# Cade's County

Cade's County is a modern-day Western/crime drama which aired Sundays at 9:30 pm (EST) on CBS during the 1971–1972 television season. There were 24 episodes.

## Synopsis

Cade's County starred well-known Hollywood actor Glenn Ford as Sam Cade, the sheriff of the fictional Madrid County, a vast and sparsely populated semiarid desert area that was apparently located in the American Southwest. There was a U.S. Border Patrol Station located in the area. Sheriff Cade worked a case with Border Patrol Agents involving murder and drug smuggling on a ranch in the county located on the U.S.- Mexico border, in Episode Four - "Crisscross". The state in which it was located was never mentioned; it could have been California (where much of the location filming took place), Arizona, New Mexico or western Texas. Cade made occasional references to going to "Capitol City" for hearings and meetings. In the Cade's County Movie: "Slay Ride", Chief Deputy J.J. Jackson makes reference to the Criminal Information and Identification Lab in Austin. In Slay Ride Sheriff Cade describes Madrid County being approximately as large as Rhode Island. There is a town named Madrid, New Mexico, however, it is pronounced "MAD-rid", and is not a county seat.
Cade's character was complex and interesting, though never fully developed. He came from a socially prominent and well-to-do family in the county, had served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot — there was one reference to the Korean War — and had been an FBI agent, after which he returned to Madrid County to become sheriff. His father had been sheriff until he was shot and killed. There were no references to a wife or close family in the series.
His chief deputy was J. J. Jackson, portrayed by the character actor Edgar Buchanan. While Cade had traveled the world, and had modern law enforcement training, Jackson had apparently spent most of his life and career in Madrid County. Writers avoided the stereotypical combination of "resistant-to-change veteran" and "newly hatched expert" – Jackson was a capable and competent lawman and right-hand man, Cade firmly in control but trusted by his people, who called him "Sam".
Together they fought to maintain law and order against violent miners, cattle thieves and other lawbreakers who, for the most part, would have seemed at home in Westerns set in any era. Cade usually drove a Jeep CJ-5, as many of the roads in his jurisdiction were apparently little more than tracks across the sand.
Several of the characters, including some of Cade's deputies, were Native Americans. Another deputy was played by Ford's son, Pete (also the name of his character).
After summer hiatus, Cade's County was replaced in the 1972–1973 fall TV season by the hugely successful TV series M*A*S*H.
The 94 minute Sam Cade — Marshal of Madrid was released in 1991 on VHS format, which combined footage from the episodes "Crisscross" and "A Gun for Billy". A two-part episode, Slay Ride, was released as a television feature film, occasionally broadcast by independent television stations. A 92 minute movie was prepared under the name Sam Cade that is a stitching-together of footage from the episodes "Homecoming" and "Blackout". It was shown on TV, in theaters in Europe, and available on some DVD collections.
The musical theme for the show was composed by Henry Mancini. The title music appeared in an expanded version in the album Big Screen, Little Screen.

## Cast

* Glenn Ford as Sheriff Sam Cade
* Edgar Buchanan as Senior Deputy J.J. Jackson
* Taylor Lacher as Arlo Pritchard
* Victor Campos as Rudy Davillo
* Peter Ford as Deputy Pete
* Sandra Ego as Joanie Little Bird
* Betty Ann Carr as Betty Ann Sundown

## Episodes

| No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 1 | "Homecoming" | Marvin J. Chomsky | Eric Bercovici, Cliff Gould & Jerrold L. Ludwig | September 19, 1971 (1971-09-19) |
| Cade is about to reunite with an old friend (Darren McGavin), who has murder, rather than reminiscing, on his mind. |||||
| 2 | "Company Town" | Robert Day | Cliff Gould | September 26, 1971 (1971-09-26) |
| After a murder, Cade decides to break a mine owner's (Will Geer) hold on a small town. |||||
| 3 | "Safe Deposit" | Reza Badiyi | Luther Davis | October 3, 1971 (1971-10-03) |
| Bank robbers take Cade and Arlo hostage. Nora Marlowe guest stars as Miss Glaskill. |||||
| 4 | "Crisscross" | Richard Donner | Charles Larson & Jack Turley | October 10, 1971 (1971-10-10) |
| A series of murders leads to a border smuggling ring run by an oil magnate (James Gregory). |||||
| 5 | "Violent Echo" | David Lowell Rich | Jim Byrne & Cliff Gould | October 24, 1971 (1971-10-24) |
| After the final appeal fails, Cade re-opens the case of a man (William Windom) convicted of murder. |||||
| 6 | "Gray Wolf" | Alf Kjellin | Charles Larson & Clyde Ware | October 31, 1971 (1971-10-31) |
| An unarmed Cade tracks a murderous former deputy trainee (Cameron Mitchell) into a wolf-ridden wilderness. |||||
| 7 | "The Armageddon Contract" | Paul Stanley | Stephen Kandel & Charles Larson | November 7, 1971 (1971-11-07) |
| A saboteur (William Shatner) threatens to blow up a nearby atomic-missile base. |||||
| 8 | "The Mustangers" | Irving J. Moore | Cliff Gould & Robert M. Young | November 14, 1971 (1971-11-14) |
| A hunter (George Maharis) helps a group of cowboys illegally capture wild horses and sell them for profit. |||||
| 9 | "Delegate at Large" | Marvin J. Chomsky | Cliff Gould, Charles Larson & Harold Medford | November 21, 1971 (1971-11-21) |
| Murderous jewel thieves may have one of Cade's deputies, so the Sheriff decides to work with a Los Angeles cop (L. Q. Jones) to find the abductors. |||||
| 10 | "A Gun for Billy" | Richard Donner | Anthony Wilson, Rick Husky & Anthony Lawrence | November 28, 1971 (1971-11-28) |
| A crazed young gunslinger (Bobby Darin), believing he is the reincarnation of Billy the Kid, sets his sights on Cade, his Pat Garrett. Linda Cristal guest stars. |||||
| 11 | "Requiem for Miss Madrid" | Joseph Pevney | Rick Husky & Charles Larson | December 12, 1971 (1971-12-12) |
| Cade searches for the killer (Broderick Crawford) of a former beauty queen. |||||
| 12 | "The Alien Land" | Irving J. Moore | Jackson Gillis & Charles Larson | December 19, 1971 (1971-12-19) |
| A ranch foreman's murder leads to a lovesick girl, her possessive father and Middle East politics. |||||
| 13 | "Shakedown" | Lee Madden | Warren B. Duff & Cliff Gould | January 9, 1972 (1972-01-09) |
| In an effort to find evidence on the leader (Anthony Zerbe) of a gold smuggling operation, Cade must go undercover posing as a blackmailer. |||||
| 14 | "One Small Acceptable Death" | Irving J. Moore | Michael Gleason | January 16, 1972 (1972-01-16) |
| A slain drunk's companion (David Wayne) claims he saw a famous tycoon (William Smithers) at the murder scene. |||||
| 15 | "The Brothers" | Alf Kjellin | Robert M. Young | January 23, 1972 (1972-01-23) |
| Arlo's brother (Christopher Stone) plans a perfect crime. |||||
| 16 | "Slay Ride: Part 1" | Robert Day | Rick Husky & Anthony Wilson | January 31, 1972 (1972-01-31) |
| After a killing, an Apache (Tony Bill) confesses readily to the crime but Sam Cade isn't convinced of his guilt. |||||
| 17 | "Slay Ride: Part 2" | Robert Day | Rick Husky & Anthony Wilson | February 6, 1972 (1972-02-06) |
| A big city cop (Gerald S. O'Loughlin) joins Cade in his continuing search for a killer. |||||
| 18 | "Dead Past" | Lee Madden | Alvin Boretz & Cliff Gould | February 13, 1972 (1972-02-13) |
| An archaeology professor (Simon Oakland) becomes the target of a murder plot. |||||
| 19 | "Inferno" | Lee Philips | Unknown | February 27, 1972 (1972-02-27) |
| A son (Scott Marlowe) sets out to destroy the family business. |||||
| 20 | "Ragged Edge" | George Marshall | Unknown | March 5, 1972 (1972-03-05) |
| A child gets kidnapped and can only be freed with an unusual ransom — an imprisoned drug dealer (Jack Carter). |||||
| 21 | "Jesse" | Marvin J. Chomsky | Unknown | March 12, 1972 (1972-03-12) |
| A woman (Barbara Rush) accused of murder finds herself trapped in a maze of circumstantial evidence. Cade tries to get at the truth. |||||
| 22 | "Blackout" | Richard Donner | Unknown | March 19, 1972 (1972-03-19) |
| A mobster (Edward Asner) who got out of the rackets finds himself framed for murder. |||||
| 23 | "The Fake" | Leo Penn | Pat Fielder | March 26, 1972 (1972-03-26) |
| The trail of an art collector's killer (O. J. Simpson) leads to a museum director and a mobster. |||||
| 24 | "The Witness" | Michael O'Herlihy | Cliff Gould | April 9, 1972 (1972-04-09) |
| An Indian chief's beliefs prevent him from giving evidence in a trapper's murder. |||||