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 8.24 [225]
"The Gift"
Original NBC Broadcast - 18 March 70

Universal City Studios, Inc.
Executive Producer Norman MacDonnell
Produced by James Duff McAdams
Written by Robert Van Scoyk
Directed by Seymour Robbie

Starring:
(shown on the ride-in)
John McIntire as Clay Grainger (last appearance on the show)
Doug McClure as Trampas
Tim Matheson as Jim Horn (last appearance on the show)
Sara Lane as Elizabeth Grainger (NOT in this episode)
and
James Drury as The Virginian

Guest Stars:
Tab Hunter [Cart Banner]
Julie Gregg [Sally Anne]
Frank Marth [ Rawlings]

Full ending credits:
Co-Starring
Ross Elliott as Sheriff Abbott
Walter Burke as Billy Neal
#
With
Harper Flaherty  -  Harper
Stuart Nisbet  -  Bart
Richard Le Pore  -  Le Roy
#
Associate Producers
Robert Van Scoyk
John Choy
#
Theme Percy Faith
#
Director of Photography Enzo A. Martinelli
#
Art Director  . . .  William J. Kenney
Set Decorators  . . .  John McCarthy and Perry Murdock
Unit Manager  . . .  Henry Kline
Assistant Director  . . .  Arthur Levinson
#
Film Editor  . . .  J. Howard Terrill
Music Supervision  . . .  Stanley Wilson
Sound  . . .  Earl N. Crain, Jr.
Color Coordinator  . . .  Robert Brower
Technicolor
Titles and Optical Effects Universal Title
#
Editorial Supervision  . . .  Richard Belding
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:
  Jim Horn, Trampas, the
Virginian, Clay Grainger, Sheriff Abbott, Harper, Bart the Bartender


Synopsis:
A beautiful woman from Trampas' past shows up in Medicine Bow as the newest
singing attraction at the local saloon.  When Trampas (with genuine
concern for his friend) tries to convince Jim Horn that Sally Ann (Gregg) is
not the girl for him, Jim resents the advice sure that he and the songstress
will be happy
together.  Though Sally Ann seems to accept Jim's affection, "singing is"
her "life," and she intends to travel to other countries to learn about
their
music with $4000 of stolen money left to her as "a gift of love" by the
dying thief.  But her plans to quit singing in saloons and "head for better
things" are thwarted by a railroad detective (Marsh) and the dead robber's
partner in crime (Hunter) who both suspect she knows the whereabouts of the
missing currency. (bj)

Notes:
This was the last episode of "The Virginian" under that title.  It also
marked the last appearance of John McIntire as Clay Grainger and Tim
Matheson as James Joseph (Jim) Horn.
For many viewers a major attraction of this series was the "family
atmosphere" felt in the close ties between the Shiloh owners and their ranch
hands.  Jim Horn
summed it up in this story when Sally Ann asked him to tell her about
himself.  The young cowboy wanted to take her out to meet the Graingers,
mentioning that before coming to Shiloh he had been something "fierce,
always going from ranch to
ranch like she did saloon to saloon."  Sally Ann inquired if Shiloh was a
"good ranch," and Jim replied, "Yes, it's a good ranch.  But it's not the
ranch--not the cattle or grazing land or buildings.  It's the PEOPLE.  I
found myself a family.  I've been right at home ever since."   Unfortunately,
this was the last episode of that kind as Shiloh was once again sold, this
time to English Gentleman Col. Alan MacKenzie (portrayed by Stewart
Granger). With the feminine touch of a wife & teen-aged girl at the ranch lacking
and the series going to more of a "feature" format in which the three main
actors (James Drury, Doug McClure, and new-comer Lee Majors as Roy Tate)
alternated in carrying a show, there was little opportunity for much of the
original affectionate type interaction between characters.   (bj)

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