User Reviews

"The Dealer" is one of those "Wells Fargo" episodes where the narrative takes place almost entirely indoors and is more of a drama than an action piece. But when the writing is as good as it is here, thanks to veteran Hollywood screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides, there'll be no complaints from this reviewer. Vic Perrin plays a settler with a family who is given some crucial aid by Wells Fargo agent Jim Hardie (Dale Robertson), but when he offers to buy Hardie a drink at the saloon, he gets obsessed with an ongoing poker game and soon puts up his life savings in the hopes of experiencing a winning streak like the one he once enjoyed. When Perrin loses his money, Hardie stakes him to a one-on-one game of high card draw with the cardsharp (Michael de Carlo) who'd won all his money, but not before producing a fresh pack of cards from the bartender. As it looks like Perrin's having another winning streak, it gets quite suspenseful. The resolution was quite a surprise and is based entirely on an issue of character and moral choice, rather than circumstance or contrivance. I was quite moved.

Johnny Crawford, who was already starring with Chuck Connors in "The Rifleman" when this episode aired, appears here as Perrin's son. Perrin was a frequent guest star on episodic TV and made numerous appearances in "Dragnet" in both its 1950s and 1960s incarnations. Scripter Bezzerides is best known for writing such film noir classics as THIEVES' HIGHWAY, ON DANGEROUS GROUND and KISS ME DEADLY.

Jim Hardie has been sent to Dodge City to investigate the theft of several thousand dollars from a Wells Fargo station in Yuba City by two men, when his stage stops to help a family in distress. The Peels have been stranded with a broken wagon wheel for nearly 3 days, and although he's unable to repair the wheel Hardie uses a length of a 5 inch tree trunk as a "crutch" to help the Peels get their wagon to town. Once in Dodge, Langford Peel attempts to repay Hardie, who agrees to have a drink with Peel as his reward. While in the saloon (would it be the Long Branch or the Lady Gay?), Peel is entranced by a poker game run by a slick gambler named Keen, and he confesses to Hardie that he's been a gambler himself, albeit one who is down on his luck. But the old urges are strong, and Peel returns to his wife Florence to convince her that he feels his luck has changed, and he to urges her give up their savings and let him play. Florence Peel agrees somewhat reluctantly, as she had hopes that their move west would help her husband get over his addiction to gambling, but Langford is adamant. After losing $2500 to Keen at the poker table, Peel accuses him of cheating, but Keen gets the drop on Peel. Hardie steps in to prevent a killing, and he stakes an angry and desperate Langford Peel $100 to face Keen in high card draw gamble. After Peel wins $3200 by drawing five high cards in a row against Keen, Hardie attempts to convince him to quit while he's ahead, but Peel can't stop, and he pays Hardie back his $100 with an intent to keep going.

The Dealer is an interesting episode, totally character driven with but a small segment of action at the end. The script from A. I. Bezzerides is brought to the screen by director Earl Bellamy competently, and includes a philosophical theme related to the effects of the addiction to gambling on man's self worth as well as those close to him. But it's also a treatise on how the illusion of luck as a palpable entity can also seemingly transform that man's confidence in himself, and influence his gambling addiction in various ways. It also contains a fair amount of suspense, as the viewer doesn't know how things will work out for Langford Peel.

The cast is excellent. Vic Perrin appears as Langford Peel, and was a prolific character and voice actor over four decades. With his fourth credited role he lent his voice to a short feature as the narrator, a role he would continue throughout his career, most prominently in 45 episodes of the classic scifi series The Outer Limits as the Control Voice heard in the opening and closing segments. He also appeared in the supremely iconic episode Mirror, Mirror of Star Trek:TOS, as well as lending his voice to 3 other episodes, including the voice of Nomad in another iconic episode of the series, The Changeling. He was also extremely busy in the medium of animation as a voice actor in dozens of series in the later years of his career.

Jeanne Bates appears as Florence Peel, and she had a fairly good career in the industry beginning the 40s. She was quite lovely, and is still a looker in this production. She appeared briefly in one of my favorite pictures, The Return of the Vampire in her second credited role with Bela Lugosi and Nina Foch. She worked on the small screen in the latter part of her career, with many roles in westerns. But she is likely most known for her appearance in David Lynch's surreal cult picture Eraserhead as Mrs. X in 1977. She appeared in one other Lynch production, Mulholland Dr. Some years later.

Johnny Crawford appears as Tommy Peel, and would become very well-known for his 168 episodes of The Rifleman with Chuck Conners beginning the same year this episode aired. He continued to work in Hollywood for some years, but he never approached the success he enjoyed in the role of Mark McCain. He was active in the music industry as a bandleader in his later years, and he was the last living cast member of the Rifleman until his passing in 2021.

Mickey Simpson appeared as Blacksmith Ben Franklin in one of his rare sympathetic roles. He was a familiar face during the era, cast primarily in villainous roles due to his imposing size.

The remainder of the cast were prolific but remain largely unknown and appeared uncredited or as henchmen during the era, with far too many credits to discuss here.

Not a bad episode whatsoever with a decent, suspenseful story. As is typical, Jim Hardie is always a good watch, so catch this one.