About the only thing this episode got right was that John Wesley Hardin was a cold, ruthless killer. The story skirted historical accuracy by mentioning that Hardin spent time on cattle drives along the Abilene Trail. That's where he added quite a few notches to his gun, chalking up victims to his deadly temper.
There's an unusual sequence in this episode I don't think I've ever seen in a Western before. It had to do with Hardin's gang stealing cattle off a train they stopped for that express purpose. Along for that ride was Railroad Detective Matt Clark (Jim Davis), working undercover and infiltrating Hardin's bunch. After agreeing to testify against Hardin (Richard Webb), Matt got involved in a wild brawl with him after a sheriff's attempt to arrest the outlaw.
It's true that Hardin was sentenced to life in prison and was released for good behavior after roughly fifteen years. Earning a law degree while incarcerated, Hardin practiced in El Paso for three years. The circumstances concerning his death were presented here as a showdown against a faster draw, but in reality, Hardin was shot in the back of the head while rolling dice by a former gunfighter turned lawman named John Hellman. His last words were "You have four sixes to beat".
Historical accuracy wasn't a strong point for these "Stories of the Century", but you can enjoy these old programs for what they were. For a relatively new medium like television, the stories fit the bill for excitement and action that new viewers were craving for.
There's an unusual sequence in this episode I don't think I've ever seen in a Western before. It had to do with Hardin's gang stealing cattle off a train they stopped for that express purpose. Along for that ride was Railroad Detective Matt Clark (Jim Davis), working undercover and infiltrating Hardin's bunch. After agreeing to testify against Hardin (Richard Webb), Matt got involved in a wild brawl with him after a sheriff's attempt to arrest the outlaw.
It's true that Hardin was sentenced to life in prison and was released for good behavior after roughly fifteen years. Earning a law degree while incarcerated, Hardin practiced in El Paso for three years. The circumstances concerning his death were presented here as a showdown against a faster draw, but in reality, Hardin was shot in the back of the head while rolling dice by a former gunfighter turned lawman named John Hellman. His last words were "You have four sixes to beat".
Historical accuracy wasn't a strong point for these "Stories of the Century", but you can enjoy these old programs for what they were. For a relatively new medium like television, the stories fit the bill for excitement and action that new viewers were craving for.
