"The official newspaper files of the early West record many stories of famous and notorious characters of that period".
Those words of railroad Detective Matt Clark opened every episode of this early TV Western series that ran from January 1954 through March 1955. Then a brief description was offered of the outlaw being featured that week with a mention of the time period the story takes place in. I just finished watching thirty six of the thirty nine episodes in the series, part of a three disc DVD collection put out by St. Clair Entertainment.
Considering the era and the fact that television was in it's infancy, the series wasn't that bad. In fact it won a 1955 Emmy as the Best Western or Adventure Series up against a handful of shows I used to watch as a kid - 'Annie Oakley', 'Death Valley Days', 'The Roy Rogers Show' and 'The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'. I never knew about this show back in the day or I might have tuned in, but except for 'Death Valley Days', I was watching all the others in reruns on Saturday mornings. Those were the days.
If you're a serious history buff this show might not be up to your taste. Stories about your better known outlaws like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and John Wesley Hardin usually kept some semblance of history in mind but there was usually a fair amount of poetic license taken in presenting the stories as well. A second season offering on a sheriff turned outlaw by the name of Jim Courtright was actually quite reliable, while another on Jack Slade was almost entirely fictional. Usually though, the episodes blended elements of fact with a story line that was intended to appeal to the TV viewer of the era who might have just gotten their very first television set.
I wouldn't have known the players when I was a kid, but watching today I'm able to pick out some favorites, like Lee Van Cleef as Jesse James, Jack Elam as Black Jack Ketchum, Richard Jaeckel as Billy the Kid and Marie Windsor as Belle Starr. Tracking the outlaws each week was none other than the Ewing Family patriarch from the late Seventies hit "Dallas", Jim Davis in the role of Matt Clark, Railroad Detective. He operated with a female assistant, Mary Castle as Frankie Adams in the first season, and Kristine Miller as Margaret 'Jonesy' Jones in the second season.
There were a couple episodes in the first season where a hint of a romance was introduced between Matt and Frankie, but the idea went nowhere. Jonesy would sometimes express her displeasure about getting some menial task while Matt went looking for trouble, but both actresses managed to mix it up with outlaws in a fair share of stories, as well as taking their lumps like Matt did when a bad guy got the upper hand.
Others in their reviews have mentioned how Matt never aged over the course of the stories covered, ranging anywhere from the late 1850's up to the early 1900's. He always remained the same, representing the authority of the law in whatever time frame or area of the country the story in question took place in. If you're reading this and care to look further, I've individually reviewed each of the episodes I've watched, so you can get a snapshot of each with a quick click.
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