Bat Masterson

A sucker for 60's westerns, I wrapped a belt around the piano bench, set it in front of the TV and "rode" it with my western heroes; Roy, Yancy (with his collection of hide-out derringers), Lone Ranger (the original radio Lone Ranger, Brace Beemer, lived just up the road from me)Cisco Kid and Pancho, Wild Bill Hickock and Jingles, El Fago Baca, Mavericks (Bret, Bart and cousin Beau from England)I watched them all and this was one. I assume Bat's cane had a sword in it, most do, and I definitely recall one episode where he warned the town of an impending Indian raid by firing his "cane rifle" at the church tower bell - he was too injured to ride down in time. My question is, does anyone know what happened to this prop? Were there several? A Sword cane, a rifle cane? Modern westerns make at least 3 copies of any significant prop, i.e., Quigley's rifle. One for photos, one for dropping in the dirt, one for star to keep as memento. There were 4 James Bond Aston-Martins(Sean Connery didn't get any of them). Anyway, I was just curious about the cane and if it was functioning, or they just faked it for the film.

Good news for fans of Gene Barry and his TV series Bat Masterson (1958-1961)! This show just started airing on the Encore Western Channeel. A marathon of the first 23 Bat Masterson episodes aired this weekend, and the show starts a regular run tomorrow, January 8, 2007, airing on the Encore Western Channel from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time, each day. I believe it also airs @ 6:00 p.m. CSA on Saturdays.

I remember this show from when I was a child and I found it still fun to watch. Although Bat as portrayed by Gene Barry may be called a dandy, so what? You'll forget all about that the first time he clubs a villain with his cane - and it happens frequently! He's also a crack shot.

And perhaps my favorite part of the show? Almost every episode sports a nice looking gal from 1950s television. Check out Allison Hayes in 7 episodes and Audrey Dalton in 3 episodes; and I just saw Fay Spain in an episode. If you like old television with a great leading actor and some nice eye-candy to go along with it, you'll love Bat Masterson!

I had to respond to that post. This WAS cool, unlike almost all the the westerns on television, and this child badly wanted (and received) a bat like Bat Masterson or his birthday. Gene Barry had the cool sure arrogance in this character that America was later to see in Burke's Law and the Name of the Game. In a different area of the country, this character would have been a great robber baron or 15 years ago,a great merger and takeover artist!

This was fun - and Barry was a sort of James Bond (Roger Moore variety) in the Old West.

One of the things about this show that lingers in my mind besides the nattily dressed Gene Barry was the fact that this show eschewed any kind of supporting cast. No sidekicks, no permanent love interests, what you got was Gene Barry as Bat Masterson taming the west in his own small way.

The real Bat was quite the dude himself, maybe not as noble a character as Barry played him. That cane was as effective as the Irish Shillelagh and he used it more to disarm opponents than kill them. He wasn't always the gentleman, Masterson did make a living as a scout and a buffalo hunter and I doubt he was so stylish on the trail.

Barry was a literate and bright western hero, he would have to be because the real Bat Masterson eventually made a living as a newspaper reporter for a quaint metropolitan newspaper. If he didn't always battle for truth, justice, and the American way, he always reported it in a dignified manner.

The real Bat Masterson made his living in the last century, died, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. I think he would have liked the way Gene Barry played him.

I remember this series fondly but even as a kid wondered why Gene Barry did not sport the moustache that Masterson wore almost all of his adult life and did (if I remember correctly) as portrayed in at least one episode of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. As an adult I have read almost everything written about Masterson, seen as many motion pictures as possible, and find the gambler, sportsman, writer and sometime lawman fascinating. Masterson did carry a walking stick, wore a bowler in at least one famous photograph, was a townsman and loyal friend, was involved in boxing and by all accounts was a cheerful and well-liked man - a lot like Gene Barry. Was this TV series always historically accurate? Not in the slightest! But it did capture something of the real man, a certain insouciance and worldliness lacking in the run-of-the-mill TV cowboy or lawman. 'Tis rather too bad that they never had an episode set later when Masterson was an apparently happily married man and sports writer for a New York newspaper. And yes, I frequently carry a walking stick today and fondly recall "Back when the West was very young/There lived a man named Masterson/ He wore a cane and derby hat/ They called him Bat, Bat Masterson...."