Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. The series was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio. Trackdown was a spin-off of Powell's anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.
Overview
Trackdown stars Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. It is set in the 1870s after the American Civil War. In early episodes, stories focused on Gilman going to different Texas towns in pursuit of wanted fugitives. At midseason, the series became set in the town of Porter, Texas. Episodes touched on multiple Western themes and topics, so it was known as "the thinking man's Western".
Gilman is the de facto sheriff in Porter. His friends in the town include Henrietta Porter (portrayed by Ellen Corby). She is the widow of the town's founder and owns The Porter Enterprise newspaper. Occasionally, Gilman's duties as a Texas Ranger took him out of town, where he used his fast gun to "track down" and apprehend wanted criminals throughout the Lone Star State.
The pilot episode, "Badge of Honor", directed by Arthur Hiller, aired on Zane Grey Theatre on May 3, 1957. Gilman, then an ex-Confederate cavalry officer, returns to his Central Texas hometown, called "Crawford", after the war. He finds the town under the control of a ruthless gang led by an ex-Confederate colonel, Boyd Nelson (played by Gary Merrill). The town sheriff (portrayed by Tom Tully) is a drunken shell of a man Gilman had once known, who is afraid to face the outlaws. When a Texas Ranger came to arrest Colonel Nelson, he is fatally shot in the back. His Ranger badge falls on the dusty road. Gilman, who previously had served with the Texas Rangers, was weary of the Civil War and did not want to continue as a lawman, but after learning of the Ranger's death, he picks up the badge and finishes the job of bringing Nelson and his gang to justice.
Trackdown carried the endorsement of both the State of Texas and the Texas Rangers, an accolade no other Western television series has received. Some episodes were inspired by the files of the Rangers.
Episodes
Season 1: 1957–58
Season 2: 1958–59
Background and production
Development
All Trackdown episodes were produced by Vincent Fennelly. John Robinson wrote 14 segments, including the pilot. Richard Donner was one of the directors. Sam Peckinpah wrote one episode, "The Town", about a cowardly community afraid to resist the clutches of an outlaw gang, but he did not direct any Trackdown episodes.
Robert Culp wrote one episode, titled "Back to Crawford", which features his then-wife, Nancy Asch-Culp. The episode was directly related to the first regular series episode, "The Marple Brothers", as Nancy portrayed a former childhood friend of Hoby's, Merrilee Quintana, with whom Hoby was once in love, who was out to kill his sister Norah as revenge for his killing her young husband in the line of duty, and who was one of the evil Marple Brothers he encountered in Episode 1. Gilman's sister was played by actress Peggy Webber, reprising her role from the series pilot.
In an interview, Robert Culp stated that Trackdown was conceived by its creators as "the Western Dragnet". The pilot of the series was written by John Robinson, who, according to Culp in that same interview, was partly responsible for the creation of Dragnet.
The series narrator was character actor Ed Prentiss.
Guest stars
Nick Adams
Chris Alcaide
Fred Aldrich
John Anderson
Robert Armstrong
Phyllis Avery
Trevor Bardette
Claudia Barrett
James Best
Paul Birch
Whit Bissell
George Brenlin
Paul Brinegar
Walter Brooke
Edgar Buchanan
King Calder
Ahna Capri
Sidney Clute
James Coburn
Russ Conway
Walter Coy
Johnny Crawford
Dennis Cross
Richard Devon
James Drury
Don Durant
Scott Forbes
Robert Foulk
Beverly Garland
Dabbs Greer
Richard Hale
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. Richard Jaeckel Vivi Janiss Robert Karnes DeForest Kelley Jess Kirkpatrick Michael Landon Nolan Leary Forrest Lewis Strother Martin Carole Mathews Ken Mayer Steve McQueen Joseph Mell Rita Moreno Neyle Morrow Vic Morrow James Murdock James Nolan Warren Oates Susan Oliver James Parnell Joseph V. Perry Richard Reeves Paul Richards Pernell Roberts Gloria Saunders Karen Sharpe Harold J. Stone Ray Teal William Talman Russell Thorson Lee Van Cleef Stuart Whitman Jean Willes Chill Wills