#4 - "The Oath"
SEASON ONE
1958 - 1959
Dan and Johnny are taking big mouth cold blooded killer Menke to be hanged and Dr. Brewer to serve a 10-year sentence in a civilian prison for killing a man he says was bothering his wife.
Twenty outside of Evanson, Dan and Johnny come across a stagecoach with a missing wheel. The passengers include Lola a beautiful blonde dancehall girl, a young soldier's wife who can't be moved because she is having a baby, Eggles a self-important politician/landowner who tries to order Dan around, and a stage driver whose injured arm must get medical attention in town immediately. Against the wishes of Eggles, Dan releases the doctor to tend to the injured driver and birthing mother.
Johnny takes the jail wagon into town with the injured driver, leaving Dan and the others to fix the stage. Menke asks Lola for water then grabs and kisses her. He wants her to get a file out of the toolbox to help him escape. She refuses. While the men are fixing the stage, Menke gets a gun and enlists the doctor to help him escape. Dan reminds the doctor of his oath. The doctor gives Menke a good whack with a big wrench and all is well. The doctor admits that his wife was not resisting the man who was after her. Eggles agrees to use his influence to help the doctor.
NiteOwl Review: Not a particularly distinguished episode. For the Lawman completist only. It's a decent enough story, but completely generic. It is one of those Warner Brothers scripts that could have been shopped around to any of their shows. The best proof of this is that during the television writers strike, "The Oath" was filmed as an episode of Colt .45 ("Strange Encounter") with very little change in the dialogue. (Change the stagecoach to an airplane and it could have become an episode of one of Warner's detective shows. Maybe it did.) When the episode was shown as Colt .45, the name "W. Hermanos" (W. Brothers) was added to the writing credits. During the strike, writers doctored scripts using this pseudonym so the writers union wouldn't fine them.
The jail wagon leaves Laramie
Johnny & Dan 20 miles from Evanson
Dan with the self-important
and the injured
The blonde
Dan and the expectant mother
Johnny drives to town
Menke gets a gun
The doctor to the rescue
Original air date Oct 26, 1958
Directed by Leslie H. Martinson
Teleplay by William Leicester

Regular Cast
John Russell as Dan Troop
Peter Brown as Johnny McKay

Guest Cast
Barbara Stuart as Lola Bordeaux
Whit Bissell as Thornton Eggles
Don Kelly as Lou Menke
Stephen Courtleigh as Doc Brewer
Betty Lynn as Edna Phillips
John Cliff by Hurley
Official Peter Brown Fan Site