SHADOW RIDERS, THE {LOUIS L'AMOUR'S THE SHADOW RIDERS} (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television Western drama, based on the 1982 novel by Louis L'Amour, follows two brothers' attempts to reunite their family in the aftermath of the Civil War.
The story begins in 1865 as Mac Traven, a Union captain, is relieved to learn that the Civil War is finally over, while elsewhere Dal Traven, a Confederate, is rescued by his major but declines to rejoin the rebels, deciding instead to head home to Texas. On the way, he brawls with a pair of horse thieves, whose "kin" react with anger to his accusations; Mac arrives just in time to stop them from hanging the "reb," whom he reveals to be his brother. The siblings happily reunite and head for home, but their parents, amazed to learn that Dal isn't dead after all, explain that their siblings Jesse and Sissy, along with Dal's would-be fiancée Kate Connery and several others, have been abducted by Southern rebels.
Sheriff Miles Gillette admits that he was busy chasing another fugitive – their own uncle, "Black Jack" Traven – when the marauders tore through town. Local man Frank King sheepishly admits that he and Kate are now engaged, as she believed Dal to be dead. Elsewhere, on the coast, Kate slips a small knife to Jesse and tries to distract their captor, Major Cooper Ashbury, who expounds upon his desire to resurrect the "rebel yell" of the Confederacy. Jesse cuts his bonds and runs into the sea, where he is presumed dead after disappearing under a hail of gunfire. Dal bemoans his wayward paramour's actions as he and Mac pursue the prisoners; Ashbury tries to charm Kate into accepting a more "genteel" life by his side, though she rejects him in disgust. A ship arrives and Ashbury greets Colonel Holiday Hammond, a gunrunner and slave trader who agrees to sell him 200 guns and ammunition in exchange for his "young and fresh" captives, including a defiant Kate.
Mac and Dal soon find Jesse alive, and he explains that Ashbury's male prisoners will be sent to work in a silver mine, while the women will be sold into sexual slavery in Mexico. Hammond soon determines that Kate is too much "trouble" to be shipped off to Chihuahua; he demands her kept by his side as Sissy and the others are sent away in a boat. Jesse, Dal and Mac find the outlaws' camp and, using a cow stampede as a distraction, reunite with a relieved Kate. When she explains that the others have already been sent to Mexico, they realize that they must recruit their "outlaw" Uncle Jack to assist them, as only he has spent time south of the border. Jack is delighted when his nephews use a well-placed stick of dynamite to free him from prison, though he soon spots a "posse" approaching and admits that he may still have some dangerous enemies resulting from some trouble in Waco.
In Mexico, the kidnapped women are placed in a stockade; elsewhere, Dal demands answers from Kate, who heatedly points out that Frank actually proposed to her, unlike him. Ashbury finally realizes that Hammond has been "double-dealing" him and has no intention of following through on their deal; Hammond has him tossed in a cell. Mac tries to advise Kate about his taciturn brother, assuring her that his affections are true, if often unarticulated; when they arrive in Mexico, Kate disguises herself in a nun's habit and requests to see the women recently brought to town. The girls are desperately relieved to recognize Kate, but Hammond quickly figures out her trick. Jack distracts Ashbury's men with his entertaining stories. When Dal later catches Ashbury in flight, he opts not to kill him.
Hammond escapes with the girls via train, but the brothers manage to sneak onto the moving locomotive and, with Kate's help, overpower Hammond and bring the train to a halt. Sheriff Miles arrive in search of the "renegade" Jack, angrily revealing that Jack, in addition to his many other crimes, actively pursued his wife; Jack blithely declares the attraction mutual. Kate, Mac and Jesse offer to trade Jack for a much "bigger fish," the villainous Colonel Hammond, and Miles reluctantly agrees. Satisfied, everyone heads for home, with Dal promising to "ask Kate something" along the way. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:57346
- GENRE: Drama, western
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, western; Drama, action/adventure; U S - History - Civil War; Kidnapping
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1982
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jim Byrnes … Executive Producer, Writer
- Hugh Benson … Supervising Producer
- Verne Nobles … Producer
- Dennis Durney … Producer
- Jon C. Andersen … Associate Producer
- Andrew V. McLaglen … Director
- Louis L'Amour … Based on a story by
- Jerrold Immel … Music by
- Tom Selleck … Cast, Mac Traven
- Sam Elliott … Cast, Dal Traven
- Ben Johnson … Cast, Uncle 'Black Jack' Traven
- Geoffrey Lewis … Cast, Major Cooper Ashbury
- Jeffrey Osterhage … Cast, Jesse Traven
- Gene Evans … Cast, Colonel Holiday Hammond
- Katharine Ross … Cast, Kate Connery
- R.G. Armstrong … Cast, Sheriff Miles Gillette
- Marshall Teague … Cast, Lieutenant Butler
- Robert B. Craig … Cast, Laird
- Ben Fuhrman … Cast, Devol
- Jane Greer … Cast, Ma Traven
- Harry Carey Jr. … Cast, Pa Traven
- Dominique Dunne … Cast, Sissy
- Natalie May … Cast, Heather
- Jeannetta Arnette … Cast, Southern Belle
- Owen Orr … Cast, Frank King
- Kristina David … Cast, Renfro Damsel
- Joe Capone … Cast, Sergeant Ballock
- Scanlon Gail … Cast, Yankee Officer