Edgar Buchanan

Wealthy rancher G. W. McLintock uses his power and influence in the territory to keep the peace between farmers, ranchers, land-grabbers, Indians and corrupt government officials. George Washington McLintock, "GW" to friends and foes alike, is a cattle baron and the richest man in the territory. He anxiously awaits the return of his daughter Becky who has been away at school for the last two years. He's also surprised to see that his wife Katherine has also returned. She had left him some years before without really explaining what he had done, but she does make the point of saying that she's returned to take their daughter back to the State Capitol with her. GW is highly respected by everyone around him, including the farmers who are pouring into the territories with free grants of land and the Indians who are under threat of being relocated to another reservation. Between his wife, his headstrong daughter, the crooked land agent and the thieving government Indian agent, GW tries to keep the peace and do what is best for everyone. —garykmcd On pins and needles all day, waiting for the return of his daughter from college, the influential and self-made cattle king, mining, and timber baron, George Washington McLintock, has one more visitor: his estranged and obstinate wife, Katherine. With his empire carved out of a wilderness, the sudden arrival of settlers creates extra tension among the ranchers, and to further complicate matters, the territorial governor, Cuthbert H. Humphrey, bullies the local Comanche Indians, forcing them to abandon their land. For a small and dusty town near Mesa Verde, this is a bit more excitement than one could handle. Now, the Fourth of July celebration is just around the corner. Will G.W. reconcile with Katherine? —Nick Riganas

Twenty years ago, Steve Judd (Joel McCrea) and Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) tamed many towns in the wild west. But it's the early 20th century of the early 1900s and they have been forgotten. These two ex-lawmen have nothing; no jobs, no money, no family and no prospects to show for their contributions. Judd rides his horse into a thriving business community. He runs into Westrum whom he hasn't seen for several years. Westrum is running a crooked carnival shooting game and claiming to the the "Oregon Kid". He has taken a wild young man named Heck Longtree (Ron Starr) under his wing and is trying to make him as corrupt as himself. Hoping to get back his self-respect, Judd takes his first meaningful job in years. He is hired by town bankers to ride to Coarse Gold, and transport the miners' gold back to the bank. Because of frequent robberies on the mountain trail, he hires Westrum and Heck to accompany him. Westrum and Heck, who wants to kill Judd, secretly plot to steal the gold for themselves. On their journey, the cynical Westrum reminds Judd of how they were shattered by society, after sacrificing women and wealth to make the West safe for civilization. He hopes Judd will suggest taking the gold, but Judd remains honest. The three men spend the night and the ranch of Joshua Knudsen (R.G. Armstrong), a Bible-quoting religious zealot who has kept his pretty, grown daughter Elsa (Mariette Hartley) a virtual prison so she will have no contact with men. Heck and Elsa are immediately attracted to each other, but she doesn't like how forward he is with her. Angered, Elsa says that she is engaged to miner Billy Hammond, who is living in Coarse Gold. After her father slaps her for talking with Heck, Elsa runs away, joining the three men. When they arrive in the decadent Coarse Gold, Elsa and Billy decide to marry immediately... which makes Heck jealous and Billy's four lecherous brothers happy. After a hellish wedding, the drunk Billy slaps Elsa and tries to force himself on her. Then his brothers join in and attempt to rape her. Judd and Heck arrive in time to rescue her. Westrum forces the drunk Judge Tolliver (Edgar Buchanan) to lie that he has no legal right to perform marriages in California. So, Elsa rides away with Judd, Westrum and Heck. Heck has come to respect Judd, whom he once thought was just an old man, and doesn't want to rob him anymore. But he feels obligated to Westrum. Judd catches Heck and Westrum attempting to steal the gold and ties them both up. He is infuriated with his friend for double-crossing him. In the mountains, the Hammonds catch up with the group after they beat up Judge Tolliver and found that the ceremony was legal. They demand Elsa's return. Prior to a gun battle with the Hammonds, Judd frees Heck because he promises to remain his prisoner after protecting Elsa. Westrum is hurt and disappointed when Judd will not free him. During the gun battle, Sylvus and Jimmy Hammond are killed. Billy, Elder and Henry flee. Westrum manages to untie himself and escape. Judd, Heck and Elsa arrive at the Knudsen ranch, but the Hammonds are waiting for them after they arrived first and killed Knudsen. After springing an ambush, Judd and Heck are both shot. Just then, Westrum rides to the rescue. He and Judd stand together like old times. In the gunfight, the surviving Hammonds are killed and Judd is fatally injured. Westrum promises Judd he will deliver the gold. Westrum is touched when his friend expresses faith in him. Westrum, Heck and Elsa, who are now in love, allow the proud Judd to die alone as they mount their horses and ride off. In the final shot, Judd gazes at the mounts for the last time.

In 1920s Arkansas, after a 12 year absence, reformed alcoholic Matt Ballot returns to his abandoned family but has to win them back and regain his hometown's respect too. Matt Ballot has returned home after 9 years of hard drinking in all 48 states. His wife managed to raise their 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son nicely without his help. Matt is considered a disgrace to the town he came from, and now he finds himself trying to win the love of his children, his wife and the respect of the townspeople. Set in Arkansas in the 1920s. —William Lund <hdccs@telis.org>

After serving 18 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a mobster is paroled and returns to a New Mexico town to exact his revenge on the woman responsible for his conviction. Crystal 'Chris' Benson, a single mother in a small New Mexico town, senses a shadowy menace stalking her in the night. She acquires a gun and makes arrangements anticipating her own death, tape-recording a message for her teenage daughter which (in flashback) tells of her involvement with Steve Blackford, who has very good reason to hate her. Chris is determined and resourceful, but Steve has had 18 years to plan revenge. Doom closes in... —Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

An ex-gunfighter defends homesteaders in 1889 Wyoming. Shane rides into a conflict between cattleman Ryker and a bunch of settlers, like Joe Starrett and his family, whose land Ryker wants. When Shane beats up Ryker's man Chris, Ryker tries to buy him. Then Shane and Joe take on the whole Ryker crew. Ryker sends to Cheyenne for truly evil gunslinger Wilson. Shane must clear out all the guns from the valley. —Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu> Enigmatic gunslinger Shane rides into a small Wyoming town with hopes of quietly settling down as a farmhand. Taking a job on homesteader Joe Starrett's farm, Shane is drawn into a battle between the townsfolk and ruthless cattle baron Rufus Ryker. Shane's growing attraction to Starrett's wife, Marian, and his fondness for their son Joey, who idolizes Shane, force Shane to realize that he must thwart Ryker's plan. —Jwelch5742

After a desperate plot to rob his company office, a mining engineer leaves town humiliated. He takes up work elsewhere, agreeing to help a threatened father and his daughter extract silver ore from their mine before the lease expires. The office of mining engineers and partners Larkin Moffatt and Charlie Storrs is robbed. Storrs accuses Moffatt of complicity with the robbers and fires him. He also asks all major mining companies in the region to avoid hiring Moffatt. Unemployable, Moffatt opens his own small independent assay office in Silver City. His first client, Candace Surrency, leases a mine from the greedy R. R. Jarboe, owner of several mines. Candace Surrency and her father have invested all their funds in the mine lease which is due to expire in 12 days, reverting the mining rights back to its owner, R. R. Jarboe. So far the mine has been dry but the Surrencys have hired Moffatt to do another assay on the latest batch of ore. Moffatt finds silver in large amounts in the test batch, making the Surrencys rich. News of their silver strike spreads fast. Mine owner R. R. Jarboe refuses to extend the mine lease to the Surrencys who won't have enough time to extract and process the silver ore during the remainder of the lease. R. R. Jarboe is sure to benefit from the silver strike once the mine reverts to him. Desperate, the Surrencys ask Moffatt to become the mine's foreman and use his expertise to extract and process the silver ore within the remaining 12 days of lease rights. Aware of R. R. Jarboe's power Moffatt refuses to get involved but changes his mind when noticing Jarboe's ruthless sabotage tactics against the Surrencys. Moffatt and Candace Surrency fall in-love. Unfortunately, Moffatt's old boss and former partner Charlie Storrs shows up in town to buy this particular mine from owner R. R. Jarboe. —nufs68

In this Western, the James and Younger boys ride the outlaw trail again all because of a mean Union Army Major.

At the end of the Civil War, two friends return home to Colorado and one of them has changed and is violent and erratic. Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him. —frankfob2@yahoo.com

A wanted outlaw arrives in town to rob a bank that has already been held up! His past and his friendship with the sheriff land them both in trouble. Popular mailcoach driver Uncle Willie is in fact in league with the town's crooked banker. They plan to have the bank robbed after emptying it, and when Willie's choice for this doesn't show in time, he gets some local boys to do it. When his man does turn up he decides to stick around, as he is pals with the sheriff and also takes a shine to Willie's daughter Allison. This gives the bad men several new problems. —Jeremy Perkins {J-26} The bank of Red Valley, a small town in Utah, is robbed by a gang and three residents are murdered during the heist. However the corrupt banker Stanley Clanton has plotted the heist with the owner of the local stable, Uncle Willie McLeod, and the rancher Jack Lester and his gang. Sheriff Steve Upton is out of town investigating the holdup and is surprised by the wanted outlaw Cheyenne Rogers. The gunman that was hired by Stanley but arrived late for the heist, steals his horse and heads to Red Valley. In the stable, the daughter of Uncle Willie, Allison McLeod, recognizes the horse and rescues the sheriff from the wilderness. Meanwhile Cheyenne meets Countess Maletta and his friend Nitro Rankin. The Countess is the owner of the local saloon and suffers from unrequited love for him, and feels guilty for the crime life of Cheyenne that committed his first murder to protect her ranch. When Steve returns to Red Valley and sees Cheyenne, he feels happy to see his old friend and Allison falls in love with Cheyenne. But Sheriff Steve is getting close to Jack Lester and now Stanley Clanton masterminds a plan to incriminate Cheyenne for robbing the bank. Will he succeed? —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

An escaped prisoner must prove his innocence to a stuffy law professor with help from a spirited schoolteacher. In suburban Lochester, New England, three people end up living together in high-school teacher Nora Shelley's rental house. The first is her new tenant, renowned Harvard law professor Michael Lightcap, who has rented the house for the summer while he writes his new book. The second is Nora herself. After an auspicious first meeting, Lightcap hires Nora to be his live-in cook and secretary for a week until his manservant Tilney arrives. The third is Joseph, the property's gardener, who is currently laid up with a sprained ankle. In reality, Joseph is Nora's childhood friend Leopold Dilg, who has just escaped from prison. Leopold was being tried for the arson of the factory where he worked, and for murder for the death of the factory foreman Clyde Bracken, whose body was never recovered but who is assumed to have died in the fire. Despite the danger to herself, Nora hides Leopold since she believes his story that although he, as an activist, did speak out about the dangerous conditions at the factory, he did not set the fire, which he assumes was done by the factory's owner, Andrew Holmes, to collect the insurance money, while having Leopold as a scapegoat. Nora campaigned to get the job with Lightcap to be able to better hide Leopold in the house. Leopold escaped because he knew he would not get a fair trial because of the rabble-rousing Holmes conducted against him. Lightcap and who he knows as Joseph end up getting along famously, although activist Leopold believes Lightcap's view of the law is too clinical for him to truly be a great lawyer or great judge. Nora and Leopold learn clandestinely that Lightcap is being appointed to the Supreme Court. Nora, Leopold, and Sam Yates, Leopold's lawyer, try to get Lightcap involved in helping Leopold by showing him that Leopold indeed will not get a fair trial. In the process, Lightcap might show Leopold and Nora that his current way of thinking has much merit. —Huggo When the Holmes Woolen Mill burns down, Leopold Dilg is jailed for arson (and murder; one man was lost). Escaping, Leopold hides out in the home of his childhood sweetheart Nora Shelley--which she has just rented to unsuspecting law professor Michael Lightcap. As Lightcap's unwelcome guests, Nora and Leopold drag the professor willy-nilly from theory to practice. The story blends comedy, thriller, philosophy, mystery and romance. —billaknz@gmail.com When accused arsonist Leopold Dilg escapes jail, he hides out in the home of old friend and sweetheart Nora, who happens to be renting a farmhouse to Supreme Court candidate Michael Lightcap, but she lets Dilg hide in the attic while Lightcap gets settled. The next day, she introduces Dilg as the gardener. In conversation, though, Lightcap realizes that the gardener has a lot to say about the law. Nora and Dilg team up to convince him that Dilg was framed. The three dodge the cops, try to capture the real crooks, and discover that both men have fallen for Nora. Two different endings were filmed, one in which Nora gives her heart to Dilg, the other in which she leaves with Lightcap. Guess which one remains at the classic comic conclusion. —Fiona Kelleghan <fkelleghan@aol.com>

A couple's big dreams give way to a life full of unforeseen sadness and unexpected joy. As tears well up in her eyes, once-happy Julie listens to her favourite songs, reminiscing about the ups and downs of her life. Indeed, Julie and her husband, Roger, have always been there for each other through thick and thin. However, it seems that the love is gone. But, before leaving the house, Julie decides to listen to their old, memory-laden records for one last time, eager to relive all the fundamental stages of her love story with Roger. Now, a flurry of mixed emotions overcomes Julie. Is all hope lost? —Nick Riganas As Julie prepares to leave her husband Roger, she begins to play through a stack of recordings, each of which reminds her of events in their lives together. One of them is the song that was playing when she and Roger first met in a music store. Other songs remind her of their courtship, their marriage, their desire for a child, and the joys and sorrows that they have shared. A flood of memories comes back to her as she ponders their present problems and how they arose. —Snow Leopard

In Tucson of the 1860s, a pioneer woman struggles to succeed in the freight and cattle business while at risk at the hands of corrupt and violent local businessmen and rampaging Indians. Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But Peter won't be distracted from his journey and Phoebe is left alone and plenty busy with villains Jefferson Carteret and Lazarus Ward plotting at every turn to destroy her freighting company. She has not seen the last of Peter, however. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>