Daniel Boone (TV Series) The Enchanted Gun (1966) User Reviews

Outstanding line-up of Guest Stars makes this a Winner!

[FloridaFred · 10/10 · 24 December 2023]

A knock-out Guest Cast makes for a great episode of Daniel Boone.

Michael Ansara co-stars as "Red Sky", X Brands (yes that really is his name) is Tall Deer, Thomas Browne "The Nose" Henry portrays Shawnee Chief Noheemo, the smoking-hot Bara "Girl in Gold Boots" Byrnes teases as Indian princess Wahanee, and Robert J. Wilke (he was born as a bad guy!) plays Jake Manning.

Yes, let's skip the obvious casting error, all of the "Indians" in this show are played by Brooklyn Jews. But that's the way it was in 1966 when this series aired. Not just DB, but any television show featuring American Indians.

It starts out with a literal cliff-hanging scene; Israel Boone (who apparently cannot hear two runaway wagons bearing down on him), is knocked over the edge of a precipice. Red Sky rescues him; for a reward he gets the "Tick Licker" musket rifle from Daniel Boone. And you know the rest.

A very good episode of Daniel Boone. I rate "The Enchanted Gun" 10 stars.

Florida Fred.

Story of the gun

[militarymuseu-88399 · 6/10 · 23 October 2022]

Israel Boone (Darby Hinton) is the victim of a reckless wagon driver and left clinging for life on a cliffside; by happenstance he is saved by the warrior Red Sky (Michael Ansara) - of Boonesborough's arch-rivals, the Shawnee. Arriving a few moments too late to help effect the rescue, Daniel expresses his gratitude, and Red Sky is quick to take advantage by demanding the custom-made Pennsylvania rifle ("Tick-Licker") Boone acquired several episodes ago. Red Sky promptly uses his new status symbol to dispatch a tribal rival, and we get another round of the overconfident kid (adult here) with a gun story.

The episode is a showcase for Michael Ansara, who deployed villain and heavy portrayals all the way from "The Lone Ranger" (1951) to "Star Trek: DS9" (1996). NBC and other producers of the era decided a Syrian-American raised in New England was OK for Native American roles. But that aside, Ansara provided effective small-screen menace that enhanced many stories, though his style would likely be viewed as one-dimensional today.

The story takes the familiar route of many DB adventures, as Boone attempts to prevent the eruption of frontier conflict by interposing himself between rapacious settlers and angry tribespeople. A bit more might have been done with the Mingo (Ed Ames) character here, given the possible conflict of ethnic and tribal loyalties, but he's content to handle sidekick duties for the hour. As usual the tribespeople look like they rode in from the Dakotas that morning, but a couple are wearing trade-blanket shirts that could reasonably be found in the Ohio Valley, so, small victories. Less forgivable is the fast depiction of a settler being tried for the murder of Native Americans, a happening that clocked in as rare to nonexistent in the 18th and 19th centuries.

A reasonable amount of flintlock action is delivered, and the staging of a runaway wagon wreck always gives a shot of adrenaline to a Western production. Cincinattus is still on extended vacation; fort storekeeper duties this week are handled by B-Western journeyman Roy Barcroft.

A formula Boone adventure, but one given an extra spark by Ansara's presence.