Chuck Connors

Kamala Devi

Wendell Corey

In the 1880s Jason McCord travels across the country trying to prove he&apos;s not a coward because his Army career and West point graduate came to an end when he was thrown out of the army after being falsely accused of cowardice.

Bernard McEveety

Broken Sabre

Feature film culled from 3-part color episode of Chuck Connors&apos; series BRANDED

&quot;Broken Saber&quot; may not be easily available nowadays (the entire series BRANDED issued on DVD in 2005), but the original 3-part episode &quot;The Mission&quot; certainly is. This was Chuck Connors&apos; follow up to the highly successful THE RIFLEMAN, but only lasted two seasons due to the star&apos;s refusal to cozy up to the sponsors. The abbreviated first season of 16 episodes was in black and white, except for this one, shot in color in anticipation of feature release overseas, supposedly adding 20 minutes of new footage shot exclusively for this version only (which I have not seen). Connors&apos; character Jason McCord was the lone survivor of an army battle with renegade Indians at Bitter Creek, where his supervisor had lost his mental acuity, a fact that McCord knows yet keeps to himself out of respect to the general&apos;s memory and his efforts to keep peace with the Apaches. Drummed out of the service for desertion, McCord is unjustly branded a coward, unwilling to clear his name yet not backing down from a fight. This 3-part storyline sees him called into service by President Ulysses Grant (William Bryant), on a secret mission to infiltrate a band of marauders working our Southern borders, retreating to safety in Mexico after conducting each outpost raid. John Carradine makes a brief appearance as Jason&apos;s grandfather Joshua McCord, one of the few who know the whole truth but aren&apos;t talking (a total of five episodes during its two season run). Among the guest stars who stand out are Macdonald Carey, Cesar Romero, Wendell Corey, Rochelle Hudson, and an especially animated Peter Breck, soon to star in THE BIG VALLEY. As a 3-part episode in color it works extremely well, ratcheting up suspense with each chapter, concluding with a delicious twist that proves more than satisfying; I can only wonder what additions were made to bolster this feature.

"Broken Saber" may not be easily available nowadays (the entire series BRANDED issued on DVD in 2005), but the original 3-part episode "The Mission" certainly is. This was Chuck Connors' follow up to the highly successful THE RIFLEMAN, but only lasted two seasons due to the star's refusal to cozy up to the sponsors. The abbreviated first season of 16 episodes was in black and white, except for this one, shot in color in anticipation of feature release overseas, supposedly adding 20 minutes of new footage shot exclusively for this version only (which I have not seen). Connors' character Jason McCord was the lone survivor of an army battle with renegade Indians at Bitter Creek, where his supervisor had lost his mental acuity, a fact that McCord knows yet keeps to himself out of respect to the general's memory and his efforts to keep peace with the Apaches. Drummed out of the service for desertion, McCord is unjustly branded a coward, unwilling to clear his name yet not backing down from a fight. This 3-part storyline sees him called into service by President Ulysses Grant (William Bryant), on a secret mission to infiltrate a band of marauders working our Southern borders, retreating to safety in Mexico after conducting each outpost raid. John Carradine makes a brief appearance as Jason's grandfather Joshua McCord, one of the few who know the whole truth but aren't talking (a total of five episodes during its two season run). Among the guest stars who stand out are Macdonald Carey, Cesar Romero, Wendell Corey, Rochelle Hudson, and an especially animated Peter Breck, soon to star in THE BIG VALLEY. As a 3-part episode in color it works extremely well, ratcheting up suspense with each chapter, concluding with a delicious twist that proves more than satisfying; I can only wonder what additions were made to bolster this feature.

In the 1880s Jason McCord travels across the country trying to prove he's not a coward because his Army career and West point graduate came to an end when he was thrown out of the army after being falsely accused of cowardice.

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Broken Sabre

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