Colt .45

This western from the huge stable out of Warner Bros. probably had more things going against than for it. Although seemingly well cast with a soon to be disgruntled Wayde Preston as Christopher Colt portraying a government agent posing as a gun salesman tracking down various types of bad guys the show was basically entertaining as he was not quite as light as Maverick but not as hard nosed as John Russells "Lawman".As the popularity of Colt .45 grew, Wayde Preston felt so should his paycheck. After having to mingle reruns with recently completed episodes and realizing Colt .45 just might have something going W.B. flexed and Preston came back, but not for long. After another dispute with the studio Preston left again and Sam Colt Jr.played by Donald May eventually replaced Preston causing the show to lose its momentum and ceased production in 1960 concluding its three year run. The show was also plagued by several rehashed episodes already used by other W.B. western series.One wonders what could have been.

Full disclosure: I just got the Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray set of this show. Although I am a huge fan of TV westerns, I had never seen this show before, and I'm not even sure if I've heard of it before. If the title sounds familiar, it is likely because of the name of the classic gun (which figures heavily into the show), the beer, and a movie with the same title.

I am only just about finished with the first disc, just about to watch the 6th episode.

But based on what I have seen so far, I think it is a show that got better as it went on. I would probably only give the pilot episode, maybe a 6.5 -7 at the highest. But by the time I got to the third episode, I could see them finding their stride and it getting better with each one.

Now, that I have seen 5 full episodes (and in this beautiful pretty high definition, projected on my wall), I would say it's easily a 7.5 - 8.

And based on that trajectory, I could easily project that it might even get to the level of a 9 by the end of the series (which I guess only ran three seasons. Probably part of the reason I have never seen it before: probably was not as widely syndicated as some other classic TV Westerns).

Just as a point of reference, I would rate much of the first few seasons of THE VIRGINIAN, GUNSMOKE (at least for the first 5 seasons or so), HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and TOMBSTONE TERRITORY, as 10/10. Probably also THE REBEL (short entire series), and THE WESTERNER. I don't think this is quite going to be in that top tier for me.

But I am really enjoying it and can see myself watching a few of these many times.

And any of these classic B&W Westerns (and that gets at least a point in its favor from me), that tells their stories in less than a half-hour (a sadly dead storytelling form these days: the half-hour *drama*), also is rarely gonna be less than a 7.5 for me already. My bias is showing.

I plan on reviewing some of the individual episodes. And probably will also cover the show a bit on my podcast: THE CHAPLAIN AMERICA STORY HOUR.

One of the most memorable of the theme songs, though musically not up to the quality of some such as "Maverick". The ads were a bit silly: "Beneath this salesman exterior..." caused my waggish brother to quip "beats a heart of gold". But though relatively short-lived and suffering from Warner's rehashed scripts, Preston was suitably solid and stolid; and yet, perhaps because of the tie in to the Colt revolver, and the undercover agent aspect, it was great fun!

I was so young when this show aired that I did not understand what he was really doing. I may not have continued watching when the Preston was replaced; I have no memory of that. Preston must have been effective in the role--he held my interest. I do recall that the mustache was a bit of a turnoff for me. Yeh, I wanted my 19th century heroes to look like mainstream 20th century men. But I kept watching. I recall comic books, too.

Producer Roy Huggins ( "Cheyenne", "Maverick", "77 Sunset Strip", "Run For Your Life") developed and produced the pilot for "Colt 45", which started in 1957. The villain in the pilot episode of "Colt 45" was named Jim Rexford (played by Andrew Duggan). Roy Huggins also began "Maverick" in 1957.

On Roy Huggins' "The Lawyers" segment of "The Bold Ones", one 1969 episode is titled "The Rockford Riddle" because the Darrell's secretive client is named Henry Rockford (played by Charles Aidman).

Roy Huggins turned Jim Rexford and Henry Rockford into Jim Rockford when Huggins re-teamed with "Maverick" star James Garner for "The Rockford Files" in 1974.