Alias Smith & Jones: The Story of Two Pretty Good Bad Men

by Sandra K. Sagala

  Ellen Loomis represents the middle of the journey to equality. As a young wife and mother, she defers to her husband, but is also willing to stand up for herself, showing more gumption than Dan does. Downs sneers and tells her to stay out of men’s business, dismissing her as being unworthy of his further attention. She backs down, as befitting a modest woman, but she fully expects her husband to stand up for her. Dan’s timidity disappoints her, but she accepts it calmly, as a dutiful wife. Her actions have affected her husband, though. Later on he pulls courage from his wife’s expectations of him and he jumps Downs, saving Heyes and Curry. The Loomises are on their way toward a marriage of true partnership.

  The Utleys have already reached this point. Hannah Utley represents the emancipated female. A staunch woman of the frontier, she’s an equal partner with her husband, following his orders not because she’s cowed but because she trusts him and is willing to follow his lead and wait for a better moment to ask questions. Charlie depends on her to help defend the passengers from the Weaver gang and Hannah is up to the task, wielding her rifle to great effect, rather than hiding behind the table with the other women. Her femininity is never in question, though, as her compassion for others is apparent. Just as Charlie trusts Hannah to back him up in the gun battle, Hannah trusts Charlie to give up the lure of $20,000 and do what’s right. Sure enough, Charlie uses Heyes and Curry’s willingness to give themselves over to the Weaver gang in order to keep the others from being hurt as justification for letting them go.

  These three women have changed the men in their lives in significant ways. Charlie has overcome his moment of greed, Benjamin Bowers has gained respect for his wife, Dan Loomis has grown from a young man to a confident husband. Heyes and Curry have also been changed. They’ve discovered that underneath their larcenous hearts, they might just have a bit of nobility.

  The Man Who Murdered Himself

  “A good lawman can generally feel when a fellow’s tellin’ the truth.

  Sheriff Benson

  STORY: JOHN THOMAS JAMES

  TELEPLAY: ROBERT HAMNER AND JOHN THOMAS JAMES

  DIRECTOR: JEFFREY HAYDEN

  SHOOTING DATES: FEBRUARY 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 1971

  ORIGINAL US AIR DATE: MARCH 18, 1971

  ORIGINAL UK AIR DATE: JUNE 14, 1971

  Gingerly, Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry hoist a box of TNT onto a wagon. Curry has found them a job hauling mining supplies that pays $200. On the way out of town, he finds another job listed in the newspaper. An archy-ologist seeks a guide familiar with the Devil’s Hole area and he’s paying $30 per day plus bonus. Since each job only requires one man, they flip a coin to determine who takes which one.

  Curry heads for the mountains with the wagon while Heyes meets Mr. Alexander in the hotel lobby. Alexander questions Mr. Smith’s knowledge of Devil’s Hole country and asks him to draw a map of it, which he compares to a map drawn on a piece of rawhide. He finds them remarkably similar. He also insists that Smith demonstrate his shooting ability. Satisfied, Alexander introduces Smith to the other members of the archeological party — Mr. Parker and Mr. and Mrs. Finney. Alexander expounds on his theory that tall, redheaded Indians once lived in the Devil’s Hole region and he hopes to find proof.

  While packing for the excursion, Heyes is summoned to the sheriff’s office and enters to find the sheriff studying his and Curry’s Wanted posters. The sheriff wants to know how Mr. Smith knows the Devil’s Hole area and how he got in there without being killed by Heyes and Curry. Heyes explains that he and a friend went gold prospecting in the region. They had seen the gang off in the distance but weren’t bothered by them. The sheriff is surprised because they are “two of the orneriest critters that the good Lord ever set amongst us,” but is satisfied with Smith’s answers. Doc Wilson enters and tells Heyes that the Finneys were on their way to Boston when they got off the train because Mrs. Finney was ill. The doctor could find nothing wrong and when Alexander invited Mr. Finney to go on the trip, Mrs. Finney suddenly got better. It’s all very strange. Also, Doc knows something about archeologists and Alexander isn’t one. The sheriff sends Heyes off with a warning about what he’s getting into.

  Despite the danger, Curry urges his team of horses hauling the wagonload of TNT up a hill. It’s easier and faster, and even more dangerous, going down the other side.

  As Heyes and the archeological party are riding along, the Devil’s Hole Gang appears above them on a far ridge. Heyes volunteers to ride up and assure them they mean no harm. He tells Kyle and the boys the reason for the intrusion and Hank verifies the rumor about the seven-foot tall red-headed Indians. The gang, astonished to learn Heyes is earning $30 a day, decides to keep an eye on the group anyway.

  Kid Curry urges his horses up another grade. This one is too steep and when the wagon begins to slide backwards, he jumps for cover, sheltering his head from the dynamite blast he is sure will come.

  That evening, Mrs. Finney decides a nice way to cool off would be to wet her hands and feet in the river. With permission from her husband, she invites Mr. Smith to escort her. She slips when wading into the water and grabs Heyes’s hand for help getting back onshore. They end up in a near-embrace.

  The original title was “Hunt for a Lost Tribe.

  Curry’s unfamiliarity with the occupation of archeologist prompts him to not only wonder what it is but to mispronounce it as “archy-ologist. Huggins had the mispronunciation in mind when he originally wrote the story. Curry finally settles on a definition as someone who is paying $30 a day plus bonus.

  The next morning Alexander divides the map and assigns areas to be explored. Spotting two of the Devil’s Hole Gang far off, Julia Finney insists on going with Heyes as he’s the guide and the expert with guns.

  Curry’s team plods on through mud up to the wagon’s axle.

  The members of the archeological party have separated. Through his rifle scope, Alexander draws a bead on Parker intending to shoot him, but he misses his chance when Parker walks behind a boulder. Taking a break from riding, Heyes questions Julia about herself. She says she and Kevin Finney met in San Francisco four or five weeks ago. Heyes doesn’t believe she and Finney are newlyweds on their honeymoon. He thinks they’re not married and Finney is using her. He’s puzzled about everyone’s identity. “No one is who they claim to be, ’cept me, of course,” he says. He questions the Finneys’ marriage, Alexander’s claim to be an archeologist, and her illness that prompted them to leave the train.

  Reluctantly, Julia admits she and Finney are not married. When she met him, she had just lost her job in San Francisco. He offered her train fare home to Boston if she posed as his wife in public. Julia is relieved to tell Heyes the truth, now she can smile at him without him thinking her a hussy. The conversation ends in a kiss.

  Curry demands cooperation from his horses as they strain to pull the wagon out of a mud hole. He runs for cover behind a rock as they take off with their explosive load.

  Around the campfire that evening, Parker comments on the beautiful scenery, mentioning in particular the mountain goats. He had decided against taking a shot at them. That was wise, Heyes says, because shooting would surely bring the Devil’s Hole Gang down on them.

  The next day Heyes and Julia find what may be an old Indian cave. They enter and find a tall skeleton and a swatch of red hair. A piece of red rawhide, probably tinted from a mineral in the ground, is lying nearby. Upon exiting, they hear gunfire. Alexander has shot Parker and before anyone else comes upon the body, he removes Parker’s boot and inserts identifying papers in it. After replacing the boot, he rides up to Heyes and Julia, feigning curiosity as to where the shot came from.

  Finding Parker dead, Heyes and Finney go through his clothing, while Alexander speculates that he was shot by the Devil’s Hole Gang. Heyes discovers papers which identify Miles Parker as Steven Ashdown. Julia suggests they bury Parker/Ashdown in the cave where they found the Indian skeleton. Alexander is eager to explore it, but Heyes insists t
hey are going back to town. He believes Alexander or Finney killed Parker; it wasn’t the gang because they don’t use rifles and wouldn’t shoot a man in the back.

  While packing to leave, Julia confides to Heyes that she suspects Finney killed Parker because she knows he’s never been to Boston as he claims. Heyes hopes it’s not Alexander because he owes him money for the trip. Before they can speculate further, another shot is fired. Alexander and Finney are shooting it out and Alexander is hit. Finney asks Heyes to fetch a doctor but before Heyes will head to town, he wants an explanation. Alexander’s real name is Steven Ashdown, Finney supplies. He worked for T.F. Ayers and stole $2 million worth of gems. Finney is with Scotland Yard and was ordered to find the jewels. As he finishes telling the story, Julia announces that Alexander is dead.

  Alexander invited him to go along, Finney continues, because he needed witnesses to his own death. When news of Steven Ashdown’s death became known, the police would stop looking for him. Finney should have guessed Alexander’s plan, because the two men’s descriptions are similar.

  Back in town, Heyes and Finney put Julia on the train for Boston. As a longtime policeman, Finney has developed instincts about people and knows when they’re not quite who they say they are. If he didn’t have to backtrack Ashdown’s trail for the jewels, he’d wonder a lot about “Mr. Smith.”

  An exuberant Heyes greets Curry upon his arrival in town. Glad to be back alive, Curry is equally happy about the $500 they now share. Chastened, Heyes has to explain that he didn’t collect his pay and offers to let an annoyed, nerve-wracked Curry hit him. Which he does.

  GUEST CAST

  PATRICK MACNEE — NORMAN ALEXANDER

  SLIM PICKENS — SHERIFF BENSON

  JULIET MILLS — JULIA FINNEY

  CHARLES DAVIS — KEVIN FINNEY

  MAURICE HILL — MILES PARKER

  DENNIS FIMPLE — KYLE MURTRY

  DON KEEFER — DR. HIRAM WILSON

  WALTER BARNES — DEPUTY FRED

  HARRY E. NORTHRUP — HANK

  BILL MCKINNEY — LOBO RIGGS

  In the original story Roy Huggins outlined for Robert Hamner, Kid Curry took the job of escorting the archeological party while Heyes ensured the dynamite made it safely to the mines. This makes sense in light of Alexander’s important requirement that the escort, besides knowing the Devil’s Hole area, also be proficient with a gun. Heyes was no match for Curry in marksmanship and, in the scene where he is required to prove his talents, appears surprised he hit the can Alexander tossed in the air. When the first draft of the script came in on January 21, it was still mainly Curry’s story. However, two weeks later, the Curry-Heyes roles had been reversed.

  In many scenes throughout the series, either Heyes or Curry pulls his gun. Their pistols were loaded with dummy cartridges because, otherwise, depending on the camera’s angle, the gun chamber would appear empty. When the script calls for the actor to actually shoot the gun, to ensure safety, standard policy on any professional set calls for the prop man to hand the gun to the actor properly loaded with the correct kind of blanks right before the camera rolls. The minute the director yells, “Cut!” the prop man takes the gun away and replaces the dummies. [26]

  Huggins was aware of the legend of the red-haired Indians and believed they lived in northern California or western Nevada. Nevada Paiute Indians concocted legends about a tall people with red hair, possibly very early European-Californians, possibly a Native American tribe. They were a warring community whom the Paiutes called the “Si-Te-Cah,” meaning “tule eaters,” because they lived on rafts made of a water plant called tule. After many years of warfare with a coalition of tribes, the Si-Te-Cah were trapped in a cave. When they wouldn’t come out, their enemies set fire to brush at the mouth of the cave, annihilating them. A collection of their bones, remains and other artifacts from the Lovelock, Nevada, caves was unfortunately destroyed in a museum fire. [27] To insinuate the fact into the story, in an early revision of the script, the sheriff tells Curry that he once saw a lock of red hair in a brooch of an old chief.

  Mr. Finney comes off as a sort of an intelligent leprechaun of a man, and Huggins hoped the casting department would hire an Irishman or Englishman who is “colorful.” He could be “fat and not particularly a good-looking man — so that the contract with Julia can be kind of cute, as great a contrast as possible.” For Alexander, he wanted a “leading man type,” a “slicker,” and casting came through with the debonair Patrick Macnee, the veteran British actor who was more popularly known at the time as John Steed from the British television series The Avengers. [28]

  The Root of It All

  “That money’s not yours. It belongs to the United States government.” “Unless it’s Confederate money. Then it belongs to you.”

  Hannibal Heyes, Kid Curry

  STORY: HOWARD BROWNE

  TELEPLAY: HOWARD BROWNE

  DIRECTOR: BARRY SHEAR

  SHOOTING DATES: MARCH 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 1971

  ORIGINAL US AIR DATE: MARCH 25, 1971

  ORIGINAL UK AIR DATE: JULY 5, 1971

  A stagecoach speeds across the country, carrying six passengers. One of them, Oscar Rosewood, is wearing an unusual ornament — a human tooth on his silver watch chain. This is reason enough for the passengers to strike up a conversation and introduce themselves. The women are Leslie O’Hara, Margaret Chapman and their chaperone Prudence Palmer. The men are Hannibal Heyes, Kid Curry and Rosewood.

  The women wanted to see the Wild West, but Heyes points out that it isn’t that wild anymore. He’s shortly proved wrong when the stage is held up by Squint Simpson, Lefty Gooch and Phil Laudermilk. The bandits steal the mail bags as well as the small amount of cash carried by the passengers.

  Leslie demands to know why the men aren’t going after the bandits, but Heyes and Curry aren’t interested in getting shot just to recover the fourteen dollars they’ve lost. Leslie, however, has an important letter in one of the mail bags and is willing to pay $100 for its return. Heyes and Curry bargain her up to $500. Taking two of the horses from the stage as well as the driver’s shotgun, they pursue the thieves.

  Heyes and Curry find them sitting around a campfire, dividing up the spoils. The mail bags contained $20,000 destined for the bank in Mill Forks. Getting the drop on them, Heyes and Curry retrieve Leslie’s letter, the bank shipment and their own personal money. As they ride away, Heyes wonders why Simpson kept staring at Curry. “Maybe he just liked me,” Curry responds. But Heyes thinks it was more than that. He thinks Squint recognized Curry. “Nah, that couldn’t happen to us twice in three weeks,” Curry says, harking back to their recent adventure with the Clint Weaver gang.

  Back at the campfire, Squint goes from frustration to glee as he realizes who they were. They may have lost the bank money, but the reward money will be just as good.

  In Mill Forks, Heyes and Curry return the bank’s money and Rosewood’s, expecting rewards. They are disappointed in both cases.

  The last hope for Heyes and Curry to come out ahead in this is Leslie. They deliver her letter, only to learn she has no money. The women are waiting for a letter of credit to arrive from Margaret’s bank. Heyes snatches back her letter, claiming it as collateral. Inside is a map showing where to find a lost Civil War army payroll. Leslie offers them $50 a day plus ten percent of the payroll to help the ladies find the money, dig it up and keep it safe. Heyes likes the idea of $50 a day, but a percentage of money that is probably Confederate, if it exists at all, is depressing. Leslie changes the offer to $50 a day plus $500 each. Heyes and Curry agree to this deal, but Heyes still keeps hold of the letter.

  Oscar Rosewood watches from the hotel lobby as the boys escort Leslie and Margaret to dinner, while Prudence goes out with Deputy Treadwell, whom she had met earlier in the day. As soon as they’re out of sight, Rosewood sneaks into the women’s room and searches it thoroughly.

  In the morning, Squint is hanging around watching as Heyes, Curry and the women ride out of tow
n on their treasure hunt. He hustles to the sheriff’s office to report his sighting of those two notorious outlaws Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry and a posse is soon in pursuit.

  At lunchtime, Heyes and Curry learn more about their new partners, chatting comfortably until the posse gallops up. Caught off guard, Heyes and Curry simply put up their hands while the women insist the sheriff made a mistake. Deputy Treadwell is eager to have Prudence understand that returning the bank’s money was in keeping with the rumor that Heyes and Curry have gone straight, so he’s not helping to arrest innocent men.

  That night, Leslie visits the boys in jail to retrieve her letter, Heyes refuses to give it to her until she pays the $500 she owes them. She points out the money won’t do them any good while they’re in jail, so Heyes exhorts her to get them out. Leslie doesn’t know how, but Heyes is certain she’ll come up with something.

  Later Leslie returns to the jail, waking up Treadwell and asking to speak to the prisoners again. To make her point she sticks a gun in his face. He’s confused; she doesn’t need the gun to talk to them. “I just want to talk to them somewhere else this time,” she explains. She demands the keys to the cell, but the keys aren’t kept at the jail, because “otherwise, it would be too easy for people to do what you’re doing.” Heyes directs her to give him Treadwell’s pocket knife and the letter spike on his desk. With these tools, he picks the lock.

  The aborted treasure hunt now continues. Leslie and Heyes talk by the fire while the others sleep. She complains that while he could now write her biography, she doesn’t know anything about him except that he doesn’t trust people much. Leslie wonders if that’s because he really is Hannibal Heyes. Heyes shuts her up with a kiss.

  The next day they reach the location where the payroll is supposed to be buried. Counting off paces, they come to a stream. Heyes flips a coin, then watches with a grin as Curry wades into the water and starts digging. When he hits something, Heyes splashes in and together they haul up a strongbox. Breaking it open, they pull out sacks full of good US currency. Out of the loot, she pays them $500 each, plus another $500 for retrieving the letter.