The Young Country
| The Young Country | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Western |
| Written by | Roy Huggins |
| Directed by | Roy Huggins |
| Starring | Walter Brennan Joan Hackett Wally Cox Pete Duel Roger Davis |
| Theme music composer | Pete Rugolo |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Steve Heilpern Roy Huggins Carl Pingitore |
| Cinematography | Vilis Lapenieks |
| Editor | Robert Watts |
| Running time | 74 minutes |
| Production companies | Public Art Films Universal Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release |
|
The Young Country is a 74-minute 1970 American western made-for-TV film, written and directed by Roy Huggins (creator of TV's Maverick). It starred Walter Brennan, Joan Hackett, Wally Cox, Pete Duel and Roger Davis. It was aired on 17 March 1970 in the ABC Movie of the Week strand.[1] It was televised in the UK on 1 May 1970 and went on to be shown in Japan, Spain, South Korea and the Philippines.[citation needed]
Made as a pilot for a potential series, The Young Country was about con artists in the Old West. TV Guide describes The Young Country as a lighthearted "Movie of the Week" Western,[2] where a footloose young gambler is searching for the owner of a mysterious fortune.
Stephen Foster Moody (Roger Davis, of TV's Dark Shadows) is "a serious student" of gambling, takes a personal oath to spend the rest of his life avoiding "hard liquor and hard work" after doing hitches in both the Union and Confederate armies. Aarom Grimes (Wally Cox) is a thief who robs a bank. They, and other various interested parties set about finding the said mysterious fortune.
The Young Country was rejected as a series by ABC; however, they broadcast it as an ABC Movie of the Week. Roy Huggins went on to develop a pilot, Alias Smith and Jones, which ABC accepted and was turned into a series of the same name. That followed the adventures of two reformed outlaws, who in character were not dissimilar to those played by Pete Duel and Roger Davis in The Young Country.
Cast
- Walter Brennan as Sheriff Matt Fenley
- Joan Hackett as Clementine Hale
- Wally Cox as Aaron Grimes / Ira Greebe
- Pete Duel as Honest John Smith
- Roger Davis as Stephen Foster Moody
- Skip Young as Desk clerk
- Steve Sandor as Parker
- Elliott Street as R.R. ticket clerk
- Robert Miller Driscoll as Harvey 'Fat' Chance
References
- ^ "TV Listings for March 17, 1970". TV Tango. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- ^ https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-young-country/review/290137/
External links
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