With the Frontierado holiday coming up on Friday, August 7th this year here’s another seasonal post.
STORIES OF THE CENTURY aka TALES OF THE WEST (1954-1955) starred future Jock Ewing Jim Davis as Railroad Detective Matt Clark. Part anthology series and part historical fiction, this series presented Clark crossing paths with assorted real-life outlaws of the Old West. During Season One (26 half-hour episodes) his female sidekick was Frankie Adams (Mary Castle). Season Two ran just 13 half-hour episodes and co-starred Kristine Miller as Matt’s sidekick Margaret “Jonesy” Jones.
Clark and his Gal Fridays were fictional but the series tried to stay as factual as it could regarding the outlaws they encountered. Like on Riverboat and other westerns two consecutive stories could be set nearly 40 years apart but Matt and company never aged.
THE EPISODES:
BELLE STARR – The one and only Marie Windsor brought her special kind of subtle “butch” quality to her performance as notorious female outlaw Belle Starr. Railroad Detective Matt Clark and his lovely assistant Frankie Adams are on the trail of Starr and her gang when they steal several horses intended for the U.S. Cavalry. With Ric Roman as Belle’s husband Sam Starr. Continue reading
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