#1 Cheap Alias Smith & Jones - Season One Reviews
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This light comic Western was probably consciously based on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), but it creates a world and characters all its own and is perhaps the best note on which the great TV-Western era could have begun to go out. Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel) and Kid Curry (Ben Murphy), "the two most successful outlaws in the history of the West," are the leaders of Wyoming's infamous Devil's Hole Gang. Heyes is a born manipulator and con artist, a safecracker without peer, and a keen judge of human character; the Kid may be one of the fastest guns who ever lived. But they're finding the outlaw trail a tougher one to ride: the safes are getting stronger, the posses more resolute, and the telegraph is everywhere. So, after an unproductive tussle with a Brooker 440 safe, they make up their minds to go straight--if the Governor can be persuaded to issue them an amnesty: with ,000 apiece on their heads, their only other option would be to leave the country. An old friend, a former outlaw turned sheriff, acts as their go-between, but the Governor can't commit political suicide by giving them an amnesty right off: the banks and railroads are too mad at them. So he lays down conditions: stay out of trouble for a year (or maybe more) and earn their freedom. And in the course of the series they try to do just that--but it isn't easy. Saddled by their sheriff friend with their unimaginative aliases of Smith (Heyes) and Jones (Curry), to which they subsequently add Joshua and Thaddeus, roaming from Wyoming to Texas and Mexico to Arizona and back again, locking horns with lawmen, other outlaws, bounty hunters, con artists, ordinary folks gone crooked, and the occasional murderer, and making their way by Heyes's poker skill and silver tongue and Curry's quick gunhand, they struggle to stay on the straight and narrow and start a new life.
Lighter in tone than most Westerns of its era, AS&J is still a delightful ride with plenty of fast action, and it's also full of complicated plots and cons (Sam Jaffe appears twice as a successful retired con man named Soapy who owes "the boys" a large favor) and occasional very close escapes. It's also one of the all-time best "buddy" series ever filmed: Heyes and Curry's good-natured ribbing of each other and occasional friendly, low-key rivalry over a girl shows clearly that they know each other well and enjoy a mutual respect and affection. The chemistry between Duel and Murphy is unmistakable, and Heyes's mobile face, safecracker's hands, and clear, bell-like voice, Curry's youthful features and way of looking sad just before he draws, and the seemingly utterly natural grace of movement both have, make them among the most attractive Western heroes ever to appear on the small screen. To judge from what I've learned over 40-odd years of research into the American West, they're probably actually a much more accurate portrayal of outlawry than the vicious murderers seen in so much of the genre: probably 80% of Western outlaws weren't "badmen," but jobless cowboys gone wrong, who'd drifted into the life from a love of action and adventure, a need to help out a friend or meet a temporary shortage of funds, often urged along by the stimulus of strong drink. Heyes and Curry take great pride in the fact that "When we were robbing banks we didn't kill people," which makes them very sympathetic and easy to root for. (Trivia buffs may be interested to know that "A Fistful of Diamonds" was based on an actual incident: a "genuine salted diamond field" con was actually run in northwestern Colorado in 1872.) Dozens of famous faces appear as guest stars, among them Burl Ives, Cesar Romero, Fernando Lamas (who also directs one segment), Susan Strasberg, Susan St. James, Diana muldaur, Forrest Tucker, Ramon Bieri, John Larch, John McGiver, Dana Elcar, L. Q. Jones, Med Florey, Gregory Sierra, Dub Taylor, Mark Lenard, Peter Breck, Pernell Roberts, Slim Pickens, James Drury, Alan Hale, Royal Dano, William Windom, J. D. Cannon of McCloud - Seasons 1 and 2 (who appears twice as Bannerman Detective Harry Briscoe), Randolph Mantooth of Emergency - Season One, Joseph Campanella, Keenan Wynn, Susan Oliver, Claudine Longet, Richard Anderson, Joan Hackett, Robert Donner, and Michele Carey (who appeared in El Dorado with John Wayne, who in turn starred in Chisum, the movie that introduced Duel's younger brother Geoffrey). Lovers of Westerns, both light and serious, should enjoy this stylish series.
Alias Smith & Jones - Season One Overview
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Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 20-FEB-2007
Media Type: DVD
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