@@richardyoung1890 Interesting how they changed the lead character's name from Brit Ponset to Vint Bonner and, of course, the show's television version to The Restless Gun. Stewart supposedly did the first TV adapted pilot that was not initially picked up. By the time the network decided to take a shot, Stewart had moved on to bigger and better things in film and, along with lots of actors, wasn't interested in TV, which had become the enemy of film for a period, until studios found a way to make money off TV as well as theatrical motion pictures. That animosity did persist quite a while though, certainly within the exhibitor community, as even I can recall the theaters sponsoring anti-television propaganda in the theater lobbies in the sixties when I was just a munchkin.
Indeed, Royal Dano's adaptation of Wilbur in the TV episode was, as usual, one of his outstanding, and typically over the top performances. Dano appeared in loads of these TV westerns of the era. There were two notable Dano performances in my mind. The first was his complicated role in a Rawhide episode as a somewhat autistic old buddy of Lucas who had a fixation on impersonating Lincoln. My favorite Dano performance was in a fantastic episode of Rawhide called The Lost Herd in which he played Teasner, the chairman or president of the Cattlemen's Association that employed Gil Favor as a contract trail boss. An old cowboy once advised me I could learn everything I needed to know about life from watching and heeding the many messages found in Rawhide episodes, and he was right about that. The Lost Herd is one of those notable Rawhides that was chock full of life lessons; from how to deal with failure, to loyalty, betrayal, people management, fear, greed, gambling, friendship, competition, risk, reward, integrity, and persistence. In that role, one of Dano's scenes included his character telling Yates a metaphorical story about a racehorse called Big Dan that everyone should listen to. There's a lot about moving beeves and horses that applies to moving and managing men. The final scene of that episode sticks with me as one of the most poignant examples of integrity one can watch on television.
