On a near-zero budget, this episode races through the story of Homer Potts, a lawyer from the East, out West to meet his family, ranchers who are in trouble thanks to their water supply running out. Potts likes nothing about the West and tells his niece that he heading back home by the next stage. The hotel keeper thinks up a plan to keep him in town, by having the niece's boyfriend, the sheriff, lock up Potts by claiming he is the notorious counterfeiter Doc Bogus. In jail already are the members of the Billy Be-Hung gang, who are planning a jailbreak.
Times were tough in 1954 Hollywood. Jack Chertok, the producer of "The Lone Ranger," played hardball with Clayton Moore, actor playing the Lone Ranger. When Moore asked for a higher salary, Chertok replaced him in 1953 with actor John Hart for season three, which was an incredible 52 episodes long.Moore returned for season four, the network and the show's viewers did not take to Hart. Hopefully, they chastised Chetok for his cheapness.
Tom Brown, the actor playing Billy Be-Hung, played the younger brother of Richard Barthelmess' daredevil aviator in 1933's "Central Airport," an overlooked pre-Code great from Warner Bros. What a difference 20 years makes. In this TV episode, Brown acts rings around everyone playing a mean hombre. Kathleen Crowley, a former Miss America contestant, lights up the TV screen as the niece of lawyer Potts. Chick Chandler is just Chick Chandler, even with a goatee and wearing a top hat.
You can't go wrong watching this episode on YouTube.