Wagon Train (TV Series) The Emmett Lawton Story (1963) User Reviews

Totally cowed

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 November 2013]

Denny Miller stands alone in this Wagon Train episode where scout Duke Shannon rides ahead of the Wagon Train into the town of High Times. Of which there hasn't been much in a long time, ever since the mines closed and the sheriff killed. After that an outlaw gang headed by Stanley Adams took over and made the town their headquarters.

Adams's gang killed the sheriff and crippled his son Dennis Hopper. They've got the rest of the town totally cowed and when Miller accidentally kills one of them the only one that will give him any help is Hopper.

This episode borrows elements from High Noon, Johnny Concho, and Firecreek. Hopper will move you considerably as the crippled kid who is the only one to stand up to some really nasty outlaws.

Yet Another Totally out of the Wagon Train Loop Episode

[richard.fuller1 · 8/10 · 18 July 2010]

Scott (Denny) Miller rides into a small town and runs into trouble. He now must stand against that trouble or abandon the poor folk to fend for themselves, including the crippled Emmett Lawton (played by a 24-yr-old Dennis Hopper!) Now once again, the deal is that Hopper, Frances Reid as his mother and STanley Adams as the villain, NONE of them are on the wagon train! We are given way to the notion, I suppose that Miller has gone ahead as the scout to see where the train needs to go.

Actually quite a good episode, nice to see Hopper, Reid and especially Stanley Adams, he of one of the most popular Star Trek episodes, Trouble With Tribbles.

I've seen episodes of other westerns (Big Valley, anyone?) that just strain to be mysterious and fall flat on their faces.

Because this episode was so good and that was because of Hopper, this one worked, but again, there was no wagon train.