The Five Best Episodes of "The Loner"

Lloyd Bridges as William Colton.

We originally wrote a post about Rod Serling's 1965-66 Western TV series The Loner back in 2009. At that time, it seemed destined to be one of those cult TV shows lost forever except for an episode or two on YouTube. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case. In 2016, Shout Factory released all 26 episodes of The Loner.

The premise has Lloyd Bridges playing William Colton, a former Union officer wandering through the Old West following the end of the Civil War. Serling, who wrote many of the episodes, uses that backdrop to explore issues such as racial prejudice, redemption, and resignation. While it's not as consistently thought-provoking as Twilight Zone, The Loner is a different kind of Western and Bridges is excellent as its complex hero.

Here's are our picks for the five best episodes:

1.  The Oath - When Colton stops by an isolated inn on a rainy night, he discovers that its residents are being held at gunpoint by a critically-wounded outlaw. During the night, the outlaw's plight changes the lives of the innkeeper's daughter and an alcoholic former surgeon with one hand. Rod Serling once said: "Humanity is our business." That's the theme in this potent episode featuring fine performances from Barry Sullivan and Viviane Ventura. I love the unexpected conclusion, which is filled with both melancholy and hope.

Barry Sullivan and Lloyd Bridges in the background.

2.  The Lonely Calico Queen - Colton finds a letter on a dead man and delivers it. The recipient is a lonely saloon girl, who was waiting for the letter writer--a pen-pal she has never met--to "rescue" her from her mundane existence. She assumes that Colton is her knight in shining armor. Serling wrote this touching tale of dreams and disillusionment. Jeanne Cooper shines as the saloon girl's pragmatic boss, who has accepted her station in life.

3.  Westward the Shoemaker - Colton meets a naïve immigrant (David Opatoshu), who is traveling to a nearby town to open a shoe shop with his life's savings. Part character study and part celebration of the goodness in people, this one features a Twilight Zone-like twist at the climax. Writer Serling also fills it with natural little touches like the two men soaking their feet in a nearby stream as they talk.

Cindy Bridges (Lloyd's daughter) with Colton's horse Joshua.

4. Pick Me Another Time to Die - Veteran TV writer Ed Adamson penned this more conventional, but still compelling episode in which Colton is framed for the murder of a popular sheriff. Even worse, the man responsible is the deputy! The only flaw in this tight-paced, twisty tale is its hurried conclusion. Character actor Lewis Charles has some great scenes as the deputy's underling and there's a doozy of a fight in a jail cell between Bridges and Mike Mazurki.

5. The Flight of the Arctic Tern - En route to a friend's wedding, Colton encounters a beautiful blonde on horseback, who flirts openly with him. Later that day, when he meets the bride-to-be, she turns out to be the same woman! Producer Andy White wrote the teleplay for this offbeat outing about a manipulating woman (well played by Janine Gray) who doesn't know what she wants in life. Colton's look of disgust in the closing scene is not to be missed.

You can view clips from three of these episodes on the Cafe's YouTube Channel by clicking on the image below:

Cloris Leachman Channels Garfield; Peter Graves Arm Wrestles Clint Walker

This post of part of the Cafe's Movie of the Week Blogathon. Please check out the other awesome reviews by visiting the blogathon schedule.

The hotel at the Portals of Eden.

Haunts of the Very Rich (1972). The opening scene introduces seven people who are en route to a paradise resort known as the Portals of Eden. The guests consists of: a bitter businessman (Ed Asner); a philanderer (Lloyd Bridges); a timid woman (Cloris Leachman); newlyweds (Donna Mills and Tony Bill); a priest who has lost his faith (Robert Reed); and a housewife recovering from a nervous breakdown (Anne Francis). When these seven people reach their destination, they are greeted by their host Mr. Seacrist (dressed in a white suit like Mr. Roarke). For a moment, I wondered if I was watching an early pilot of Fantasy Island.

Moses Gunn as the mysterious host.

However, things turn peculiar when the guests learn that there are no other vacationers and the staff understands but doesn't speak English. Mr. Seacrist (Moses Gunn) explains away these oddities--they are the first guests of a new season and a non-English speaking staff "works better that way." Still, when a tropical storm cuts off all communication with civilization, the Portals of Eden becomes downright ominous.

If you're familiar with Leslie Howard and John Garfield movies, then you've probably recognized this plot by now. Still, Haunts of the Very Rich keeps its big revelation in check for most of its 73-minute running time. It falters, though, near the end with a rambling speech by the otherwise fine Robert Reed and an esoteric jaunt through the woods by Bridges and Leachman.

Cloris Leachman and Lloyd Bridges.

As made-for-TV movies go, it's a strong cast with Bridges and Leachman the standouts as an unlikely duo who find love in the oddest of places. Leachman's character is the first to realize what has happened and the actress excels at slowly, hesitantly coming to grips with the reality of the situation.

Haunts of the Very Rich doesn't rank in the upper echelon of the ABC Movies of the Week, but it's worthy of 73 minutes of your time and you can watch it for free on YouTube.

Peter Graves as a former hunter.

Scream of the Wolf (1974). It's never good to get out of your car on an isolated road on a foggy night, so it's no surprise when something brutally kills a Los Angeles businessman. The sheriff of a nearby seaside community enlists the aid of writer John Wetherby (Peter Graves), a former big game hunter. They find wolf-like tracks around the corpse, but here's what's weird: the tracks change from a four-legged to a two-legged creature and then disappear!

When there's a second killing within a two-mile radius, John goes to see his old friend--and hunter extraordinaire--Byron Douglas (Clint Walker). Byron is an eccentric who specializes in making dramatic statements like: "Once an animal starts killing humans, it never stops" and "A good hunter is never sure of anything except that his prey will do the unexpected." Byron shows open disdain for John, whom he thinks has become weak ("You're only alive when you're in mortal danger").

Clint Walker arm wrestles Peter Graves.

The film's highlight is when Byron agrees to help hunt the animal if John, who once lasted seven minutes in an arm wrestling contest, can last just one minute this time. Peter Graves and Clint Walker in an arm wrestling contest? It just doesn't get much better than that, people!

Scream of the Wolf has an impressive pedigree with a script by Richard Matheson and Dan Curtis in the director's chair. The two were responsible for such enjoyable made-for-TV horror films such as The Night Strangler (1973) and the classic Trilogy of Terror (1975). Alas, Scream of the Wolf is not one of their better efforts.

Clint's impressive sideburns.

Yet, it does provide Clint Walker with one of his best roles. The success of his Cheyenne TV series typecast Walker as an understanding hero for most of his career (a notable exception was his convict in The Dirty Dozen). Scream of the Wolf provides him with a bizarre character and Walker has a grand time threatening wussies, spouting philosophy, and, of course, arm wrestling.

Plus, Clint sports some of the coolest triangular sideburns this side of Pythagoras. You can check them out because Scream of the Wolf is also available on YouTube.

Seven Things to Know About Lloyd Bridges

1. Although Lloyd Bridges first appeared in films in 1936, he didn't make a major impact until High Noon in 1952. He played a key supporting role as deputy Harvey Pell, who refuses to stand with Gary Cooper's heroic lawman against the Miller Gang. He resigns because the recently-married Coop won't support him as the new marshal.

2. Bridges fared better on television, especially after delivering a riveting performance in "Tragedy in a Temporary Town" on The Alcoa Hour. Sidney Lumet directed this 1956 live drama about a community seeking "justice" against a Puerto Rican worker accused of assaulting a teenage girl. During his climatic speech on mob violence, Bridges became so emotionally invested in his role that he ad-libbed a four-letter word--marking one of the first uses of profanity on broadcast television. His performance earned him the first of two Emmy nominations (the other was for a guest star appearance on Seinfeld).

3. Lloyd Bridges' career was briefly derailed in the early 1950s when he was blacklisted for his earlier involvement with the Actors Lab, a theater group with alleged Communist Party ties. He quickly cleared his name with the FBI.

Strapping on his gear in Sea Hunt.

4. He shot to TV fame playing scuba diver Mike Nelson in the half-hour 1958-61 series Sea Hunt. Ironically, though he was an avid swimmer, Bridges had never scuba dived and had to learn how for the show. By the way, all three major TV networks passed on Sea Hunt, so Ivan Tors syndicated it--and turned it into a major hit.

5. Bridges appeared in numerous subsequent TV series, to include: The Lloyd Bridges Show, a 1962-63 anthology series; Rod Serling's offbeat Western The Loner (1965-66); San Francisco International Airport (1970-71); Joe Forrester (1975-76), in which he played a street cop; and Harts of the West with son Beau Bridges (1993-94). According to several Star Trek books, he turned down the role of Captain James T. Kirk.

6. Lloyd acted opposite his sons Beau and Jeff on several occasions. Both sons guest starred on Sea Hunt, The Lloyd Bridges Show, and The Loner. Lloyd appeared uncredited in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), which starred Jeff Bridges in the title role. Lloyd also had a daughter. Lucinda, during his 60-year marriage to wife Dorothy. A fourth child, Garrett, died of sudden infant death syndrome.

Looking unhinged in Airplane II.

7. Lloyd Bridges' acting career got an unexpected boost when he appeared as a scary, glue-sniffing airport tower supervisor in the wacky comedy Airplane!. He subsequently appeared in other big screen comedies such as Airplane II: The Sequel, both of the Hot Shots! movies, and Jane Austen's Mafia (his final film, which was released after his death in 1998). My favorite of his later roles, though, has him playing Ted Danson's life-loving father in the warm comedy-drama Cousins (1989).

The Loner--Rod Serling's TV Western Cult Favorite

Bridges as former Union officer William Colton.

With The Twlight Zone a big hit for CBS, Rod Serling launched a Western TV series in the fall of 1965. Serling was no stranger to the Western genre, having written 1958's Saddle the Wind starring Robert Taylor and John Cassavetes.

The Loner, like Saddle the Wind, was an "adult Western" that downplayed action in favor of human interest stories. And like The Twilight Zone, the series had a social conscience, this time in the form of hero William Colton, played by Lloyd Bridges. A former Union officer, Colton--like television predecessors Tod and Buz in Route 66--was in search of "something." His travels into the West lead to encounters with various individuals whose stories form the basis of each episode.

The first "An Echo of Bugles," stars Whit Bissell (the hardest working actor in the late 1950 and 1960s) as a former Confederate being harassed by a young punk who throws the old man's Rebel flag on the floor. Colton interecedes and calmly (yet forcefully) states:

"I don't owe any allegiance to that flag either, but too many good men died for it to let me sit by and see it desecrated by a dirty little loudmouth that had no hand in bringing it down...a loudmouth who was still sucking milk and candy drops while this flag was the breeze."

The horrors of war haunt Colton.

In flashback, it's revealed that Colton killed a young Confederate soldier during a battle--only to learn that the Civil War had ended hours earlier with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. This incident drives Colton to resign his commission despite the pleadings of his senior officer.

Potent dialogue for an intriguing Western TV series. Unfortun-ately, The Loner lasted for only 26 episodes--not even a full season back in 1965. And even though Serling is considered one of the great television writers, The Loner has never made it to DVD and, sadly, probably never will. (Since I wrote this post in 2009, I'm thrilled to say that The Loner was released on DVD by Shout Factory in 2016.)

Click here to read our review of the five best episodes of The Loner.