Route 66 (TV Series) 1800 Days to Justice (1962) User Reviews

Subpar Drama and Intrigue

[rwint1611 · 4/10 · 25 May 2008]

A man (Ericson) gets released from prison after five years and is determined to return to the small Texas town where he was arrested and bring the real perpetrator (Kelly) to the justice via a kangaroo court that features Todd as the acting defense attorney.

This episode starts off well by terrifically capturing the atmosphere of a small and desolate town. In fact the town looks amazingly similar to Skidmore, Missouri where 20 years later a very similar true life incident occurred. Unfortunately the story starts to fizzle at the halfway point and ends with a rather limp conclusion. The script is too talky and too much emphasis is put into describing a crime that really isn't all that interesting or revealing. The story itself has too many similarities to an earlier episode entitled 'Black November'.

However it is fun to see actress Marion Ross in an early performance and talking in a twangy Texas accent.

Grade: C+

Riveting Visuals, Highly Contrived Drama

[dougdoepke · 1 December 2015]

Crandall, Texas, is one great location for rural decay. I'll bet those decrepit store fronts couldn't be equaled by the best Hollywood set-makers. So how many other series, then or now, shows us a riveting slice of backwoods America like this. Also, looks like local folks were used for the crowd scenes, no Hollywood and Vine here. To me, these visuals are the best part of an otherwise highly contrived drama. It's something about an ex-con with a grudge against the town that sent him up for a crime he didn't commit. So he recruits a gang to take over the town and re-try him in a kangaroo court made up of intimidated townspeople. And, oh yeah, Tod and Buzz get roped in while passing through. On the downside, actor Ericson thinks he has to mug it up vicious-style all the way through, which makes the ending even more unbelievable than it already is. On the upside, watch for that great hayseed actor Noah Beery Jr. (The Rockford Files) and space explorer DeForrest Kelley (Star Trek) in all-too-brief roles. All in all, this is another instance of the basic "road" concept compensating for a less than worthy screenplay.

1/26/62 "1800 Days to Justice"

[schappe1 · 24 May 2015]

This episode stands out to me because it was the first one I saw when Route 66 turned up on "Nick at Night" back in the 80's. I hadn't seen the show since I was a kid and it was fun to see it again after all these years. Now it's been longer than that since I watched on Nick at Night!

In a set up similar to "Black November" the boys are lost and stop in a small Texas town to get some gas. But the place seems deserted. They soon find out why as John Ericson appears with a machine gun and invites them into the town hall to join the others. He's a native of the town who has spent the last 5 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He wants to hold a new trial with himself as both judge and prosecutor. He appoints Todd defense attorney because it's obvious he's college educated and Buz the "sergeant at arms", (even though John holds on to the armaments), because he obviously isn't. John's also got a gang with him to which he's promised the proceeds from robbing the bank.

The trial swiftly establishes his innocence. The richest guy in town, (DeForest Kelly), wanted his girl, (Marian Ross, a decade before "Happy Days"), and had Ericson, who had already had his share of scrapes with the law, framed and sent to prison to open the way for Kelly's courting of Ross. Ericson assesses the damages and they get the money from the bank, (which Kelly apparently owns, like everything else in the town). The gang wants to split but Ericson decides he wants to execute a death penalty on Kelly. Buz challenges him to a fight to buy time, (and, unusually, loses it). Meanwhile the townspeople, led by Ericson's older brother, (Noah Berry Jr.- Daddy Rockford), stand in front of Kelly, (whom they all hate), and plead with Ericson not to kill him and thus commit a crime that would put him back in jail or cause his execution. John sees the logic of what they are saying, orders the gang to return the money, (it belongs to the people) and tells them to leave. He's staying. (And, apparently, will not be prosecuted for the crimes he has committed in holding these people against their will and threatening them.)

East Meets West...with a soundtrack to match

[xoxmagoosxox · 10 December 2008]

This was definitely East Meets West. I mean, the boys from NYC get lost in a dry Texas community with the look of a ghost town and the plot is right out of GUNSMOKE, THE LONE RANGER, BONANZA, etc.

I could even more see the Cartwrights being held hostage by a crazed wrongfully incarcerated man than I could Tod & Buz. I know Texas towns hadn't changed much in the late '50s and early '60s; I mean, there WAS the tradition the dated back to the late 1800s, but this was obviously lifted from one of the Westerns of the latter period. I guess for that reason, Nelson Riddle employed a score that was part jazz and part Frontier. It worked.