| Alias Smith and Jones |
 |
| ABC Network |
| 1971 - 1973 |
| Drama |
| 60 Minutes |
Operating out of Kansas Territory of the
1890's, Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel/Roger Davis)
and Jedediah "Kid" Curry (Ben Murphy) were the
leaders of The Devil's Hole Gang.
Their specialty was robbery, especially
trains and banks. But times were a changing and
the safes that housed the money they sought were
becoming too sophisticated to crack, so, one day Heyes and Curry petitioned the Governor of
Kansas for an amnesty. George W. Baxter, the
Governor (Jeff Corey) accepted but with one
hitch. They had to go straight for one
year. In the meantime, they still would be
wanted by the law. Some deal!
"Into the West came many men. Some were
good men and some were bad men. Some, were good
men with some bad in them and some, were bad
men with some good in them. This is the story
of two pretty good bad men. Hannibal Hayes and
Kid Curry.
Together these
gentlemen substantially altered the course of
America's frontier. They did a lot to change
railroad schedules, too. [bridge explodes],
And in
all the trains and banks they robbed, they
never shot anyone. This made our two latter
day Robin Hoods very popular with everyone but
the railroad and banks. Because unlike Robin
Hood, Hannibal Hayes and Kid Curry robbed from the rich
and kept the
money for themselves. It was a good life. But
times were changing. Safes were getting better,
posses were getting bigger, sheriffs were
getting smarter and modern communication made
it only a matter of time until they were
captured and maybe even killed." -- Opening
Narration from the Pilot Movie
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry
Regular Series Opening Narration
|
[Roger Davis as Narrator] |
|
Narrator: |
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry,
the two most successful outlaws in the history of the west.
And in all the trains and banks they robbed, they never shot
anyone. This made our two Kansas cousins very popular with
everyone but the railroads and the banks. |
|
Kid Curry: |
[Posse in hot pursuit]
There's one thing we've got to get, Heyes. |
|
Hannibal
Heyes: |
What's that?" |
|
Kid Curry: |
Out of this business! |
|
Governor's
Assistant: |
The Governor can't come flat
out and give you amnesty now. First you've got to prove you
deserve it. |
|
Hannibal
Heyes: |
So all we've got to do is
stay out of trouble until the Governor figures we deserve
amnesty? |
|
Kid
Curry: |
But in the meantime we'll
still be wanted? |
|
Governor's
Assistant: |
Well that's true. Til then
only you, me and the Governor will know about it. It'll be our
secret. |
|
Hannibal
Heyes: |
Hah, that's a good deal? |
|
Kid Curry: |
[Escaping from a posse] I
sure wish the Governor would let more people in on our secret. |
|
[Ralph Story narrated the second season].
|
While waiting for their pardon, the two
former outlaws used the
aliases of Joshua Smith (Heyes) and
Thaddeus Jones (Curry). However, staying out of
trouble wasn't as easy at it sounded, especially
when their former colleagues from the Devil'
Hole gang were always tempting them to return to
a life of crime.
Also on their trail were operatives from the
Bannerman Detective Agency who plotted to trap
them (like
filling a train with gold and waiting for the
boys to bite on the bait).
The other members of the Devil's Hole Gang included:
- Earl Holliman as Wheat
-
Dennis Fimple as Kyle Murtry
-
Read Morgan as Lobo
Other folks that came into contact with Heyes
and Curry included:
- James Drury/John Russell/MikeRoads as
Sheriff Lom Trevors, who is also aware of the
Governor's pardon plan
- J.D. Cannon as as Harry Briscoe, detective
with the Bannerman Detective Agency
- Burl Ives as Big Mac McCreedy, a wealthy
rancher
- Cesar Romero as Armendiraz, a wealthy
Mexican rancher
- Rudy Vallee as Winford Fletcher
- Sally Field as Clementine Hale, a scheming
old friend
- Michele Lee as Georgette Sinclair, a
larcenous friend
While waiting for their pardon, Smith and
Jones were involved in a variety of activities,
including: taking on odd jobs like driving a
wagon load of dynamite; helping damsels in
distress; arresting outlaws; thwarting the plans
of con men; being blackmailed and framed for
murder; playing in high stake poker games;
eluding posses and bounty hunters; and avoiding
lawmen who know their true identities.
Kid Curry
and Hannibal Heyes
Here is a select list of some other
activities:
- Taking a job at a bank
- Hired to find a valuable bust Roman buts
of Caesar.
- Accepting jobs to help a widow who ran a
saloon
- Agreeing to deliver a large sum of money
to a town
- Getting involved in a phone horse betting
operation
- Salting a gold mine to thwart a bank
embezzler/murderer
- Working with an archeologist to find giant
redheaded Indians
- A poker game where the participants are
being killed off
- Hunting for buried army payroll that was
revealed in a letter
- A secret mission to Mexico that involved a
herd of cattle
- Returning a fortune in jewels that turn
out to be fake
- A condemned man who tells the boys where
to find stolen gold
- A young man sentenced to hang who claims
to be Kid Curry
- Hired to bring back a runaway wife
- Retrieving a widow's gold in hostile
Indian territory
- Helping two nuns who are thieves in
disguise
- Join a cattle drive and get accused of
murder
- Being framed for bank robbery by an
embezzling banker
- A prospector arrests the boys for reward
and sets them free.
- Using counterfeit money to stake the boys
in a poker game
- Clear Big Mac McCreedy of a bum murder
charge
- Possibly win their pardon by rescuing a
woman from an outlaw
- Illegal activities in Mexico threatened the
boys amnesty
- Helping a wounded man alleged to be a
Treasury agent
- Guarding a key witness to a murdering
rancher
- Herding wild horses off land owned by a
crusty old man
TRIVIA NOTE: The series was canceled
in mid-season so viewers never witnessed the
boy's long anticipated pardon from the governor.
Actor Pete Duel, who played Hannibal Heyes
on the series, committed suicide on December
31, 1971. Roger Davis, the narrator for the
series, took over the role of Hannibal Heyes for
the remainder of the series.
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