Bob Anderson's interview with writer, producer, and
co-creator Andrew J. Fenady in the Shout! Factory Season 2 DVD set for The Rebel fails to shed any light on why
Fenady and star Nick Adams chose to base their western on a former Confederate
soldier. Like his interview with Boyd Magers' Western Clippings web site, which we mentioned in the post on the
1960 episodes, Fenady maintains that he wanted to create a Jack London-type
wandering writer who based his works on his own experiences, and since westerns
were the dominant genre in terms of popularity on television in the late 1950s,
he obviously chose to set the drama in the old west. But that still doesn't
explain why he and Adams chose to make Johnny Yuma a former Confederate, or the
series completely skirting the issue of slavery and portraying most of the
surviving southerners as pitiable victims who have lost an enviable way of life.
Anderson completely whiffs on digging into why the series' creators chose to
show that there were very fine people on both sides.
However, the interview does shed some light on why The Rebel was canceled. Anderson notes
that the series was ABC's highest-rated show airing on Sunday night, even
though it never cracked the top 30 of the overall ratings, and Fenady and
partner Irvin Kershner decided to develop a companion piece called The Yank, which would tell the story of
a young man named Matthew Dorn who on the day he graduates from medical school
learns that his father, an officer in the Union Army, is killed in the Battle
of Fredericksburg. So rather than pursuing a medical career and taking the
Hippocratic Oath, he enrolls at West Point, becomes a Union officer himself
under William Tecumseh Sherman, and takes part in the destruction of the South.
But once the war is over, Dorn takes to heart the words from Lincoln's second
inaugural address about binding the nation's wounds and decides to retrace his
path as a soldier and eventually use his medical training to help bring healing
to the South. It's worth noting that of the two companion series, the former
Union soldier is the one who feels compelled to embark on a tour of atonement,
while the former Confederate sees no need to make amends.
Fenady and Kershner filmed a pilot episode that starred
James Drury as Dorn, shortly before he landed the title role in The Virginian, with a supporting cast
including John McIntire, Harry Townes, L.Q. Jones, and John Sutton. ABC was
thrilled with the pilot and wanted to pick it up immediately, but since the
1960-61 season was already half over, they offered production company president
Bill Todman 16 episodes to start right away. However, Todman wanted a
full-season commitment of 36 episodes and decided instead to shop the show to
NBC, where he had a friend in vice president of programming David Levy,
offering both it and The Rebel as a
package deal. Levy agreed to take both The
Yank and The Rebel at 36 episodes
each beginning the next season, so Todman went back to ABC and, according to
Fenady's account, told them to "go to hell." Understandably ABC
dropped The Rebel at the end of its
second season. However, before NBC could pick it up for the 1961-62 season,
Levy had left NBC in the wake of allegations by producer Ivan Tors during
Congressional hearings on sex and violence in TV that Levy had insisted that
sex and violence be added to Tors' series The
Man and the Challenge before he would agree to add it to NBC's lineup. In
other words, Todman's decision to burn his bridges with ABC spelled the demise
of The Rebel.
But in the remaining episodes that aired in 1961, Fenady and
company try to walk a fine line between exonerating the South while also saying
that slavery is wrong, at least when it involves white people. In "The
Promise" (January 15, 1961), Yuma rides into the town of Three Points to
deliver a watch and a locket from a fallen war buddy to the man's daughter
Laurie Buford only to discover that she is in effect enslaved by Hobie Kincaid,
leader of a local vigilante outfit. At first Kincaid tries to make it appear
that Laurie is merely his housekeeper, but he also plans to force her to marry
his nephew Billy Joe as a final repayment for his having paid for her mother's
doctor bills when she gave birth to Laurie. Yuma, of course, has to speak up
against the marriage at the ceremony, prompting the minster to refuse to
complete it, and then eventually Yuma guns down Billy Joe when he and Hobie try
to find another minister in the next town and he tries to stop them. Then Hobie
attempts to frame Yuma for Billy Joe's murder. Since there are no
African-Americans ever depicted in the 1961 episodes of The Rebel, this is as close as the show ever gets to freeing the slaves.
In "Mission--Varina" (May 14, 1961) we see a
sympathetic Jefferson Davis, one-time president of the Confederacy, being
released from prison but in need of an armed escort to ensure that he can make
the journey to a marina where he will be joined by his wife to sail back home.
Yuma is recruited as one of Davis' escorts by Mrs. Davis because he served in a
fictional secret mission that tried to end the war in 1863 but was sabotaged.
Mrs. Davis fears that her husband has enemies on both sides of the war who may
try to assassinate him if they learn of his travel plans, and his escort by the
U.S. government will end 1 mile short of the marina to avoid drawing attention
to his identity aboard the ship. However, another escort is Charles Ashbaugh,
another member of the secret mission who was the one who sabotaged the peace
deal (though it appears Yuma is the only one who knows this) by firing at a
Union officer when the representatives from both sides met to sign the
agreement. Unbeknownst to anyone until almost too late, Ashbaugh secretly
harbors hate for Davis because he thinks he surrendered too easily, and Yuma
has to gun down Ashbaugh when he tries to kill Davis. But before they reach the
final confrontation, one of the U.S. government soldiers making up the escort
asks Davis how, as a graduate of West Point and a member of the U.S. Army for 9
years, he could choose to secede from the country he had sworn to defend. Davis'
answer is the sort of emotionally laden non-answer one expects from a career
politician--that when forced to choose between family and country, of course
one would choose family. The fact that everyone listening accepts his diversion
without blinking an eye is yet another example of the way The Rebel sought to smooth over what really caused the Civil War.
However, the most ironic episode of 1961 is undoubtedly
"Paperback Hero" (January 29, 1961) in which Yuma is sought out by
Missouri-based newspaper writer Emily Stevens because she is looking for a
western hero she can write about to please her editor and father back home. The
plot is hardly original--many westerns of the era take potshots at eastern
journalists and novelists who are thrilled by the tall tales of the west and
decide to head there to witness the sensationalized action firsthand, only to
realize that the deadly stakes involved are far more serious than they first
realized. So the way the plot evolves is hardly novel, but what is interesting
is the way Stevens builds up Yuma's character in her first articles--describing
him as adorned with a chestful of medals, swaggering about like a cavalier, and
claiming that he fought in the Civil War to "defend the dignity of
gracious living." Though his only medal is an eagle's claw given to him by
a Kiowa chief who considered him a blood brother because of his bravery, Yuma's
depiction on The Rebel is not far off
from Stevens' account. He portrays himself as a tough guy, who in the words of
Fenady's theme song "figured that he'd been pushed enough," and never
has to own up that he fought to defend a way of living that included enslaving other
humans. Unwittingly, this episode undercuts Yuma's heroic status by exposing
the facade of the South's "noble cause" and provides a perfect
example that his character is not all he's cracked up to be. Furthermore, Yuma
is engaged in the exact same occupation as Stevens, since he periodically sends
sections of his journal to be published in his hometown newspaper in Mason
City. Since we never see his completed newspaper columns, how do we know that
his accounts of his exploits are any less sensationalized than those of
Stevens? As one of Fenady's Shakespeare-quoting characters would have said,
"Ay, there's the rub."
The Actors
For the biography of Nick Adams, see the 1960 post for The Rebel.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 2, Episode 16, "The
Liberators": Joan Vohs (shown on the near left, played Jan Dearing on My Three Sons and Miss Cummings on Family
Affair) plays abandoned physician Dr. Bless Stelling. Jody Warner (shown on the far left, played Penny
Cooper on One Happy Family) plays her
sister Hope. Nick Dennis (starred in A
Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden,
and Kiss Me Deadly and played Nick
Kanavaras on Ben Casey and
Constantine on Kojak) plays Mexican
revolutionary Greco. 
Season 2, Episode 17, "The Guard":
Ed Nelson (shown on the right, played Michael Rossi on Peyton Place
and Ward Fuller on The Silent Force)
plays former Union prison guard Clint Mowbree. William Phipps (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his brother Ben. Dee Pollock (Billy
Urchin on Gunslinger) plays his
brother Charlie. 
Season 2, Episode 18, "The Promise":
Gigi Perreau (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Betty Hutton Show) plays daughter of
Yuma war buddy Laurie Buford. Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays her
employer Hobie Kincaid. Victor Izay (starred in Dr. Sex, The Astro-Zombies,
and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils and
played Judge Simmons on The D.A.,
Bull on Gunsmoke, and Dr. Matthew
Vance on The Waltons) plays general
store owner Abel Hawkins. 
Season 2, Episode 19, "Jerkwater":
John Dehner (shown on the right, played Duke Williams on The Roaring
'20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The
Baileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on The
Virginian, Cyril Bennett on The Doris
Day Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays Yuma's fishing partner
John Sims. John Marley (starred in Cat
Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather) plays Campbelltown
patriarch George Campbell. James Chandler (Lt. Gerard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays Campbelltown physician Dr. Raydon. 
Season 2, Episode 20, "Paperback
Hero": Virginia Gregg (shown on the left, starred in Dragnet,
Crime in the Streets, Operation Petticoat and was the voice of
Norma Bates in Psycho and was the
voice of Maggie Belle Klaxon on Calvin
and the Colonel) plays eastern newspaper writer Emily Stevens. Bobby
Diamond (Joey Newton on Fury and
Duncan Gillis on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays shoeshine boy Jody Webster. Marie Selland (wife of director
Sam Peckinpah) plays a saloon girl.
Season 2, Episode 21, "The Actress": Virginia
Field (appeared in Little Lord Fauntleroy,
Thank You, Jeeves!, Stage Door Canteen, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court)
plays renowned actress Lotta Langley. Sandra Knight (shown on the right, ex-wife of Jack Nicholson,
appeared in Thunder Road, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Blood Bath) plays her daughter Ruth
Revere. Vic Perrin (the narrator on Sergeant
Preston of the Yukon, the control voice on The Outer Limits, and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission: Impossible!) plays widower
farmer Will Arvid. Robert Hickman (makeup artist who worked on Creature From the Black Lagoon and Around the World in Eighty Days as well
as TV series Burke's Law, Honey West, and H.R. Pufnstuf) plays a deputy.
Season 2, Episode 22, "The
Threat": Trevor Bardette (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays
Big Rescue Sheriff Ike Howard. Richard Bakalyan (starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop Command,
and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes)
plays extortionist Bart Vogan. Aladdin (Cesare on My Three Sons) plays banker Ambrose Pack. 
Season 2, Episode 23, "The Road
to Jericho": Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays scam artist Arthur Sutro. Warren Stevens (shown on the right, starred
in The Frogmen, The Barefoot Contessa, Deadline
U.S.A., and Forbidden Planet,
played Lt. William Storm on Tales of the
77th Bengal Lancers, and was the voice of John Bracken on Bracken's World) plays pacifist Christopher
Portal.
Season 2, Episode 24, "The
Last Drink": Tom Drake (starred in Meet
Me in St. Louis, Words and Music, Mr.
Belvedere Goes to College, and The
Sandpiper) plays notorious gunslinger
Trace Dawes. Steve Marlo (Jack Casey on Ben
Casey) plays his pursuer Ben Culver.
Season 2, Episode 25, "The
Burying of Sammy Hart": George Wallace (see the biography section for the
1961 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays rancher Aaron Wallace. Eugene Mazzola (Joey Drum on Jefferson Drum) plays his son Billy. Charles
Maxwell (shown on the left, played Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led
3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays his foreman Deeb Ericksen. Peggy Stewart (starred
in Oregon Trail, Son of Zorro, and Desert
Vigilante and played Cherien's mother on The Riches) plays his wife Sarah. Iron Eyes Cody (played the Indian
who sheds a single tear in the "Keep America Beautiful" commercial
that began running in 1971) plays dying Indian Sammy Hart. 
Season 2, Episode 26, "The
Pit": Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The
Bob Cummings Show) plays wife of missing prospector Charity Bruner. Myron
Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays postal clerk Mac MacGowan. Ralph Reed (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his son Slip. Steve Franken (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Slip's friend Ruck. Ned Glass (shown on the right, played MSgt. Andy
Pendleton on The Phil Silvers Show,
Sol Cooper on Julia, and Uncle Moe
Plotnick on Bridget Loves Bernie)
plays assayer Sam. Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays enforcer Hunk. 
Season 2, Episode 27, "Shriek
of Silence": Tom Nolan (Jody O'Connell on Buckskin, Officer Hubbell on Jessie,
and Mick on Out of This World) plays deaf/mute
boy Paul Fellows. Yvette Vickers (starred in Reform School Girl, Attack of
the 50 Foot Woman, and Attack of the
Giant Leeches) plays saloon girl Nancy. Frank DeKova (shown on the left, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays outlaw Dick
Sturgis. Anna Karen (Anna Chernak on Peyton
Place) plays farm wife Bess Warren. 
Season 2, Episode 28, "Two
Weeks": Frank Overton (starred in Desire
Under the Elms, To Kill a Mockingbird,
and Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey
Stovall on 12 O'Clock High) plays former
Union Army prisoner John Galt. Jamie Farr (shown on the right, appeared in The Blackboard Jungle, With
Six You Get Eggroll, The Cannonball
Run, and Scrooged and played
Maxwell Klinger on M*A*S*H and AfterMASH and Dudley on The Cool Kids) plays his ranch-hand
Pooch. Shirley Ballard (Miss California of 1944, wife of Jason Evers,
continuity supervisor on Water Under the
Bridge and The Sullivans) plays Galt's
wife Ann. 
Season 2, Episode 29, "Miz
Purdy": Patricia Breslin (shown on the left, plated Amanda Peoples Miller on The People's Choice, Laura Brooks on Peyton Place, and Meg Bentley on General Hospital) plays ranch wife Elizabeth Purdy. Jason Evers (starred
in The Brain That Wouldn't Die, House of Women, The Green Berets, and Escape
From the Planet of the Apes and played Pitcairn on Wrangler, Prof. Joseph Howe on Channing,
and Jim Sonnett on The Guns of Will
Sonnett) plays ex-Confederate marauder George Tess. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie
Robertson on Space Patrol) plays his cohort
Deacon. 
Season 2, Episode 30, "The
Ballad of Danny Brown": William Bryant (McCall on Combat!, President Ulysses S. Grant on Branded, Col. Crook on Hondo,
Lt. Shilton on Switch, and the
Director on The Fall Guy) plays just-released
ex-con Danny Brown. Gail Kobe (Penny Adams on Trackdown, Doris Schuster on Peyton
Place, and Dean Ann Boyd Jones on Bright
Promise and produced over 200 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful) plays his fiance Emily Hardy. Tex
Ritter (shown on the right, singing cowboy star of 1930s and 40s B westerns, who sang the
Oscar-winning theme for High Noon and
is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame) plays the Shady Grove marshal.
Stephen Joyce (Bubba Wadsworth on Texas,
Admiral Walter Strichen on Wiseguy,
and George Connor on All My Children)
plays Emily's nephew Isham. 
Season 2, Episode 31, "The
Proxy": Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse
Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays fugitive banker
Houghton. Vic Damone (shown on the left, popular singer once married to Diahann Carroll, starred
in Rich, Young and Pretty, Hit the Deck, and Hell to Eternity) plays posse member Jess Wilkerson. Royal Dano (appeared
in The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) play posse member Ben Crowe. William Bryant
(see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays U.S. Army Maj.
Lipscott.
Season 2, Episode 32, "Decision
at Sweetwater": William Phipps (see "The Guard" above) plays mining
engineer Morton Bishop. Carla Belanda (Patricia Hardy on The Mickey Rooney Show, Betty Leonard on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, and Miss Hazllit on Lassie) plays his wife Mary. Yvette
Vickers (shown on the right, see "Shriek of Silence" above) plays saloon dancer Catherine
Jewel. 
Season 2, Episode 33, "Helping
Hand": Ray Stricklyn (Dr. James Parris on The Colbys and Senator Pickering on Wiseguy) plays family feuder Carl Blaine. Lee Erickson (Woody on Lassie) plays his brother Dave. Jack
Elam (shown on the left, played Deputy J.D. Smith on The Dakotas,
George Taggart on Temple Houston,
Zack Wheeler on The Texas Wheelers,
and Uncle Alvin Stevenson on Easy Street)
plays his Uncle Luce. Eddie Ryder (see the biography section for the 1961 post
on Dr. Kildare) plays Luce's son Web. 
Season 2, Episode 34, "The
Uncourageous": George Dolenz (shown on the right, father of Micky Dolenz, appeared in The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler, Vendetta, Scared Stiff, and The Last
Time I Saw Paris and played Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo on The Count of Monte Cristo) plays matador
Juan Amontillo. Renata Vanni (appeared in Pay
or Die!, A Patch of Blue, and Fatso and played Rose Brentano on That Girl) plays his wife Rosa. 
Season 2, Episode 35, "Mission--Varina":
Richard Gaines (shown on the left, appeared in The Howard of
Virginia, Double Indemnity, Unconquered, and Ace in the Hole and played the judge 14 times on Perry Mason) plays former Confederate
president Jefferson Davis. Frieda Inescourt (appeared in Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the Vampire, A Place in the Sun, The She-Creature, and The
Alligator People) plays his wife Varina. William Schallert (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays former Confederate soldier Charles
Ashbaugh. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays retiring U.S. Army Sgt.
Mundale. Ralph Reed (see "The Pit" above) plays his subordinate Pvt.
Gaines.
Season 2, Episode 36, "The Calley
Kid": Richard Bakalyan (see "The Threat" above) plays wounded
outlaw Calley Dawson.
Season 2, Episode 37, "Ben
White": Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays wanted bank
robber Ben White. Mary Murphy (shown on the right, appeared in The
Wild One, Beachhead, The Mad Magician, The Desperate Hours, and Junior
Bonner) plays his wife T. Bruno VeSota (see "Decision at
Sweetwater" above) plays cantina owner Basto.
Season 2, Episode 38, "The
Found": Karl Held (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays wanted bank robber Danny
Heathers.
Season 2, Episode 39, "The
Hostage": Lon McAllister (shown on the left, starred in Winged
Victory, Thunder in the Valley, Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, and The Story of Seabiscuit) plays Yuma's
war buddy Coley Wilks. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The
Secret Storm, Dick Martin on As the
World Turns, and Ben Grant on Somerset)
plays his brother Sheriff Jesse Wilks. Stephen Joyce (see "The Ballad of
Danny Brown" above) plays convicted murderer Frank Daggett. Corey Allen (went
on to direct multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare, Police Woman, Dallas, Hunter, and Star Trek: The
Next Generation) plays his brother Yancey. Barry Russo (Roy Gilroy on The Young Marrieds) plays Yancey's
cohort Charles Kane. Aladdin (see "The Threat" above) plays local
Judge Baylon. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays murder victim's widow
Martha Randall. William Bryant (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above)
plays poker player Bill. 
Season 2, Episode 40, "The Executioner":
Barry Atwater (Dr. John Prentice on General
Hospital) plays Shoshone chief LeBlanc. Arthur Peterson (shown on the right, played The Major on Soap) plays the Carson City sheriff. Charles
Aidman (see "Ben White" above) plays hostage Ferguson. Ken Mayer (see
"Miz Purdy" above) plays hostage Andrews. Terry Moore (claimed to be
secretly married to Howard Hughes though over the same period married and
divorced several other men, including football star Glenn Davis, starred in Mighty Joe Young, Come Back, Little Sheba, Daddy
Long Legs, and Peyton Place, and
played Connie Garrett on Empire and
Venus on Batman) plays hostage Janice
Dutton.
