User Reviews

(IMO) "Tales Of Wells Fargo" (1957-1962) was an above average TV Western with competent actors, plenty of action and believable situations.

I really liked Dale Robertson as the no-nonsense special agent, Jim Hardie.

"The Prisoner" was first aired on television February 17, 1958.

When a US senator is kidnapped, Jim Hardie enlists the help of inmate Bob Dawson, whom he sent to prison in his previous appearance, in return for a pardon and a reward. Dawson was a inmate with of one of the kidnappers, Red Willis, and Hardie hopes he can lead a posse of Wells Fargo employees to their hideout. But Hardie better keep his eye on Dawson...

This is second of six appearances of Edgar Buchanan as outlaw Bob Dawson, and all his appearances are fun watches. This episode is one of Buchanan's best, and he's up to his old tricks as usual. You just never quite know whether to believe him or not when he claims he can be trusted. Despite his age the old urges are still strong, and the wheels are turning in his head with thoughts of skating away with a stack of stolen loot...or are they? They are, but then again...well, that's part of the fun of watching all the Bob Dawson episodes. He claims he can be trusted, next scene you know right away he's lying. Then Hardie - with some level of amusement - let's Dawson know he's on to him, and Dawson chuckles and says something like "I just couldn't help m'self, Jim, but you can trust me all the way, now."

Dawson is constantly reminiscing over his years as an outlaw...how successful he was, his various "stragedies", and how none of the young thieves have any "finess-ie" as he calls it. Not all the Dawson episodes end with him returning to prison, but most do, with him waxing nostalgically about all the good years he spent in the hoosegow with his old friends, playing cribbage and talking about old times, and how he needs the peace and quiet of a prison to work on his memoirs. More on them later...

There are several good turns in the plot, with Dawson going back and forth from one side to the other.

Edgar Buchanan was quite prolific, and appeared in a lot of great pictures. He could play villainous characters, but he's more well known as playing the conniving Uncle Joe Carson character, similar to the way he plays Bob Dawson. He did appear as a lot of doctors in westerns as well.

The supporting cast is not well remembered today, other than the immortal Robert Armstrong appearing as Red Willis. Armstrong's place in pop culture is rock solid as the intrepid Carl Denham in the Kong pictures. Russel Thorsen appears again the Wells Fargo manager.

This is definitely a good one, don't miss it.