Tales of Wells Fargo (TV Series) Showdown Trail (1959) User Reviews

Hardie confronts a vicious outlaw family

[BrianDanaCamp · 23 June 2017]

"Showdown Trail" is one of those "Wells Fargo" episodes that takes its characters out on location and delivers on its promise of plenty of action. Here, Wells Fargo agent Jim Hardie is taking a prisoner, Ed Dooley, who is cuffed to his wrist, to San Francisco for trial. When the Dooley outlaw clan stops the train, they abduct Hardie, still chained to Ed because he'd sent the handcuff key on to San Francisco, and kill Hardie's partner. Eventually, Hardie gets free and goes on the run from the Dooleys, trying to find a way to get a horse and gun and go back and confront them. The Dooleys, led by ruthless Joe Dooley and including Ed's brother Pat and sister Fay, present a formidable enemy to Hardie. Fay, realizing Hardie doesn't know her, sets out to lure him into a trap, which she manages to do rather effortlessly. As always in this series, Hardie eventually prevails, but it's a very suspenseful ride along the way.

The cast is a colorful one and includes short-lived Bowery Boy Stanley Clements as Ed and the striking brunette Gloria Talbott (a mainstay of westerns and sci-fi films in the 1950s) as the cunning Fay. Reliable heavy Myron Healey plays Pat, while tough old Joe is played by Will Wright, a dependable character actor who usually played smaller parts and rarely one that required as much action as this role. Another standout heavy in the cast is Emile Meyer, who plays an ill-fated neighbor of the Dooleys who refuses to help Hardie when he's in need. The location photography is quite spectacular.

"If you weren't my son I'd let the law have ya. You're mean and you're no good!"

[ben-thayer · 29 May 2024]

Jim Hardie is escorting malicious outlaw Ed Dooley to San Francisco by train, when it's stopped by a pile of wood on the tracks. The stop was instigated by the Dooley family, also notorious outlaws, and they want to take Ed from Hardie. But Hardie is handcuffed to Ed Dooley, and when asked for the key by patriarch Joe Dooley, Hardie tells the Dooleys that he doesn't have it...he sent it ahead to San Francisco. When Wells Fargo agent Steve Adams attempts to stop them, he's killed by Joe Dooley. The Dooley's head into the hills, their local territory, with Ed and Jim Hardie in tow. After stopping at George Samson's farm to chisel through the handcuff chain, Hardie manages to escape. Joe Dooley wants to move on, but an angry and belligerent Ed only wants revenge. Jim Hardie now has to face the entire Dooley clan unarmed and on foot to bring in Ed and Joe, and he's unaware the Dooley clan includes sister Fay, who is just as devious and cold blooded as the rest of her family.

Season 3 continues to set a high bar as it approaches its midpoint with Showdown Trail. The episode is a darned good watch, with a good script, a slew of great characters, very quotable dialogue, and a great cast. Veteran director Earl Bellamy helms the outing with his usual competent hand.

The Dooleys are some of the best characters of the series run, and the dialogue between them is just as good. The family is contentious and disagreeable, not only with outsiders but with each other as well. The exchanges between them are just great, and include a good deal of humor. It's evident they're a group of stone cold killers, but brother Ed is in a class by himself. He has a one-track mind, and his thoughts are locked onto Jim Hardie. Ed is consumed entirely by his hatred of Hardie and is eager for revenge, and he's derided time and again by the entire family as being more than just mean.

When Fay Dooley joins the family, she also jeers at Ed for his nastiness with dialogue such as "well Ed, you look mean as ever" and "hoosegow didn't hurt you none, didn't do you no good either". Great stuff, it's hard not to enjoy it!

The episode's plot includes two threads, with Hardie dealing with multiple deadly situations with the Dooleys. He also has to deal with surly neighbor George Samson, who refuses to cooperate with his request for a gun and horse, despite being threatened by the Dooleys during their visit. These hills appear to be populated with disagreeable characters, as Hardie find out for himself. We also see another side of Jim Hardie, who is fully prepared to steal to continue the chase.

I will mention that I was curious as to why Hardie and none of the train personnel emerged from the stopped train with weapons drawn, but I'll overlook it, as the show had to get started somehow.

The cast is, as I mentioned earlier, beyond excellent.

Gloria Talbot appears as Fay Dooley. She was a striking beauty a very distinct and familiar face, appearing in notable pictures such as We're No Angels with Humphrey Bogart, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and during her adolescence, in Jeanette McDonald's most celebrated picture, Maytime with John Barrymore. In 1957, she appeared in the cult creature feature, The Cyclops, and she would continue this trend with a number of similar pictures including Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, and The Leech Woman. But her real claim to fame would be in Westerns, and she appeared in numerous Western motion pictures in various character roles. She also appeared on the small screen with William Boyd, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, as well as multiple roles in nearly all the notable hit series from the Golden Age of TV Westerns. She was an expert equestrian, and her skills on a horse were on a very high level as can be seen in many productions.

Stanley Clements appeared as sneering, sarcastic, murderous Ed Dooley. He had assumed role of the leader of The Bowery Boys in seven pictures as Stanislaus 'Duke' Covelske after the departure of Leo Gorcey, and was cast frequently in juvenile delinquent roles, such as his most famous but uncredited role as Tony Scaponi in Going My Way with Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald.

Will Wright appeared as Joe Dooley. He was another very familiar face, and not only was he a busy character actor beginning in 1934, he was a mainstay in numerous Westerns in his later years. But he also appeared in a ton of great pictures in character roles such as Rhapsody in Blue, Whispering Smith, and Adam's Rib.

Myron Healy was also a very familiar face during the era, and he specialized in smooth, antagonistic or villainous roles. Emil Meyer appeared as George Samson, was also an extremely familiar face with his gruff visage and dialogue delivery. And lastly, William Fawcett appeared as the train conductor, and was also extremely familiar in Westerns during the era, typically cast a grizzled elderly characters.

Showdown Trail is definitely a terrific outing for the series, and should not be missed!