This is the first of six episodes that Richard Matheson of 'I am Legend' fame wrote for the show and it certainly is a taut and tense episode with plenty of close-ups and low camera angles to heighten the drama. You just know it's going to be trouble when a paranoid Jack Elam strolls into 'The Birdcage', shoots Johnny and takes Lily and the patrons hostage. In an amusing nod to the one hour that Marshal Kane had to solve his dilemma in 'High Noon', here in the condensed TV format Marshal Dan only has 30 minutes! Nor does Dan contradict Elam when he calls Lily "your girlfriend". The episode ends with a classic shot of Lily and Dan cradling a wounded Johnny.
2 Reviews
Jack Elam Shines
dennisangle17 January 2020
A wanted homicidal killer has taken hostages at Lily Merrill's Birdcage saloon, including a wounded Johnny. Violent, tense story features a brilliant performance by the late, great Western character actor Jack Elam as the irredeemable cockeyed villain, clear proof of his exceptional skill as an actor. Like the classic Western film High Noon, this story plays out in real time, as evidenced by the clocks depicted throughout the episode.
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