Once again, I am back with another installment in my look at the television episodes directed by Samuel Fuller… but this is the final post! Not just of these TV posts, but for the entire Sam Fuller series! Instead of going out with a bang reminiscent of Fuller’s dynamic opening shots, we’re gonna go out with a whisper from a TV playing in the next room. I casually started reviewing Fuller films in 2010, so to finally finish everything off is a huge source of joy for me. I love Fuller, but I’ll be glad to be moving on to other things.
First aired: 02/06/1967
Starring Dale Robertson, Robert Random, Jeff York, Jorja Curtright, Dean Pollack, Anthony Zerbe, Brenda Benet, Roger Torrey, Tony Young, Robert Williams, Charles Horvath, Dean Smith
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Banner with a Strange Device is an episode that ditches the general Iron Horse format and focuses on the orphan Barnabas (Robert Random). The BPS&D train arrives in the town of Banner, where Calhoun has come to collect on a $50,000 wager he made with the namesake of the town, Big Jim Banner (Jeff York), that the railroad could reach his town before the first snow. They make it, but as soon as Barnabas steps off the train — to chase his pet raccoon that, as far as I can remember, hasn’t appeared in any of these Fuller-directed episodes — he is assaulted by a couple of dudes that think he’s a member of the Clayborne family.
I guess I’m stuck trying to piece it all together because there wasn’t much else to do with the episode. It’s a poor piece of television to say the least. Even when Fuller unleashes his trademark wide shot of stuntmen fighting, it’s awful. It just looks like a couple of dudes flailing in the dirt. This scene is also intercut with medium shots of Barnabas and his attacker Jeff Clayborne, which is an odd choice in this specific fight as both men are played by Robert Random. In any case, the illusion of the same guy fighting himself is sold well-enough and is believable.
I also found the title intriguing as it seemed to have little to do with the episode. It is apparently a reference to a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow titled Excelsior. The poem is about a man carrying a banner through a mountain town, ignoring the warnings not to proceed up the mountain. He is later found in the snow by a dog, his hands still holding onto the banner. The only correlation I can see is that Barnabas is like the bannerman, proceeding onward towards his supposed family despite all warnings and misgivings of those around him. It makes you think a bit, but it’s still not a very good episode. I’d say skip this one, without a doubt.
First aired: 02/20/1967
Starring Dale Robertson, Robert Random, Tony Davis, Michael Rennie, Jock Gaynor, Makee K. Blaisdell, Walter Mathews, Martin Ashe, Anna Karen, Snag Werris
Directed by Samuel Fuller
The Red Tornado also forgoes the usual Iron Horse setup, and focuses on a young Native American kid named Red Feather. He is the lone survivor of the Arapaho tribe in this area, and the Shoshone tribe apparently won’t rest until the last of the Arapaho is dead. Apparently the two tribes were historically enemies, so there is at least some basis in fact for this story. Anyway, the BPS&D happens upon the remains of the Arapaho tribe (convenient of the Shoshone to slaughter them alongside the railroad tracks!), and while investigating Calhoun discovers that Red Feather is still alive. And by “discovers,” I mean that Red Feather sneaks up on Calhoun with a knife in hand and they have a skirmish which results in Calhoun spanking Red Feather into submission.
The Red Tornado is probably the most dramatically engaging episode of Iron Horse that I’ve seen, but it was still too slow moving for my taste. I’d recommend it over most of the other episodes though.