User Reviews

I didn't know this is the first Cheyenne episode when I watched it. I thought it very good, and it held my interest. But what happened to the dog when his master is killed? I expected James Garner and his fiancee to take the dog, but nothing was shown in the episode.

From the opening shot of this inaugural episode of "Cheyenne," it's clear why, when Jack Warner came to Clint Walker's photo in the stack of actors who had auditioned for the part of the heroic title character, he needed go no further, but declared, "That is Cheyenne." For a man who had precious little experience before the camera and no interest at all in becoming a star, Clint Walker handled the part as if he'd been born to it. He comes across as one of the most self-assured yet humble players ever to grace the screen, completely comfortable in his own skin.

Yes, I'm a fan of his, but not just because of his impressive good looks. He was a natural before the camera and, according to all I've ever read or heard about him, he wasn't really just playing a part. Jack Warner was right; Clint Walker was Cheyenne. As Robert Wilke sneered in his usual role of super(bad)man, "You've got what they call honor." Costar Ann Robinson said of the man himself, "Clint Walker was the most decent man I've ever met."

As for this episode, borrowed or not from earlier movies, it has all the gritty realism anyone could ask of those early television Westerns. Just as the good guys look and act the part, so do the bad guys. That's one thing that sets Westerns from the 50s and early 60s apart; right and wrong were black and white concepts, and it wasn't just because of the color of the film. Although the moral climate of the world has changed drastically, this series remains as watchable now as it was back then. And as long as Clint Walker as Cheyenne is the driving force, it's a very pleasing way to spend 50 minutes.

The first "Cheyenne" episode, entitled "Mountain Fortress," finds our hero, Cheyenne Bodie(square-jawed Clint Walker) and his loquacious sidekick Smitty (L. Q. Jones of "Battle Cry") taking refuge in some high rocks to avoid a confrontation with savage Shoshone. In the early "Cheyenne" episodes, the protagonist Cheyenne served as a U.S. Army scout who reconnoitered the frontier while his sidekick Smitty drew maps of the terrain that they had scoured. No sooner have our heroes ridden into the rocks than they discover a gang of unsavory outlaws led Bob Manson (perennial bad guy Robert J. Wilke of "The Magnificent Seven") holed up there awaiting the arrival of a stagecoach that they plan to rob. The Indians attack the stagecoach, and our heroes and the outlaws descend to aid the stage. They rescue the only passenger, Joan Carter (Ann Robinson of "War of the Worlds") and help the old coot driving the stage that the Indians wounded. At the same time, the villains reveal their true colors, blow the lock off the strongbox, and appropriate several bags of loot. They also disarm Cheyenne and Smith. Interestingly, the issue of the money never comes up again in this premiere episode that rotated in the first Warner Brothers television show "Warner Brothers Presents" on ABC-TV. The Indians pull back just long enough for a cavalry patrol to arrive. The officer-in-charge, Forsythe (James Garner of "Maverick"), has come to pick up his bride to be. The Indians renew their depredations against our heroes and stagecoach robbers, and Manson reluctantly rearms Cheyenne and company. The Indians exhibit a bit of ingenuity during the battle when they launch a multi-fronted attack and scale the rear walls of the mountain fortress (which Cheyenne thought unlikely) with make-shift ladders. Predictably, the heroes and stagecoach robbers repel those nasty savages, but complications arise. The villains have a falling out among themselves. Perado (Peter Coe of "Hell Ship Mutiny") decides to shoot Manson in the back when Manson goes loco. Indeed, Perado and Manson are shown in the same image frame when Perado pulls the trigger on him and kills him! This was something rarely done at that time even in the movies. Afterward, our heroes must tangle for one last time with the Indians. During this last attack when even more of the good guys are whittled down by the opposition, the U.S. Cavalry rides to the rescue and saves the survivors. Forsythe and Joan ride away to become husband and wife. Cheyenne and Smitty continue on with their adventures. Unlike later "Cheyenne" episodes, the producers keep big Cint Walker snugly buttoned into his apparel throughout the show. An adequate enough western with good camera placement and pacing, but nothing special in the larger scheme of the series. Brawny Clint Walker exudes power with his low-key performance, while Wilke makes a slimy villain who deserves getting shot in the back by one of his own men. Harve Foster produced this traditional action western episode.