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 2.30 [060]
"A Man Called Kane"
 Original NBC Broadcast – 6 May 1964
Revue Studios Production
Executive Producer Frank Price
Produced by Winston Miller
Written by  Dean Riesner
Directed by William Whitney

Starring
(Shown on ride in)
Lee J. Cobb as Judge Henry Garth (not in this episode)
Doug McClure as Trampas (not in this episode)
Gary Clarke as Steve
and
James Drury as The Virginian

Co-Starring: (NO Guest Star Credits)
Jeremy Slate [Johnny Kane /Benton)]
Dick Foran [Mr. Duggan]

Complete Ending Credits
Co-Starring
Roberta Shore as Betsy
Randy Boone as Randy
Merry Anders as Donna Durell
*
With
Ross Elliott … as Sheriff Abbott
Cal Bartlett … as The 1st Cowhand
Ken Patterson … as Ray Duval
Frank Sully … as The Bartender
*
Virginian Theme by Percy Faith
*
Director of Photography Benjamin H. Kline, A.S.C.
*
Story Editor Cy Chermak
*
Art Director … George Patrick
Film Editor … Edward Haire, A.C.E.
Assistant Director … Donald Baer
Set Decorators … John McCarthy and Perry Murdock
Sound … Melvin M. Metcalfe, Sr.
Color Consultant … Alex Quiroga
Color by Pathé
*
Editorial Dept. Head …David J. O’Connell
Musical Supervision … Stanley Wilson
Costume Supervisor …Vincent Dee
Makeup … Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist …Larry Germain
The title “The Virginian” by permission of EMKA, LTD.

Series regular characters appearing in this episode:
Featuring Randy and the Virginian with Steve, Betsy and Sheriff Abbott

Detailed Synopsis
As Betsy and Randy come racing around a bend in the trail, Betsy reins in
her horse and gazes up the hill. Randy comes back to her side and questions,
“What now?” Betsy comments that there is a spring up beyond the draw and
that she is thirsty. She complains that Randy didn’t bring a canteen of water.
Randy sarcastically replies, “Well, I didn’t! I didn’t bring a sofa pillow,
a box of chocolates or a mandolin either!” He finally gives in and Betsy and
Randy ride up the hill to the spring.

While Betsy is kneeling down and getting a drink from the spring, Randy wanders
over and discovers a cave entrance. He lights a match to see into the cave but
is reluctant to enter due to the lateness of the hour. Betsy insists that she
will go in alone and he can go on home. To which Randy replies, “I can just
see me going back and telling them I left you in a cave here somewhere!” They
climb in and looking around they see old pots and pans, a broken lantern and
other belongings of someone living there long ago. They further investigate
and Randy finds what he thinks is a gold coin. Betsy looks ahead and sees
more coins strewn in the dirt. As they go deeper into the cave, Betsy lets
out a scream; there lies a skeleton.

At Sheriff Abbott’s office with the coins piled on the desk, a newspaper
reporter asks Randy how many coins there are. “183 exactly,” Randy proudly
beams. The Virginian standing nearby gives Sheriff Abbott a knowing smile.
The reporter tells Randy that all the papers in the territory will print
this story. He then asks the Virginian to confirm what Randy and Betsy have
said. The Virginian relates to him that he went to the cave with them and it
looked like someone had lived there for quite a spell. The only evidence of
who the man was is a belt buckle with the initials ‘R Mac D’. The reporter
remembers stories that he has heard about a funny old fella who used to come
down out of the mountains to buy supplies with these English coins called a
‘golden guinea’ and then he would disappear again. Betsy asks how much each
coin is worth. The reporter tells her, “21 shillings, that’s $5.25 American.”
Betsy quickly does the math and announces that it is, “$960.75, almost $500
a piece,” as she shakes Randy’s hand. Sheriff Abbott interrupts their
celebration and tells them by law he has to keep the money for 30 days in
case a legitimate claimant turns up. Disappointedly, Randy and Betsy leave
with the Virginian to go home.

Later at Shiloh, a stranger rides in. Steve tells the Virginian, “Here comes
another one, good luck.” The Virginian walks over to meet him; the man
introduces himself as Kane and asks for a job. The Virginian tells him he
can always use a good hand but what he doesn’t need is another treasure hunter.
A lot of drifters have been through wanting to be paid wages while they look
for stray gold pieces. Kane says he heard about the gold coins but figures
there is no gold left to find so he’s not interested. The Virginian decides
to hire him and tells him to put his gear in the bunkhouse.

As the Virginian starts to walk away Kane inquires about Randy. The Virginian
is reluctant to give any information. Randy comes out of the barn and the
Virginian calls to him, “This fella here thinks he knows ya.” Kane starts
explaining to Randy how he used to run with Randy’s older brother and came
to their farm for the music. Randy was too young to remember, but says,
“I guess you were there all right.” The Virginian sends Randy to a chore in
the barn and tells Kane to give him a hand.

Randy and Kane are about their work as Kane starts talking about the money
that Randy found. Then he starts questioning Randy about how much he remembers
about his brother. Kane tells Randy the reason that his brother left home was
because he was in trouble with the law. As Randy walks away to get more
supplies, Kane calls out to him, “Hey, Cotton!” Randy reacts in surprise,
“Where’d you get that name?” He realizes that Kane is his brother. The
Virginian calls Randy to another chore and Kane asks that Randy not tell
anyone who he really is.

Three days later in the bunkhouse, the Virginian is paying the hands. Kane
gets his $3 for 3 days of work and Randy offers him some of his pay. Randy
also questions him about the trouble that he is in with the law and offers
help. Kane tells him about a bank robbery and a man being killed and insists
his innocence in the killing. The Virginian announces that he is leaving for
town if anyone wants to ride in with him.

The Virginian and the Shiloh hands ride into town and the Virginian heads for
the sheriff’s office (he had gotten a message that the sheriff wanted to see
him). As the hands make their way to the saloon, Kane imagines that the
sheriff wants to talk to the Virginian about him. There is a new girl singing
in the saloon as they walk in. She eyes Steve and several others. Steve and
Kane order a beer and Randy orders a sarsaparilla.

The Virginian enters the Sheriff’s Office, accepts a cup of coffee and meets
Mr. Duggan from Washington, D. C. He asks the Virginian if he is in charge
of Shiloh in the absence of the owner and introduces himself as a Special
Investigator for the War Claims Division of the Treasury Dept. It is his job
to find and reclaim spoils of war. Years ago money came up missing from a
Confederate bank along with the cashier, a man named Robert MacDermott. He
presumes that the coins Randy and Betsy have found are part of that stolen
money. The Virginian shows a fondness for the two young people by saying,
“Well, that’s too bad. The kids were sort of countin’ on that money.” Dugan
informs him that he is looking for much more than that…$250,000.00 in
negotiable bonds hidden on Shiloh. Duggan asks to stay at Shiloh undercover
as a government surveyor while he searches for the money. The Virginian
agrees to let him stay in the bunkhouse.

Back at the saloon, Kane and Randy talk of going to Oregon when Randy gets
his $500. Steve asks the bartender to introduce Donna, the new girl, to
him and the Shiloh boys. The Virginian walks in and Kane eyes him wondering
if the sheriff told the Virginian about him and the wanted poster. The
Virginian has one drink and tells the boys that it has been a long day and
he is heading for home. The evening at the saloon wears on and Randy is
done in and ready to go home, but Kane says he will stay a while. Randy sees
Donna looking at Kane and is afraid that she knows about the bounty on him
and tells Kane to be careful. Kane assures Randy that he is safe and Randy
goes home.

Donna enters her hotel room, lights a lamp and there is a knock at the door.
She opens it slowly and sees Kane standing there. She asks him, “Do you
always follow girls home from barrooms?” He comes in, shuts the door and
replies, “Just the extra special pretty ones.” They embrace and Kane asks,
“How was your trip?” It seems they were together at the bank robbery and
Kane doesn’t want to be seen with her because the law would be looking
for them together. Kane intends to get Randy’s $500 to use to run away.

The next day at Shiloh, the Virginian introduces Mr. Duggan to the hands
as a government surveyor and tells them to leave him alone and let him do
his work…”You’d be surprised how well he can get along without the benefit
of your expert advice.” After assuring the Virginian that he can find the
cave if the Virginian has drawn the map correctly, Duggan rides off in a
buggy toward the cave.

The Virginian tells Steve to get the Hereford bull ready for shipment on
the train and to pick someone to go with him. Steve questions why he has
to be the one to take the bull to Texas and the Virginian retorts, “You’re
the best man!”

Duggan finds the cave and pokes around looking for clues. He comes across
a rock with ‘SUSSEX’ scratched on it by using a bullet. He transfers the
message as closely as possible to his notepad.

Randy is marking off the days on the calendar as he waits for the 30 days
to be up so he can claim his share of the gold coins. He tells Kane about
a bay stallion that is for sale that he wants to buy to start his own horse
ranch. Steve comes in and asks Kane if they have ever worked together before.
He seems so familiar; something about his eyes reminds Steve of someone
(as Randy shields his eyes from Steve’s view). Steve asks Randy to go with
him to deliver the bull in Texas but Randy declines and Steve goes alone
to Texas with the bull.

Mr. Duggan shows the Virginian the ‘SUSSEX’ clue and asks if there is anything
on Shiloh that the word ‘SUSSEX’ could apply to. The Virginian says there
is nothing. He offers Mr. Duggan a drink and after tasting it, Duggan says,
“Hey, you natives do alright for yourselves out here, don’t you?” To which
the Virginian smiles, “We’re catching on, you’d be surprised.” Not being
able to help Duggan with the ‘SUSSEX’ clue, the Virginian suggests that he
ask the sheriff because he has been around these parts for a long time.

Duggan is back in the bunkhouse getting ready to go to town to see the
sheriff and Kane comes in. Kane accidentally knocks Duggan’s jacket on the
floor and sees a letter with ‘Office of Special Investigations’ written
on it. He immediately thinks that Duggan is looking for him. The two of
them ride into town together; Kane goes to the saloon and Duggan to the
sheriff’s office. Kane tells Donna she has to get her hands on the letter
to see if it’s about him.

Having no luck in talking with the sheriff about ‘SUSSEX’, Duggan goes to
the saloon. As Duggan enters, Kane invites him to have a drink. Donna,
standing beside Kane, purposely spills a drink on Duggan’s jacket and
insists on cleaning it. Taking the jacket to the back room, she reads the
letter and finds out about the $250,000.00. She cleans the jacket and
returns it to Duggan.

After Duggan leaves the saloon, Donna tells Kane that it is $250,000.00
on Shiloh Ranch that Duggan is looking for, not him. Kane plans to take
the money if Duggan finds it.

Duggan comes back from a long day of searching and tells the Virginian
that he has given up…”Well, I can’t dig up the whole ranch.” Needing a
fresh perspective on the ‘SUSSEX’ clue, Duggan asks Betsy to read it. She
reads the ‘SU’ as, “50 with two Ss in the middle.” The Virginian and Duggan
realize from this, that the message really is ’50 paces south-southeast
of X’. Duggan inquires of the Virginian if there is anything on Shiloh that
resembled a cross. The Virginian recalls the ‘Shoshone Cross’ (a cross
formed out of boulders that the Shoshone Indians made as an offering to
the four winds). Even though the ‘Shoshone Cross’ is 10 miles away from
the cave, Duggan decides to make one more attempt to find the money.

The next morning as the hands are preparing to go out to round up strays,
Kane watches as Duggan leaves on his search. The hands split up to cover
more ground and that leaves Randy and Kane together. Kane tells Randy that
he has something to attend to and rides off in the direction that Duggan
headed. Kane finds his trail and follows him.

Duggan has found the ‘Shoshone Cross’, stepped off the 50 paces and dug
down and found the strongbox with the negotiable bonds as Kane arrives.

In the meantime, Steve arrives back at Shiloh from Texas. He hands the
Virginian the check for the bull and a wanted poster on Johnny Benton (Kane)
for robbery and murder. Steve asks what he is going to do about it. The
Virginian grimaces, “Talk to Randy first, we owe him that.” The Virginian
and Steve go on the hunt of Randy and Kane.

Kane watches from behind some rocks. As Duggan is trying to get the strongbox
open, Kane shoots him. Kane opens the box and sees it is indeed the $250,000.00.
He chases Duggan’s horse away, leaves Duggan in the hole with his hat and
belongings and shovels in all the dirt on top of him.

The Virginian and Steve find the hands looking for strays and one of them tells
the Virginian that he hasn’t seen Randy and Kane since they split up. The
Virginian tells Steve to have the boys fan out and look for them. He says he
is going to the ‘Shoshone Cross’. Steve asks, “What for?” The Virginian replies,
“Probably a bad hunch.”

Kane has finished filling in the hole with no trace of Duggan when Randy arrives.
He tells Randy what Duggan was looking for but he just happened to find it
first. Kane starts to leave but Randy wants to come along. Kane tries to
talk him out of it but finally agrees that Randy can go with him. But then
the Virginian arrives and asks Randy where his brother is. Randy is surprised
that the Virginian knows that Kane is his brother. He tells Randy about the
wanted poster and Randy says he is sorry for not telling him about it. The
Virginian says, “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

Kane comes out from behind the rocks with a gun pointed at the Virginian. The
Virginian tries to make a deal with Kane. He’ll give Kane 24 hours free and
clear if he lets the Virginian take Randy back with him. Randy says he can’t
go back to Shiloh; he has no place there anymore. The Virginian hotly replies,
“Well, you have no place with him!” Randy shouts back, “He’s my brother,
ain’t he?” The Virginian gets in Randy’s face, “Now, you listen to me! You
ride out of here now with him, you’ll make a mistake you’ll never stop paying
for! You got a big choice to make and you’ve got to make it right here and
right now!” Kane knocks the Virginian out with his gun from behind, scares off
his horse and ties him up.

Kane and Randy gallop off. They haven’t gone far when Kane makes excuses to
go back and tells Randy to ride on and he will catch up to him. Kane is about
to shoot the Virginian when Randy comes racing in and jumps off of his horse,
“I can’t let you do that!” Randy pulls his gun on his brother to stop him
from shooting the Virginian but he is unable to go through with it. They get
in a fight and while Randy is down Kane takes aim on the unconscious Virginian.
Steve arrives and exchanges shots with Kane; Kane is dead.

The Virginian, Steve and Randy bury Kane. Randy talks about how Johnny was the
only family he had. The Virginian kindly questions, “The question now is,
Randy, who is your family, your real family? Let’s go home, Randy.”  [ksl]

Comment
Randy is introduced to the series and accepted into the Shiloh family in ‘First
to Thine Own Self’ (2.20). In this episode Randy and the Virginian’s relationship
is solidified.

Note:
Jeremy Slate and Dick Foran are in the opening credits but are listed as
"Co-Starring" rather than "Guest Starring."
 

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Main Contributor for this episode -  Karen S. Lindsey  [ksl]