Ellen Corby runs a restaurant in a shack in the Old West. Gene Barry appears as a guest -- a very touchy guest who refuses to remove his gun belt. The door bursts open. Barry leaps to his feet. The visitor is Darren McGavin. The two men glare at each other, poised to draw their guns, but Corby stands between them and tries to talk them down. Neither man will budge. This is a matter of honor over some drunken fight in last night's saloon. Corby short circuits the tension with a simple trick.
It's one of the less interesting episodes. The players are good enough but the story seems stretch to the creaking point at half an hour.
Barry and McGavin strike these absurdly exaggerated poses when they stand ready to draw. They look like birds about to take flight. That's the director's problem -- unless he was being deliberately satirical, which would have worked for the first few minutes.
The two sit down for breakfast, still scowling into each other's eyes, reaching for utensils without breaking their locked gazes, picking up the spoon instead of the fork, or knocking over the cup of coffee. Incidents like that might have been amusing but the scene goes on too long.
Above all, these black-and-white television Westerns were all over the networks in the 50s and by this time they were already tiresome, with their cheap sets, bored actors, and stilted plots. This one is simply too close to the others, even with the comic elements.
It's one of the less interesting episodes. The players are good enough but the story seems stretch to the creaking point at half an hour.
Barry and McGavin strike these absurdly exaggerated poses when they stand ready to draw. They look like birds about to take flight. That's the director's problem -- unless he was being deliberately satirical, which would have worked for the first few minutes.
The two sit down for breakfast, still scowling into each other's eyes, reaching for utensils without breaking their locked gazes, picking up the spoon instead of the fork, or knocking over the cup of coffee. Incidents like that might have been amusing but the scene goes on too long.
Above all, these black-and-white television Westerns were all over the networks in the 50s and by this time they were already tiresome, with their cheap sets, bored actors, and stilted plots. This one is simply too close to the others, even with the comic elements.