Pic of the Day: “The Great Train Robbery” revisited

Posted by Marisa on June 20, 2014

Today we take another regretfully poor-quality look at the Sheriff of Cochise episode “The Great Train Robbery” (nice title originality there, guys). It was first broadcast on October 5, 1956. Mean, mean train robber Stark is not taking any guff from the hapless conductor (Jess Kirkpatrick).

Kirkpatrick began his Hollywood career in 1930, when he provided the singing voice for Phillips Holmes in the Tay Garnett drama Her Man. He became a reliable (but often uncredited, as here) character player in films and on television for decades, working steadily until a few years before his death in 1976.

Pic of the Day: “The Great Train Robbery” revisited

Posted by Marisa on October 10, 2013

Today’s pic takes another look at “The Great Train Robbery,” not the ground-breaking film short of 1903 but the episode of Sheriff of Cochise that first aired just over 57 years ago today – October 5, 1956. Bad guy Stark is robbing this train and he wants you to know it.

Cochise was another of those shows that sounded like a Western but really wasn’t. It was a contemporary crime drama set in Cochise County, Arizona. The sheriff (John Bromfield) wore a cowboy hat, but that and the Arizona setting are pretty much where the Western resemblance ends.

Pic of the Day: “Mermaids of Tiburon” revisited

Posted by Marisa on September 17, 2013

Today we take another look at Milo Sangster, the pearl-coveting scoundrel of John Lamb‘s Mermaids of Tiburon (1962). Here he is threatening his hapless Mexican sidekick Pepe (Jose Gonzales-Gonzales).

Gonzales-Gonzales was a familiar face in films and on television in the 1950s and ’60s, almost always portraying the stereotypical Latino characters of the day. He recorded a novelty 45 rpm disc in 1964 with the tunes “Pancho Claus” and “Tacos for Two.” His brother Pedro co-starred with Tim in the Sheriff of Cochise episode “The Great Train Robbery” (10.5.56).

Pic of the Day: “The Great Train Robbery” revisited

Posted by Marisa on March 7, 2013

The pic for today is another look at Stark, the crazed but rather dapper-looking train robber of “The Great Train Robbery,” the episode of Sheriff of Cochise that was first broadcast on October 5, 1956. I am not sure who the actors portraying his two cohorts in crime are.

This episode was directed by Lee “Roll ‘Em” Sholem, who earned his nickname by efficiently racing his way through approximately 1300 television episodes and feature films during his 40-year career without going over schedule once. While directing an episode of The Adventures of Superman in 1952, he hastily revived Phyllis Coates after she had been accidentally knocked unconscious by a fellow actor. He then quickly had her finish the scene, before her face began to swell up.

Pic of the Day: “The Great Train Robbery”

Posted by Marisa on May 4, 2012

Today we finally get a look at Timothy in the Sheriff of Cochise episode “The Great Train Robbery,” first broadcast on October 5, 1956. He portrays Stark, the nasty leader of a gang of thieves who pull off said robbery. As we all know, however, justice prevails (at least on television in the 50s), and Stark and his gang are eventually hauled off to jail by Sheriff Frank Morgan (John Bromfield).

Also appearing in this episode is Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, whose brother Jose co-starred with Tim in Mermaids of Tiburon (1962). Bromfield retired from acting in 1960 to become a commercial fisherman.

Pic of the Day: “The Secret Mission” revisited

Posted by Marisa on April 23, 2012

Our pic of the day takes another look at the Cowboy G-Men episode “The Secret Mission,” first airing on October 4, 1952. Timothy was teamed once again with X Brands as henchmen of the main bad guy, Robert Lowery.

The television Western was fertile ground for many a young actor newly arrived in Hollywood in the 1950s. Timothy also appeared in an episode of the popular series Sheriff of Cochise (which wasn’t really a Western), “The Great Train Robbery,” which has so far eluded my grasp.