Wagon Train (TV Series) The Greenhorn Story (1959) User Reviews

Basic Training

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 23 November 2008]

When you see the settlers on Wagon Train taking their families west, did it occur to you that they had to learn about driving a team, circling the wagons, how much and what provisions to take, etc? The Greenhorn Story which stars Mickey Rooney tells of Ward Bond and the rest of the Wagon Train crew had to go through in training the greenhorns with Rooney as the archetype.

The accent is on comedy in this episode as Rooney traveling west with his aunt Ellen Corby tries the patience of Ward Bond, Robert Horton, Terry Wilson, and Frank McGrath. Rooney among other things is bringing a printing press west because it's his intention to settle somewhere they need a newspaper. He's also got romance on his mind with Daria Massey, daughter of fellow greenhorn Byron Foulger. You've got to see how they manage to screw up circling the wagons during a practice drill.

Of course it all does work, it has to or the whole history of the country would have been different if clueless pilgrims didn't learn where to find the clues. But here it makes for one of the best of the Wagon Train episodes.

Andy Hardy Goes West

[zsenorsock · 8/10 · 20 April 2019]

If they had done a "Andy Hardy Goes West" I think it probably would have looked a lot like this episode, Mickey Rooney dominates the footage as a "young" greenhorn who decides to travel west with his Aunt Em (Ellen Corby). He has to learn how to handle a wagon, his horses, and all the details of a wagon train west. It really is an interesting episode in which they show a lot of details that the show doesn't usually get into.

Rooney plays a very earnest, eager to please character and gets to handle a lot of Andy Hardy-esque comedy, dance and fall in love. The only trouble is that at 39 Rooney is a bit long in the tooth to be reprising Andy Hardy again. It doesn't help that the actress playing his female love interest (Daria Massey) looks to be about 17. (She was replaced in the follow up episode with Olive Sturgess).

But if you can suspend disbelief a little and imagine Rooney is 19 or 20 instead of almost 40 (he looks about 45) this is an enjoyable and fun episode that gives most of the regular cast a light week of work as Rooney carries the ball through much of the show.

An unusually informative episode of Wagon Train.

[AlsExGal · 10/10 · 17 April 2017]

Mickey Rooney as Sam Evans popped up unexpectedly as one of the said "greenhorns", originally from Philadelphia. He plans to start a weekly paper in Sacramento. He is accompanied by his Aunt Em (Ellen Corby). Byron Foulger plays Humphrey Pumphret, fellow greenhorn, who is accompanied by his young son and grown daughter, Melanie.

This episode works on two interesting levels. On one level it talks about many things - almost like a documentary - that the members of the wagon train must do and learn in preparation for their journey across the continent. Too many supplies and they must scatter extra food and maybe even precious belongings as their horses will not pull that much weight. Not enough supplies and they could starve to death. They have to learn how to handle their horses and their wagons as an individual and as a member of the train. They also need to familiarize themselves with the different parts of the wagon and wagon repair.

On the second level, it is the story of one particular greenhorn, the previously mentioned Sam. There are humorous moments - Sam buying a western outfit that is so gaudy he looks like he belongs in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. There are serious moments - as a 30-something bachelor he has a conversation with himself as to whether or not he loves a young woman he met on the wagon train and what does he exactly intend to do about that, and then he learns he could lose her to cholera before he has had a chance to speak up. Mickey Rooney handles the job like the pro he always was.

I'm giving this a perfect score as I do not know how it could have been any better. Interesting factoid - Even though Ellen Corby plays Mickey Rooney's aunt and they appear to be a generation apart, in fact Ellen Corby was only nine years older than Mickey Rooney.