James Stewart! James Coburn! Western Double Feature! The Six-Shooter & The Gunfighter! WOW!

A Western Double Bill. Two Shows! One stars James Stewart, Best Actor Academy Award winner for THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, and one stars James Coburn, Best Supporting Actor for AFFLICTION.

First up is James Stewart as a gunfighter in a 30-minute pilot based on his popular radio character Britt Ponsett on THE SIX-SHOOTER. Stewart’s wearing his famous hat, gives an emotional performance and is supported by Barbara Hale, John McIntire & Edgar Buchanan. It’s called “The Windmill” (1955) and is one of several TV pilots Stewart made based on the radio series. For whatever reason, he’s not called Brit and THE SIX-SHOOTER did not find a sponsor. It would have been a terrific series.

Following James Stewart’s western is one featuring a young James Coburn. He was coming up through the ranks and making appearances on many of the top western and dramatic shows on television. HAVE GUN, RAWHIDE, BONANZA, CHEYENNE, SUGARFOOT, BRONCO, THE TEXAN, WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and even THE RESTLESS GUN, which was a series starring John Payne that was based on Stewart’s THE SIX-SHOOTER. In “The Gunfighter,” an episode of TOMBSTONE TERRITORY from 1959, James Coburn plays a hired gun out to kill series lead Pat Conway. You can’t take your eyes off of him. The very next year, Coburn would join another actor known for TV westerns, Steve McQueen, for the classic feature, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. They would reunite again for the same director, John Sturges, in THE GREAT ESCAPE.

So, there you have it. Our two Prime Time Jimmys on tonight’s western double bill.
They’re two of our favorites here on A WORD ON WESTERNS. If you enjoy our programs, leave us a comment and please check out our Patreon page to join our posse of western film fans who watch our shows Ad Free.

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