The Martin Onyx Story

An itinerant actor played by Jack Warden left stranded on the prairie comes across the body of a noted frontiersman Martin Onyx. Struck by the resemblance to him, Warden exchanges clothes with the corpse and buries him. Later he comes across both Robert Horton and Denny Miller and passes out from lack of food or drink. They take him at his word he's the real frontiersman, but Horton has his suspicions.

A letter in the pocket of the deceased says he was riding to the next town the Wagon Train is scheduled to come to. Of course Warden is greeted with all the fanfare due his celebrity. But it sure comes as a big shock to the two guys who thought they back shot him on the prairie.

Those are the ingredients and at the climax actor Warden gets to play the role of a lifetime. His attitude is not unlike Leslie Howard's in The Petrified Forest.

Warden gives a fine world weary performance, a must for fans of his work.