Why this thing isn't worth $.20!
Cheyenne Bodie: It's all he had. If I'd turned him down, he'd stolen the steers. If I'd given 'em to him for nothing, he'd figure we were afraid of him. As it is, we made a little trade, now we're friends.
After Cheyenne is forced to kill an old adversary who was firing from ambush, he discovers the man's pregnant widow is in trouble - her cattle is all she has left and she must must get them to market. Cheyenne, realizing that her surly trail crew are a pack of troublemakers, agrees reluctantly to take over anonymously as trail boss using the assumed name of "Ace Black", despite his feelings of guilt over being forced to kill her husband in self defense.
This episode is one of four cattle drive stories from the series where Cheyenne faces trouble on the trail, along with The Lone Gun, The Dark Rider, and The Greater Glory. Although other episodes such as Julesburg, The Long Winter, The Mutton Puncher, and Winchester Quarantine included cattle, the plots in these did not actually revolve around a cattle drive.
I'll cut right to the chase, this is a good one, with a great story and cast. Although Anne McCrea (Faith Swain), Roy Engel (Marshal Thad Veck) and G. Pat Collins (Sheriff Steep) made their only appearances in the series, a number of the primary cast were veterans of the series with multiple appearances, including Howard Petrie (Burt Wrangle), Frank DeKova (Chief Johnny Cake), Kelly Thordsen (Pike Wood), Michael Forrest (Lariat Sanga), William Meigs (Del Swain), I. Stanford Jolley (Jug Wilkins) and Clyde Howdy (uncredited).
I found the plot to be most excellent, and is what I consider to be one of the "quintessential Cheyenne" episodes that really shows the makeup of his character. Despite being the man who killed Del Swain in self defense, he is honor bound and does not refuse Swain's widow when she pleads for his help with the cattle drive. As trail boss, Cheyenne proceeds to outwit the the double-crossing crew of drovers and evil rustlers at every turn in scene after scene. As in The Lone Gun, Cheyenne barely sleeps and keeps a tight reign on the men and the drive, thwarting the rustler's efforts again and again.
Although the storyline is strong, it's the cast performances that push this episode into the higher echelons of the series. Howard Petrie was no stranger to role of range pirate Burt Rangle, his resume is full of similar morally bankrupt characters and he plays this role to the hilt. G. Pat Collins is just *awesome* as straight shooting Sheriff Steep and I would've loved to have seen more of his type of character, although Russell Thorsen played virtually the same character eight episodes previous in Hired Gun (S3, Ep7). Roy Engel gets to play a lawman rather than the villains he portrayed so often during his career, and it's a good fit. Frank DeKova is also great as Sioux Chief Johnny Cake, his delivery borderlines on humorous and is perfect for the role.
However, for me the standouts are Michael Forrest and I. Stanford Jolley. I just can't get enough of Michael Forrest's Lariat Sanga, the character is terrific and I still enjoy his scenes thoroughly in repeat viewings. But it's I. Stanford Jolley who steals the episode entirely as conflicted trail cook Jud Wilkins. Jolley appeared six times in the series, and this episode is by far his best. His dialogue was top notch and Jolley delivered his lines expertly, showing concern for the widow as well as humor in several excellent scenes.
In closing I'll reiterate my preference for this episode, it's one of my top three of the series with a great story and cast. Watch and enjoy!
- ben-thayer
- Aug 30, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1