(pictured above Doug McClure and Brenda Scott)
Brenda Scott [Claire Garson]
Ending Credits
Co-Starring
Greg Mullavey as William McGraw
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With
Stuart Nisbet . . . Bart
Ken Swofford . . . Seth Petitt
Larry Chance . . . Frank Lynch
Harper Flaherty . . . Harper
Eddie Quillan . . . Edmunds
Bud Walls . . . Patron
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Associate Producer John Choy
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Theme Percy Faith
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Director of Photography Enzo A. Martinelli
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Art Director . . . William J. Kenney
Film Editor . . . J. Howard Terrill
Unit Manager . . . Henry Kline
Assistant Director . . . Harry F. Hogan, III
Set Decorations . . . John McCarthy and Claire P. Brown
Sound . . . Ed Somers, Sr.
Color Coordinator . . . Robert Brower
Technicolor
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Editorial Supervision . . . Richard Belding
Musical Supervision . . . Stanley Wilson
Costumes by . . . Helen Colvig
Makeup . . . Bud Westmore
Hair Stylist . . . Larry Germain
The Title "THE VIRGINIAN" by permission of EMKA, LTD.
Series regular characters appearing in this episode:
Clay and Elizabeth
Grainger, Trampas, the Virginian, Harper, Bart the Bartender, Cecil, with
brief appearance by Dick at the party (no credit)
Brief Synopsis:
Elizabeth's trust fund is soon to mature, and lawyer Bill McGraw (Mullavey),
disgruntled because his own inheritance had been used up to pay his father's
medical bills, hires the "mind-reading" duo of Claire Garson (Scott) and
her caretaker "Doc" Watson (Albertson) to help him carry out his brilliant
scheme of swindling Clay Grainger out of half of Liz's money. Claire, who
came from an orphanage in San Francisco, pretends she might know about
Clay's youngest brother Charles who had left the family years before after a
fight with Clay and later died in a mining accident. Claire has been told
enough about Charles to "coincidentally" meet Elizabeth in the general store
and make conversation with her about the man. From what is said Liz feels
she might be Charles' daughter--one the Graingers never knew about because,
to their knowledge, Charles never married. Liz suggests her uncle go to see
the woman, and when Clay visits in her hotel room
he notices she has a medallion just like the one his
father had given each of his three boys. Clay consults with his lawyer
about the possibility of Claire being his niece and thus rightfully an heir.
McGraw plays it to the hilt saying it is probably some kind of a hoax but
promises Clay he'll check into it, having drawn up a phony birth certificate
which he plans to give to Clay during Liz's party (where Claire is
scheduled to perform), that does indeed "prove" her to be Charles' daughter.
But as Claire gets to know Clay and Liz she no longer feels comfortable
cheating them. She also wants out of the deal because she vaguely remembers
things about Charles--the Cavalry Regimental flag, the color of his hair, and the
name of the mine in which he was killed--things only the Graingers
themselves would know about.
Observation: I was saddened that Charles Bickford's character John Grainger was so
quickly forgotten. In 5.01 "Legacy of Hate" John tells the
Virginian that Trampas reminded him of his son--Liz and Stacey's father who
was killed in an Indian raid. And in 6.08 "Bitter Autumn" (which introduced
Clay and Holly during Bickford's illness) Clay definitely makes the
statement at least twice
that John is his brother. In this episode, however, we are told that Clay
had two brothers--Charles and Liz's father (no name given). Since we
originally were told that Liz's father was John's son, not one of Clay's
brothers, this completely disregarded the entire fifth season and thus,
unfortunately, Charles Bickford's contribution to the series.
Character Interaction Note: Here's an example of the good-natured teasing
that often went on between Liz and Trampas. Liz was talking to Claire, who
had come to stay at the ranch for awhile (planned in the scheme), when
Trampas brought Claire's luggage into the guest room. Trampas told Claire, "You
better be careful. You give this girl half a chance and she'll talk your
ears off . . . Don't say I didn't warn you," and playfully reminded Liz to
remember the parrot--his story being that Liz had a parrot for a three years
and didn't know if it could talk or not--"poor bird never got a
chance to open its mouth." To that Liz commanded, "Out. Out," and Trampas replied,
"See, see--She'll never say something once if she can say it twice." As Trampas
left Liz said, "Now you see what I have to put up with around here?"
Brenda Scott also guest stars in these other episodes of THE VIRGINIAN:
2.29 "Dark Destiny," 4.17 "Men With Guns," and 6.17"Jed." (bj)