Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Tales Of The Texas Rangers" - Canned Death (Aired April 22, 1951)


Captain Manuel T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, a Ranger for 30 years and who was said to have killed 31 men during his career, served as consultant for the series. The series was adapted for television from 1955 to 1957 and produced by Screen Gems. For the TV version, Willard Parker took over the role of Jace Pearson. On radio, Pearson often worked by request with a local sheriff's office or police department but on the TV show, he had a regular partner, Ranger Clay Morgan (who had been an occasional character on the radio show), played by Harry Lauter. During the opening and closing credits of the TV show, the actors would march toward the camera and sing the theme song, "These Are Tales of Texas Rangers", to the tune of "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You", which is also the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad". The radio series used contemporary cases and modern detective methods to solve crimes; it was a procedural drama, in many ways Dragnet with a Western flavor. The TV show was aimed at kids (and aired on Saturday mornings) and was more of a traditional Western (with chases and shoot-outs.

THIS EPISODE:

April 22, 1951. NBC network. "Canned Death". Sustaining. Based on events of January 26, 1940. A family is poisoned by tainted sausage meat. The trial leads to a feeble minded boy living in the wilderness and a hardware store owner. Don Diamond (producer, host), Edmond MacDonald, Joe Forte, Joel McCrea, Ken Christy, Paul Frees, Stacy Keach (producer, director), Tony Barrett, Virginia Gregg, Will Wright. 30:56. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.