Dickens Rides the TV Range

Today, in honor of Charles Dickens’ bicentennial celebration, I thought it would be fun to look at the appearance of his influence in a place that might surprise you—the TV Western. There were actually several different episodes of classic Westerns that prominently featured Dickens’ works in the plot…and in one instance, featured an appearance by the man himself.

Bonanza: The Far, Far Better Thing

This episode finds Little Joe and his friend Tuck (Warren Vanders) vying for the attentions of Lucy Melviney (Brenda Scott), an Eastern girl who’s enamored with romantic literature, especially the finale of Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities. When she recounts it to her admirers, Joe is unimpressed. He opines that Sydney Carton would have been better off to “let well enough alone” and be relieved of a rival. (Lucy’s description for some reason omits the fact that Charles Darnay was the heroine’s husband, not merely the man she loved.) Later, when Lucy’s romanticism puts the trio in danger from some renegade Indians, Joe gets a chance to save the day by taking Tuck’s place in a to-the-death foot race with the Indians in pursuit…and is thoroughly amazed afterwards to find himself being hailed as Sydney Carton II.

Bonanza: A Passion For Justice

And here Charles Dickens himself (Jonathan Harris) visits Virginia city, ostensibly on his second American tour. (Oddly enough, Virginia City has a literary society, even though in “The Far, Far Better Thing” a season later, Little Joe would be amazed at Lucy’s assumption that they had bookstores.) Dickens gives a reading of the famous “Please, sir, I want some more” scene from Oliver Twist, which ends unpleasantly when he finds that the audience is already familiar with his works from unauthorized versions printed by American publishers, which he views as piracy. After denouncing and threatening to close up the newspaper that is serializing the The Old Curiosity Shop without permission, the author is implicated when the same newspaper office is vandalized, and gets himself deeper and deeper in trouble by refusing to give an alibi or pay his fines. References to different Dickens books are scattered all throughout the episode—several people ask him to please not let Little Nell die—and Dickens recounts the familiar story of his childhood to Hoss.

The Virginian: The Small Parade

In one of this episode’s intertwining plotlines, the Virginian, Trampas and Steve encounter Ellen Beecher (Barbara Barrie), a woman who is caring for a motley crew of orphaned and abandoned children until she is able to place them in an orphanage. Miss Beecher makes a living for her “family” by giving readings from Dickens in the towns they pass through on their journey. She reads an extract: the same famous scene from Oliver Twist—a more dramatic and poignant rendition than that in Bonanza, I thought, and a longer excerpt too, extending almost to the end of the chapter. It makes such an impression on the three cowboys that they are uneasy at the thought of the seven lovable children going to an orphanage like the one described in the book, and decide to pitch in and try to find homes for the children themselves. I got a chuckle from the scene where Trampas is bemused by the children’s literary vocabulary when they’re at play; it reminds me of my own family.                 

And others

In 1957, the anthology series GE True Theater aired an episode titled “The Trail to Christmas,” a Western retelling of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. According to IMDB, it was adapted from an episode of the radio show “The Six-Shooter” starring James Stewart, who also appeared in the TV version (narrating the story, I believe). John McIntire and Sam Edwards played Ebeneezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit. I’ve never seen this, but I’d sure like to.

And a 1963 newspaper item claimed that attending a performance of the musical Oliver! inspired Wagon Train producer Howard Christie and writer Norman Jolley to create the episode “The David Garner Story.” This one has a much looser connection to its source material than the others I’ve written about, but those who know their Dickens would probably recognize the parallels in the story of a young would-be thief (Randy Boone) trained by an older criminal (Peter Whitney) who is egging him on to commit his first crime. Watch it here on YouTube.

Edited to add (Feb. 2013): Since writing this post last year, I’ve discovered that there was another Wagon Train episode which was based directly on a Charles Dickens novel—Dickens actually received onscreen credit. “The Tom Tuckett Story” (which I haven’t had a chance to watch yet) was a Western retelling of Great Expectations. It currently may be seen here.

Do you remember any of these episodes? Can you recall any other Western TV episodes (or movies) that mentioned books by Charles Dickens or featured them in the plot?