Robbie James is determined to shield her sheltered 18-year-old Boston boarding school daughter Dani from the truth, that her mother is not the upstanding rancher she had led Dani to believe she was but is instead a well-known gambling hall maven. Cheyenne is in Dennison because his drive partner lost half the herd gambling, and where his half goes, so goes Cheyenne's. Without too much background, it's clear that Cheyenne and Robbie have a history, indicated by her coy comment when they meet again. After looking him up and down, she says with a little smile, "You've changed, Cheyenne. Lost that gangly coltish look. A definite improvement." His glowering reply, "Didn't seem to bother you before," hints at a relationship somewhere along the line.
Cheyenne is blackmailed into helping Robbie continue the subterfuge of respectability by ramrodding the saloon until she gets back from a month-long trip with her daughter. When his efforts to convince Robbie that one lie simply begets another fail, he reluctantly agrees to help, telling her wryly, "Don't worry. My word's as good as yours." But when Dani turns up unexpectedly, the plot shifts abruptly and Robbie's efforts to conceal the truth are upended. Although she lashes out at Cheyenne, he knows it's because she's devastated, so he doesn't give up on her. Cheyenne Bodie has proved over and over again that he's a loyal friend as well as a man of his word. She admits, "It's tough to live a lie, Cheyenne." To which he replies in a last-ditch effort to reason with her, "Sometimes it's even tougher to live the truth." But she's still determined that Dani not find out the truth about her mother.
Enter Duke Tavener, shady representative of a corrupt gambling combine that wants to add Robbie's Tailgate Casino to their chain of crooked gambling halls. He learns Robbie's secret and threatens to spill the beans to Dani. When Dani finds out anyway, Tavener's threats lose their power, so his henchmen Dutch and Bradan go to plan B---kidnap Dani. Saloon moocher, Mousey, notices them leave town after her and tells Cheyenne, who rescues the girl, then has to shoot it out with Tavener's hired gun. Dani proves to be a lot like her mother--stubborn, resilient, and spirited, willing to accept the truth and get on with working that ranch Robbie had told her about.
Veteran actress Evelyn Ankers exudes just the right combination of cynical woman of the world and soft-hearted, protective mother. Theodora Davitt plays Dani very effectively in one of her few screen appearances. James Seay is sleazy Duke Tavener, the kind of man who smiles while he's about to knowingly ruin your life. Craggy-faced Morgan Woodward appears as Bradan, one of the earliest in his lengthy career of bad guy roles. Old town drunk Mousey is played by Raymond Hatton, who began his acting career in silent films. Although the target of jokes and cruel pranks, Mousey ends up helping Cheyenne save the day for Robbie and Dani. He has some good lines in this episode too. When he sees Dani ride into town sidesaddle, his eyes widen and he says to Cheyenne, "She's only riding one side of that horse!" That's just one of the many quotable lines in this well-crafted script, credited to Albert Aley from a story by L. L. Foreman.
This is another satisfying, even heart-warming episode of "Cheyenne," with Clint Walker at the center of the action, delivering lines in his usual natural, unaffected way, and proving once again to be a hero to damsels in distress and even to the town derelict, while taking care of bad guys who won't be causing trouble again for anyone else anytime soon.
Cheyenne is blackmailed into helping Robbie continue the subterfuge of respectability by ramrodding the saloon until she gets back from a month-long trip with her daughter. When his efforts to convince Robbie that one lie simply begets another fail, he reluctantly agrees to help, telling her wryly, "Don't worry. My word's as good as yours." But when Dani turns up unexpectedly, the plot shifts abruptly and Robbie's efforts to conceal the truth are upended. Although she lashes out at Cheyenne, he knows it's because she's devastated, so he doesn't give up on her. Cheyenne Bodie has proved over and over again that he's a loyal friend as well as a man of his word. She admits, "It's tough to live a lie, Cheyenne." To which he replies in a last-ditch effort to reason with her, "Sometimes it's even tougher to live the truth." But she's still determined that Dani not find out the truth about her mother.
Enter Duke Tavener, shady representative of a corrupt gambling combine that wants to add Robbie's Tailgate Casino to their chain of crooked gambling halls. He learns Robbie's secret and threatens to spill the beans to Dani. When Dani finds out anyway, Tavener's threats lose their power, so his henchmen Dutch and Bradan go to plan B---kidnap Dani. Saloon moocher, Mousey, notices them leave town after her and tells Cheyenne, who rescues the girl, then has to shoot it out with Tavener's hired gun. Dani proves to be a lot like her mother--stubborn, resilient, and spirited, willing to accept the truth and get on with working that ranch Robbie had told her about.
Veteran actress Evelyn Ankers exudes just the right combination of cynical woman of the world and soft-hearted, protective mother. Theodora Davitt plays Dani very effectively in one of her few screen appearances. James Seay is sleazy Duke Tavener, the kind of man who smiles while he's about to knowingly ruin your life. Craggy-faced Morgan Woodward appears as Bradan, one of the earliest in his lengthy career of bad guy roles. Old town drunk Mousey is played by Raymond Hatton, who began his acting career in silent films. Although the target of jokes and cruel pranks, Mousey ends up helping Cheyenne save the day for Robbie and Dani. He has some good lines in this episode too. When he sees Dani ride into town sidesaddle, his eyes widen and he says to Cheyenne, "She's only riding one side of that horse!" That's just one of the many quotable lines in this well-crafted script, credited to Albert Aley from a story by L. L. Foreman.
This is another satisfying, even heart-warming episode of "Cheyenne," with Clint Walker at the center of the action, delivering lines in his usual natural, unaffected way, and proving once again to be a hero to damsels in distress and even to the town derelict, while taking care of bad guys who won't be causing trouble again for anyone else anytime soon.
