Sterling Hayden plays the commander of a fort in Apache country with a major problem on his hands: he has captured the son of an Apache war chief, but the Apaches have attacked a wagon transporting the wives of the fort's garrison to another post, and the chief says that if Hayden doesn't return his son and give the Apaches 50,000 rounds of ammunition by 6:00 a.m. The next morning, he will kill all the women. Hayden, for his part, threatens to hang the chief's son if the women aren't returned by that same time. A battle of wills ensues.
This episode of "Schlitz Playhouse" is not one of its better ones, despite a good cast--in addition to Hayden, there's Walter Coy, James Seay and James Brown, all veterans of numerous western films. If you're looking for "action", there isn't any. There's tension between Hayden and the hostages' husbands, but that's about it. The production values are minimal, and--at least in the print I saw--the photography is so poor you often can't see who's talking; you only know by recognizing their voice.
Hayden is authoritative and no-nonsense, as usual, but he's done this kind of thing 1000 times before and really doesn't put anything new or different into it. The cast tries hard, but the script is trite hackwork and the "direction" by Roy Kellino is mechanical and by-the-numbers, and the show ends pretty much the way you thought it would.
Worth a look maybe if you're a Sterling Hayden fan, but otherwise it's nothing special.
This episode of "Schlitz Playhouse" is not one of its better ones, despite a good cast--in addition to Hayden, there's Walter Coy, James Seay and James Brown, all veterans of numerous western films. If you're looking for "action", there isn't any. There's tension between Hayden and the hostages' husbands, but that's about it. The production values are minimal, and--at least in the print I saw--the photography is so poor you often can't see who's talking; you only know by recognizing their voice.
Hayden is authoritative and no-nonsense, as usual, but he's done this kind of thing 1000 times before and really doesn't put anything new or different into it. The cast tries hard, but the script is trite hackwork and the "direction" by Roy Kellino is mechanical and by-the-numbers, and the show ends pretty much the way you thought it would.
Worth a look maybe if you're a Sterling Hayden fan, but otherwise it's nothing special.
