The Last Letter

For as many people who went out to mine gold, some of the smarter ones found more enterprising ways of making money. Such was the case of William Pullen who saw big possibilities in delivering mail from home that was piled up at the San Francisco post office. Pullen starts a mail service and even at one point hauls some gold to a San Francisco bank. All for some good size fees.

One man who declines his services is a young 49er played by a 24 year old Clint Eastwood. He hasn't the money to pay for Pullen's mail service, his luck's been so bad at the diggings.

But as Pullen is pulling out of the mail service he does mistakenly get a letter for Eastwood in with his customers. On the house he delivers it and it changes Eastwood's life.

This as all Death Valley Days episodes were good stories done in the economical style of a half hour. This was a real find on YouTube for me showing Clint Eastwood in one of his earliest roles. He's unmistakable.

Actor William Pullman plays what at first looks like an opportunist named Alex, in the old West, who decides to deliver mail for fees. He quickly shows he is a human monster, charging fees that would be worse than outrageous even by standards of 150 years later. It's a ridiculous story as told, because the prices he charges the miners is so high that there is no miner who would possibly decide not to do the business himself. ' Eventually, another man does come by and rivals the business of Alex. Pullman plays it as though he's nonchalant, but that's ridiculous for a human monster. In fact, if this really was a true story as these stories are supposed to be, then the reality would be that Pullman was using strong arm tactics and had a mob helping him. This story is too obviously contrived to make :Pullman look like something else, but it gives itself away. Clint Eastwood has a strong role here as a man who doesn't use the mail service, and has no money. The story indicates that Pullman has pity on him, but even if this was true, it would be "crocodile tear pity". Believing that Pullman was anything but a monster is something no savvy person could ever swallow. This is one of the poorest and most contrived episodes of an otherwise good TV anthology series.