- Source: Cimarron City (TV series)
Cimarron City is an American one-hour Western television series, starring George Montgomery as Matt Rockford and John Smith as Lane Temple, airing on NBC from October 11, 1958, to September 26, 1959. Cimarron City is a boomtown in Logan County, Oklahoma, north of Oklahoma City. Rich in oil and gold, Cimarron City aspires to become the capital of the future state of Oklahoma, to be created in 1907.
Synopsis
Matthew Rockford is the son of an area cattle rancher, who is the founder and mayor of Cimarron City. Lane Temple, the blacksmith, serves also as the deputy sheriff. He maintains the law amid the crooked schemes concocted in Cimarron City.
Audrey Totter played Beth Purcell, the owner of the boarding house. The episodes were supposed to rotate equally among Montgomery, Smith, and Totter. The writers, however, did not give Totter enough stories as promised, and she was phased out in favor of male leads.
Cimarron City also featured Dan Blocker (before Bonanza) in two roles. In the second episode, Blocker plays outlaw Carl Budinger, who is killed. In the fourth episode, he reappears as Carl's good-hearted brother, Tiny Budinger, who becomes one of Rockford's ranch hands.
Production notes
The producers were Richard Bartlett and Norman Jolley. Stanley Wilson wrote the theme music.
In its initial run, Cimarron City was placed opposite two half-hour Western programs on CBS, Have Gun, Will Travel and Gunsmoke, from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. From June 1960 to September 1960, reruns were shown on Fridays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, again on NBC.
Newspaper columnist Erskine Johnson wrote that NBC created Cimarron City expressly "to shoot it out with CBS TV's two guns – the half-hour Have Gun and the top-rated Gunsmoke, in most sections of the country." When the show's ratings failed to meet NBC executives' expectations, Smith's and Totter's roles grew in size and Montgomery "became a wanderer instead of a stay-at-home"; writers and directors were also changed. NBC spent additional money to bring in guest stars while sponsors were leaving the show, with several episodes having no sponsor. Toward the end of the series' original run, NBC found four rotating sponsors, some of whom limited their involvement to purchasing spot announcements.
Cast
George Montgomery as Matt Rockford, Mayor and as narrator
John Smith as Deputy Lane Temple
Audrey Totter as Beth Purcell
Dan Blocker as Tiny and Carl Budinger
Wally Brown as Jed Fame
Claire Carleton as Alice Purdy
Pete Dunn as Dody Hamer
George Dunn as Jesse Williams
Tom Fadden as Silas Perry
Stuart Randall as Sheriff Art Sampson
Addison Richards as Martin Kingsley
Fred Sherman as Burt Purdy
Nesdon Booth as Frank the bartender
= Guest stars
=Episode list
Home media
On March 6, 2012, Timeless Media Group released Cimarron City: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.
References
External links
Cimarron City at IMDb
http://www.westernclippings.com/remember/gmontgomery_doyouremember.shtml%7C%7CWestern Western Clippings George Montgomery interview
Cimarron City at epguides.com