Smile of a Dragon

This Virginian episode has Doug McClure traveling by stagecoach when it is held up and all are killed but him and he's thought dead too by the outlaws. When he meets up with the sheriff Richard Carlson he can't convince him that he wasn't one of the outlaws.

A telegram is sent to Shiloh and Gary Clarke makes the journey. Him joining the posse puts a crimp in Carlson's plans.

The only help that McClure gets is from a Chinese girl Miyoshi Umeki who lives in the hills with her uncle Kam Tong because of prejudice. Miyoshi and McClure have some great scenes together.

And Sheriff Carlson has his own agenda

A total waste of screen time ... everyone knew the sheriff was in on the robbery at the onset yet it took 90 minutes to unmask him ... doug mclure plays trampas who was the outlaw in the original film the virginian ... boring right up to the end

The Chinese girl who accompanies Trampas during some hard times is played by Japanese actress Miyoshi Umeki, which, in ethnic terms, is the equivalent of a cowboy wearing his left boot on his right ear. Compounding the felony is Umeki's calculated, kittenish performance, that doesn't click with McClure. Then there's the absurdly hard to swallow plot. Busy TV westerns director Andrew V. McLaglen had his hands full keeping the show on the road, which he manages to do rather well, considering the circumstances. Borden Chase was given credit for the story (such as it is), but it seems clearly patterned after the 1960 Audie Murphy film "Hell Bent for Leather," which was pretty far-fetched in its own right but feels like neo-realism compared to this.

It seems like when the Virginian, or any character is away from Shiloh, the episodes are more thrilling.

The pace of this, and the tension building up, because of the evil sheriff, makes this great. The Chinese lady, was brilliant in her acting, and for those of us knowledgeable about western history, there were often relationships with Chinese. She was tender, full of wisdom, and it actually worked well with Trampas.

I thought they should have described the outcome with the sheriff better, but overall a fine episode, and a plug for herbal medicine, which is good.