Episode
The Virginian: Two Men Named Laredo
Overview
The Virginian hires some workers to help drive some cattle to Shiloh from Cheyenne, among whom is an easy going and timid hand who reads Shakespeare named Eddie Laredo (Fabian). Eddie accepts a full-time job at Shiloh but he is razzed by locals, including the unsavoury Bojo Sanders (Rayford Barnes) and saloon girl Molly Weems (Elizabeth McRae), because he likes literature. Bojo is murdered and Molly testifies that Eddie killed Bojo but because of her unsavoury reputation the charges are dismissed. Molly Weems is also killed and Trampas sees Eddie riding away from the scene. It looks like Eddie is guilty and will face the death penalty despite the efforts of Judge Garth to defend him.
Details
- Series
- The Virginian
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 17
- Air date
- 1965-01-06
Episode context
Two Men Named Laredo is Episode 17 in Season 3 of The Virginian. It aired on 1965-01-06.
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Episode 16: The Hour of the Tiger
A landslide blocks the pass needed to drive the Shiloh cattle to the rail line. The only alternative route would have to cross the property of Junius Antlow (Tom Tully), an arch enemy of Judge Garth, and Antlow refuses permission to use that route. The Judge hires Big Jim Lafferty (Leo Gordon), foreman of a crew of Chinese coolies, to clear a way through the blocked pass. Amongst the Chinese, disguised as a man, is a girl, Kam Ho (Cely Carrillo) who falls in love with the Virginian even though she is promised in marriage to one of the other workers named Chang (Kam Tong). Junius Antlow attempts to sabotage the work, hoping the cattle will starve, and in the process some of the Chinese labourers are killed and others wounded. His actions bring him into conflict not only with the Judge but also with his own son, Chris (Tom Simcox), and tragedy results.
Episode 18: Hideout
Betsy Garth investigates rumours of wild broncos in the mountains and while there she encounters a young man, Clint (Andrew Prine) and his father Martin (Forrest Tucker) living in an isolated cabin. Clint gets Betsy to promise not to reveal their presence but when Betsy is bitten by a rattlesnake he is forced to take her to Dr. Spaulding (John Bryant) in Medicine Bow, thereby saving her life and earning the Virginian's gratitude. However, Martin is a wanted man and Emmett Ryker is on his trail. Betsy must choose between her growing friendship with, and promises to, Clint and revealing the hideout to the law.
More episodes from this season
Episode 15: Man of the People
Trouble comes to Medicine Bow in the form of a number of settlers who camp on land they say has been promised to them but that Judge Garth and others traditionally have leased from the government for grazing cattle. The land settlement has been promoted by Congressman Matt Cosgrove (James Dunn) who had read law with the Judge 30 years before. The Judge knows the soil is no good for farming but is told government reports support the reverse. While the Judge and Cosgrove are at odds, Cosgrove's nephew, Army Lt. David O'Mara (Martin West), and Betsy Garth find each other more to their liking.
Episode 19: Six Graves at Cripple Creek
Emmett Ryker learns that a man named McMasters, who had killed his good friends, a rancher and his daughter, two years before, was one of six men supposedly killed by Indians. Believing the man still alive, and seeking revenge, he accompanies a young woman, Lucille Carver (Sheilah Wells), whose father was also reported as among those killed, to the massacre site at Cripple Creek. The trail eventually leads him to Deadwood where he suspects a man who has made a gold strike, and may be Lucille's father, is McMasters.
Episode 14: The Payment
Ryker invites the man who raised him to come to Medicine Bow after being released from 10 years in prison. When Ryker finds Abe has invited his family to join him, he knows there are problems as Shiloh makes a record sized cattle shipment.
Episode 20: Lost Yesterday
A man dies due to a gunshot wound but not before he reveals to his sweetheart, Clara Malone (Shirley Knight), that robbery money is hidden near Medicine Bow. Faking suicide to escape the rest of the robbery gang, Clara takes the stage to Medicine Bow along with one other passenger, the Virginian. In a stage accident she is injured and the Virginian takes her to Shiloh Ranch to be nursed by Betsy. Suffering from amnesia, Clara can not recall her past and she and the Virginian begin a romance. However, her past catches up with her when the robbery gang discovers she is still alive.
Episode 13: Portrait of a Widow
French-accented portrait painter Charles Boulanger (John Gavin) says goodbye to Betsy Garth and Maggie Mencken (Vera Miles) who have been visiting Chicago. Maggie is a good friend of Judge Garth and the Judge is the executor of her late husband's estate. Charles accent is phony and he is wanted by hoods trying to collect a gambling debt so he escapes to Medicine Bow by saying he will paint Maggie's portrait. At Maggie's house Charles discovers an important art work purchased by her late husband and while romancing Maggie, makes plans for faking the painting and selling the original to pay off his debts. However, two things stand in his way: his growing affection for Maggie, and Judge Garth, who suspects Charles is not what he seems.
Episode 21: A Slight Case of Charity
Trampas is in Albuquerque to pick up some money on behalf of the cattlemen's association. He encounters and is robbed of some of the money by Charity (Kathryn Hays). She was in love with a man, Byron Prescott (Jerome Courtland), who was forced to jilt her by his wealthy family. Charity is trying to get to Rancho Valdez to sell a ruby ring, a family heirloom which had been given to her by Byron. Although Trampas catches up with Charity, she in turn has been robbed by a local guide, Judd (Warren Oates). They set out after Judd, tailed not only by Byron Prescott, but also by Emmett Ryker who has come looking for the overdue Trampas.
Episode 12: A Gallows for Sam Horn
Widower Sam Horn (John Lupton) comes into conflict with the railway headed by Colonel John Briscoe (Edward Binns). Part of his land had been expropriated as a railway right of way and the compensation was based on much outmoded land values. The Colonel is also having conflicts with his son Scott (Buck Taylor) over an old girlfriend of Buck's called Peg Dineen (Laurel Goodwin) who also happens to be in town. Peg is a supposed widow with a young child and Sam Horn is smitten with her. When Buck is shot, Sam is put on trial for murder although he claims it was self-defense. In the courtroom it is up to Judge Garth to defend and save Sam Horn by uncovering the tangled and hidden motives behind the events.
Episode 22: You Take the High Road
The Virginian makes the acquaintance of a young man, Mark Shannon (Richard Beymer), who along with his sister (Diana Lynn) and her love interest, trail boss Jack Slauson (Myron Healey), is taking a cattle herd to the army. When near Medicine Bow it is learned the Shannon herd could be carrying Spanish fever. Those cattle are largely immune but the local cattle are not. The local ranchers, with the Virginian acting as their delegate, try to get the herd to bypass the Medicine Bow area. By taking another, but more direct, route, the herd would avoid infecting the local cattle. However,there would be substantial losses to the Shannon herd because of a drought affecting the other route. Mark refuses and this leads to a showdown not only with the Virginian and Medicine Bow ranchers but also with Slauson.
Episode 11: All Nice and Legal
Victoria Greenley (Anne Francis) comes to Medicine Bow to set up a law practice but encounters resistance from those who do not think law a suitable profession for a woman. Although initially reluctant, the Virginian gets Victoria to represent him in a court dispute with a saddle-maker. She is successful and romance brews between the two. However, they soon find themselves on opposite sides when Victoria agrees to defend some men accused of trespassing on Shiloh land.
Episode 23: Shadows of the Past
Emmett Ryker's good friend, storekeeper John Conway (Jack Warden), is to marry a woman he met in San Francisco and has known for only a very short time, Rita Boland (Marilyn Erskine). When Rita comes to Medicine Bow, her relationship with John becomes strained because of her seeming unwillingness to consider having children. She turns to the bottle and it is clear she is haunted by some event in her past. Meanwhile, Emmett's past also threatens to catch up with him as two Garr brothers (John Milford and James Beck) whom he had sent to jail for a robbery attempt, and whose third brother he had killed in that same attempt, come seeking revenge. The two disconnected stories become intertwined, and then resolved, in a fateful showdown.