Brave Eagle | |
---|---|
Starring |
|
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Original release | September 28, 1955 – March 14, 1956 |
Brave Eagle is a 26-episode half-hour Western television series which aired on CBS from September 28, 1955, to March 14, 1956, with rebroadcasts continuing until June 6. [1] Keith Larsen, who was of Norwegian descent, starred as Brave Eagle, a peaceful young Cheyenne chief.
The program was unconventional in that it reflects the Native American viewpoint in the settlement of the American West and was the first series to feature an American Indian character as a lead character. [2] [3]
Larsen's co-stars were Kim Winona (1930–1978), a Santee Sioux Indian, as Morning Star, Brave Eagle's romantic interest; Anthony Numkena (born 1942) of Arizona, a Hopi Indian then using the stage name Keena Nomkeena, appeared as Keena, the adopted son of Brave Eagle; Pat Hogan (1920–1966) as Black Cloud, and Bert Wheeler (1895–1968) of the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey, as the halfbreed Smokey Joe, full of tribal tall tales but accompanying wisdom. [4]
The episodes center upon routine activities among the Cheyenne, clashes with other tribes, attempts to prevent war, encroachment from white settlers, racial prejudice, and a threat of smallpox.
No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Blood Brother" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher, Jack Jacobs, and Malvin Wald | September 28, 1955 |
2 | "Cry of the Heron" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | October 5, 1955 |
3 | "The Treachery of At-Ta-Tu" | Paul Landres | Dwight V. Babcock | October 12, 1955 |
4 | "Gold of Haunted Mountain" | Paul Landres | Wells Root | October 19, 1955 |
5 | "Search For The Sun" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | October 26, 1955 |
6 | "Moonfire" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | November 2, 1955 |
7 | "Mask Of The Manitou" | Paul Landres | William Copeland | November 9, 1955 |
8 | "The Flight" | Paul Landres | Jack Laird | November 16, 1955 |
9 | "Code Of A Chief" | Paul Landres | Lawrence L. Goldman | November 23, 1955 |
10 | "Face Of Fear" | Unknown | Unknown | November 30, 1955 |
11 | "Voice Of The Serpent" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | December 7, 1955 |
12 | "Shield Of Honor" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | December 14, 1955 |
13 | "The Challenge" | Paul Landres | Jack Jacobs and Malvin Wald | December 21, 1955 |
14 | "Medicine Drums" | Paul Landres | William Copeland | December 28, 1955 |
15 | "The Spirit of Hidden Valley" | Unknown | Unknown | January 4, 1956 |
16 | "Papoose" | Paul Landres | Wells Root | January 11, 1956 |
17 | "The Storm Fool" | Paul Landres | Mona Fisher | January 18, 1956 |
18 | "The Gentle Warrior" | Paul Landres | Unknown | January 25, 1956 |
19 | "The Strange Animal" | Paul Landres | William Copeland | February 1, 1956 |
20 | "White Medicine Man" | Paul Landres | Dwight V. Babcock | February 8, 1956 |
21 | "Death Trap" | Unknown | Unknown | February 15, 1956 |
22 | "War Paint" | Paul Landres | Wells Root | February 22, 1956 |
23 | "Valley Of Decision" | George Blair | William Copeland | February 29, 1956 |
24 | "Witch Bear" | Paul Landres | William Copeland | March 7, 1956 |
25 | "Trouble at Medicine Creek" | Paul Landres | Lawrence L. Goldman | March 14, 1956 |
26 | "Ambush at Arrow Pass[ citation needed ]" | Unknown | Unknown | March 21, 1956 |
Though Brave Eagle was produced by NBC, it aired on CBS at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday preceding Arthur Godfrey and His Friends . Since the 1980s, several episodes have been released on videotape. [3] Brave Eagle was filmed by Roy Rogers Productions on Rogers' 130-acre (0.53 km2) ranch in Chatsworth in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Corriganville Ranch in Simi Valley. [2] Brave Eagle's principal competition was ABC's Disneyland , the Walt Disney anthology series. [5]
Dell Comics released a Brave Eagle comic book series based on the TV show. It was published between 1956 and 1958 and drawn by Dan Spiegle. [6]
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1955.
Roy Rogers was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then as an actor, the rebranded Rogers then became one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the "King of the Cowboys", he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of The Roy Rogers Show. In many of his films and television episodes, he appeared with his wife, Dale Evans; his Golden Palomino, Trigger; and his German Shepherd, Bullet. His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957. His early roles were uncredited parts in films by fellow cowboy singing star Gene Autry and his productions usually featured a sidekick, often Pat Brady, Andy Devine, George "Gabby" Hayes, or Smiley Burnette. In his later years, he lent his name to the franchise chain of Roy Rogers Restaurants.
Tales of the Texas Rangers is a 20th century Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama which originally aired on NBC Radio from 1950 to 1952 and later on CBS Television from 1955 to 1958. Film star Joel McCrea voiced the radio version as the fictitious Texas Ranger Jace Pearson, who uses the latest scientific techniques to identify criminals. His faithful horse, Charcoal, helps Pearson to track down the culprits. The radio shows, some of which are available on the Internet, are reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.
Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He was shot in the leg during a gun fight which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname.
The Adventures of Champion is an American children's Western television series that aired from September 23, 1955, to March 3, 1956, for 26 episodes on CBS. In the United Kingdom, the series was re-broadcast under the title Champion the Wonder Horse. The series was repeated on and off by the BBC in the UK throughout the 70s, 80s and early 90s, with its final BBC broadcast being the episode "The Stone Heart" on 23 January 1993.
Anthony George was an American actor mostly seen on television. He is best known for roles of Don Corey in CBS's Checkmate, Burke Devlin #2 and Jeremiah Collins on ABC's Dark Shadows, as Dr. Tony Vincente on CBS's Search for Tomorrow, and Dr. Will Vernon #3 on ABC's One Life to Live.
Elmer Calvin "Hank" Patterson was an American actor and musician. He is known foremost for playing two recurring characters on three television series - stableman Hank Miller on Gunsmoke and farmer Fred Ziffel on both Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973. The eight longest-running U.S. primetime television series after The Simpsons, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Gunsmoke, Law & Order, Family Guy, NCIS, and American Dad. the show ran for 17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color in 1965.
Steve Brodie was an American stage, film, and television actor from El Dorado in Butler County in south central Kansas. He reportedly adopted his screen name in memory of Steve Brodie, a daredevil who claimed to have jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and survived.
The Rifleman is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show was filmed in black and white, in half-hour episodes. The Rifleman aired on ABC from September 30, 1958, to April 8, 1963, as a production of Four Star Television. It was one of the first primetime series on US television to show a single parent raising a child.
Cheyenne is an American Western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1962. The show was the first hour-long Western, and was the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season. It was also the first series to be made by a major Hollywood film studio which did not derive from its established film properties, and the first of a long chain of Warner Bros. original series produced by William T. Orr.
Colt .45 is an American Western television series, originally starring Wayde Preston, which aired on ABC between October 1957 and September 1960.
Guestward, Ho! is an American sitcom which aired on the ABC network in the 1960-1961 television season. It was based on the 1956 comic memoir of the same title by New Mexico dude ranch operator Barbara "Babs" Hooton, written in cooperation with Auntie Mame author Patrick Dennis. The series altered the characters' family name from "Hooton" to "Hooten."
Brett Halsey is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures and in European-made feature films. He originated the role of John Abbott on the soap opera The Young and the Restless.
The Aquanauts is an American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS in the 1960–1961 season. The series stars Keith Larsen, Jeremy Slate and Ron Ely, who later replaced Larsen on midseason.
Fury is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1960. It stars Peter Graves as Jim Newton, who operates the Broken Wheel Ranch in California; Bobby Diamond as Jim's adopted son, Joey Clark Newton, and William Fawcett as ranch hand Pete Wilkey. Roger Mobley co-starred in the two final seasons as Homer "Packy" Lambert, a friend of Joey's.
Peter Whitney was an American actor in film and television. Tall and heavyset, he played brutish villains in many Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.
Keith Larsen was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who starred in three short-lived television series between 1955 and 1961.
Lane Bradford was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films and television series between 1940 and 1973, specializing in supporting "tough-guy" roles predominantly in Westerns but also in more contemporary crime dramas such as Dragnet, The Fugitive, and Hawaii Five-O.