THE VIRGINIAN: THE CAPTIVE (1966, USA) ***½
Western
net. National Broadcasting Company (NBC); pr co. Universal Television; d. Don Weis; w. Peter Packer; exec pr. Frank Price; pr. Winston Miller; ph. Enzo A. Martinelli (Technicolor. 35mm. Spherical. 1.33:1); m. Sidney Fine; m sup. Stanley Wilson; th. Percy Faith; ed. John Elias; ad. George Patrick; set d. Claire P. Brown, John McCarthy Jr.; cos. Vincent Dee; m/up. Bud Westmore, Larry Germain; sd. Earl Crain Jr. (Mono); tr. 28 September 1966; r/t. 75m.
cast: James Drury (The Virginian), Charles Bickford (John Grainger), Doug McClure (Trampas), Don Quine (Stacey Grainger), Sara Lane (Elizabeth Grainger), Susan Strasberg (Liliota / Katherine Ann Emory), Virginia Vincent (Louise Emory), Don Hanmer (Roger Emory), Than Wyenn (Grey Horse), Ross Elliott (Sheriff Mark Abbott), Michael Forest (Cavalry Lieutenant), Gus Trikonis (Running Elk), Tina Menard (Elk Woman), Alex Sharp (Ranch Hand).
(s. 5 ep. 3) A white girl is caught with her adoptive Arapaho parents stealing Shiloh cattle. She stays at Shiloh while the authorities try to find her white parents. She wants to return to the Arapaho but is forced to learn to live in the white world. The diminutive Strasberg gives a good performance as the adoptive Indian with emotional conflicts splitting her bond with her adoptive Arapho guardians and her natural parents. This is a good episode for Lane whose frustration in her attempts to bond with Strasberg are sensitively played. Good direction from Weis keeps the story the right side of sentimental and the finale is genuinely touching.