# Black Saddle

Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44 episodes from January 10, 1959, to May 6, 1960. The first season of 20 episodes aired on NBC from January 1959-September 1959. ABC picked up the second season in the 1959-1960 season with 24 new episodes produced. The half-hour program was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television, and the original backdoor pilot was an episode of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, with Chris Alcaide originally portraying the principal character, Clay Culhane, in an episode entitled "A Threat of Violence."

## Synopsis

Clay Culhane is a gunfighter who becomes a lawyer after his brothers are killed in a shootout. He carries his law books as he rides across the New Mexico Territory in the years following the Civil War, ready to help people who need help with the law. U. S. Marshal Gib Scott follows Culhane, dubious of Culhane's turning away from gunfighting. Nora Travers owns the town's hotel, and Kelly is the bartender at the saloon.

## Cast
### Main cast

* Peter Breck as Clay Culhane
* Russell Johnson as Marshal Gib Scott
* Anna-Lisa as Nora Travers
* J. Pat O'Malley as Judge Caleb Marsh
* Walter Burke as Tim Potter

### Guest cast

Some of the Black Saddle guest stars include Warren Oates, Chris Alcaide (who portrayed Clay Culhane in the original pilot), Fred Aldrich, John Anderson, Parley Baer, Raymond Bailey, Russ Bender, Paul Birch (in the role of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in the episode "Mr. Simpson"), Lane Bradford, Paul Burke, Archie Butler, James Coburn, Dennis Cross, John Dehner, Frank Dekova, Alan Dexter, Buddy Ebsen, Hampton Fancher, Scott Forbes in Episode "Client: Steele"), James Franciscus, Jack Ging, Dabbs Greer, Robert Griffin, Clu Gulager, Robert Harland, Stacy Harris, Brett King, Jess Kirkpatrick, Robert Knapp, John Marley, Ken Mayer, Ann McCrea, Patrick McVey, James Parnell, Vic Perrin, Sam Reese, Stafford Repp, Bing Russell, Richard Rust, Simon Scott, Richard Shannon, Robert F. Simon, Quentin Sondergaard and Patrick Macnee.

## Episodes
### Season 1 (1959)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Client: Travers" | John English | John McGreevey | January 10, 1959 (1959-01-10) |
| 2 | 2 | "Client: Meade" | Roger Kay | John McGreevey | January 17, 1959 (1959-01-17) |
| 3 | 3 | "Client: McQueen" | John English | Robert Yale Libott | January 24, 1959 (1959-01-24) |
| 4 | 4 | "Client: Dawes" | Roger Kay | John McGreevey | January 31, 1959 (1959-01-31) |
| 5 | 5 | "Client: Starkey" | John English | Robert Yale Libott | February 7, 1959 (1959-02-07) |
| 6 | 6 | "Client: Tagger" | John English | Frederick Louis Fox | February 14, 1959 (1959-02-14) |
| 7 | 7 | "Client: Robinson" | John Florea | Jack Jacobs | February 21, 1959 (1959-02-21) |
| 8 | 8 | "Client: Martinez" | Francis D. Lyon | John Tucker Battle | March 7, 1959 (1959-03-07) |
| 9 | 9 | "Client: Northrup" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | March 14, 1959 (1959-03-14) |
| 10 | 10 | "Client: Steele" | Francis D. Lyon | Rod Peterson | March 21, 1959 (1959-03-21) |
| 11 | 11 | "Client: Mowery" | David Lowell Rich | Frederick Louis Fox | March 28, 1959 (1959-03-28) |
| 12 | 12 | "Client: Braun" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | April 4, 1959 (1959-04-04) |
| 13 | 13 | "Client: Banks" | John English | Antony Ellis | April 11, 1959 (1959-04-11) |
| 14 | 14 | "Client: Jessup" | John English | Stuart Jerome | April 18, 1959 (1959-04-18) |
| 15 | 15 | "Client: Frome" | John English | Frederick Louis Fox | April 25, 1959 (1959-04-25) |
| 16 | 16 | "Client: Nelson" | Boris Sagal | John McGreevey | May 2, 1959 (1959-05-02) |
| 17 | 17 | "Client: Neal Adams" | William D. Faralla | Ken Kolb | May 9, 1959 (1959-05-09) |
| 18 | 18 | "Client: Brand" | Gerd Oswald | Joe Stone & Paul King | May 16, 1959 (1959-05-16) |
| 19 | 19 | "Client: Reynolds" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | May 23, 1959 (1959-05-23) |
| 20 | 20 | "Client: Vardon" | William D. Faralla | Frederick Louis Fox | May 30, 1959 (1959-05-30) |

### Season 2 (1959–60)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 21 | 1 | "The Freebooters" | William D. Faralla | John McGreevey | October 2, 1959 (1959-10-02) |
| 22 | 2 | "The Saddle" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | October 9, 1959 (1959-10-09) |
| 23 | 3 | "The Long Rider" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | October 16, 1959 (1959-10-16) |
| 24 | 4 | "The Hotel" | James Sheldon | Antony Ellis | October 23, 1959 (1959-10-23) |
| 25 | 5 | "Client: Peter Warren" | David Lowell Rich | Donn Mullally | October 30, 1959 (1959-10-30) |
| 26 | 6 | "The Freight Line" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | November 6, 1959 (1959-11-06) |
| 27 | 7 | "Murdock" | David Lowell Rich | Fred Frieberger | November 13, 1959 (1959-11-13) |
| 28 | 8 | "Apache Killer" | William D. Faralla | Joe Stone & Paul King | November 20, 1959 (1959-11-20) |
| 29 | 9 | "Four from Stillwater" | David Lowell Rich | George & Gertrude Fass | November 27, 1959 (1959-11-27) |
| 30 | 10 | "The Deal" | David Lowell Rich | William Link & Richard Levinson | December 4, 1959 (1959-12-04) |
| 31 | 11 | "Change of Venue" | William D. Faralla | John McGreevey | December 11, 1959 (1959-12-11) |
| 32 | 12 | "Blood Money" | Frank Baur | John McGreevey | December 18, 1959 (1959-12-18) |
| 33 | 13 | "The Killer" | William F. Claxton | Antony Ellis | January 1, 1960 (1960-01-01) |
| 34 | 14 | "Letter of Death" | David Lowell Rich | Frederick Louis Fox | January 8, 1960 (1960-01-08) |
| 35 | 15 | "Mr. Simpson" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | January 22, 1960 (1960-01-22) |
| 36 | 16 | "Means to an End" | Frank Baur | John McGreevey | January 29, 1960 (1960-01-29) |
| 37 | 17 | "The Indian Tree" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey & Antony Ellis | February 19, 1960 (1960-02-19) |
| 38 | 18 | "The Apprentice" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | March 11, 1960 (1960-03-11) |
| 39 | 19 | "Burden of Guilt" | Elliott Silverstein | John McGreevey | March 18, 1960 (1960-03-18) |
| 40 | 20 | "The Cabin" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | April 1, 1960 (1960-04-01) |
| 41 | 21 | "The Return" | David Lowell Rich | John McGreevey | April 8, 1960 (1960-04-08) |
| 42 | 22 | "A Case of Slow" | David Lowell Rich | Antony Ellis | April 15, 1960 (1960-04-15) |
| 43 | 23 | "The Penalty" | William D. Faralla | John Falvo | April 22, 1960 (1960-04-22) |
| 44 | 24 | "End of the Line" | William F. Claxton | Richard Fielder | May 6, 1960 (1960-05-06) |

## Production

Originally entitled War Gun, but changed just prior to filming (presumably due to the similarity to Warner Brothers' Lawman), the series was created by executive producers Hal Hudson and John McGreevey. Antony Ellis was the producer. On NBC the show was broadcast on Saturdays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. When it was moved to ABC it was shown on Fridays from 10:30 to 11 p.m. E. T.
The pilot for the series was "Threat to Violence", the May 23, 1958, episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. Chris Alcaide portrayed Culhane in it, with Johnson and Anna Lisa in the roles that they had in the series. The change of stars occurred because the program's sponsor thought Alacaide "had become too familiar as a villain".

### Filming

The NBC episodes were filmed at Fox Movie Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains, while ABC's were shot at the Republic studio lot in Studio City.

### Theme

Although the Black Saddle TV series lasted less than two full seasons, its original theme tune—written by Jerry Goldsmith under the name of his then-brother-in-law, J. Michael Hennagin, because Goldsmith himself was still under contract to CBS—lives on. Several cover versions of the tune have been recorded, many of which have since become available on YouTube. Moreover, from February 1967 until at least the fall of 1992, the theme was frequently featured in the programs of marching bands and bugle corps.

### Syndication as The Westerners

For syndicated reruns, Black Saddle was combined with Law of the Plainsman, Johnny Ringo, and The Westerner, under the umbrella title, The Westerners, with new hosting sequences by Keenan Wynn.

## Critical response

A review of the premiere episode in the trade publication Variety said that the script "did not stand up with the better westerns" and indicated that the pace of the episode should have been faster. The review called the characterizations of the sheriff and the villain "hard to swallow". Lisa was praised, primarily for her beauty, while Breck was said to be "okay in a flat sort of way", and the "Supporting cast was competent."