Northwest Passage Volume 1

Here is Western style adventure gone east! It's a story of bravery, as a rag-tag military troop known as Robert's Rangers search for a legendary hidden waterway that is rumored to traverse the colonial American continent. This difficult exploration, with danger at every turn, unfolds in especially trying times - during the French and Indian War (1753-1759), just prior to the War for American Independence. Though the series ran for only one year (1958 to 1959), MGM loaded each episode with a topnotch cast and solid production values.

Break Out: Ambushed by a contingent of French soldiers while on a scouting expedition, Major Robert Rogers, Sergeant Hunk Marinner and Ensign Langdone Towne are taken to a prisoner of war stockade - a work camp where prisoners must endure horrid conditions and brutal torture meted out by the prison's cruel commander, Major Hugo Marten.

Counterfeiters: After a meal at a tavern, Roberts, Marinner and Towne are shocked to find that the money they use to pay the tab is worthless. The Rangers and the militia had all been paid in bogus bills. An investigation to find the counterfeiting operation soon reveals even more criminal activity.

Death Rides The Wind: Two escaped prisoners break into the cabin of a trapper while he sleeps. They steal fur pelts, eat his leftover food and take his hunting rifle, not realizing the man is dying of smallpox. The Rangers set out on an urgent mission to track down the convicts before they reach Portsmouth and infect the entire population.

The Fourth Brother: Major Roberts and his men investigate a highway robbery that results in the murder of a local trapper. The suspects in this crime are notorious troublemakers, the Wade Brothers, but the youngest brother, Dan, needs the Rangers' to help him prove his innocence.

A rare television series set during the French and Indian War (1754-1759), Major Rogers Rangers vainly searches for the mythical river passage across the country, battling with Indians or Frenchmen luckless enough to cross their paths. Largely based on the 1940 movie, Keith Larsen replaces Spencer Tracy, Buddy Ebsen plays Walter Brennan's part, and Don Burnett steps in for Robert Young (who was busy on another soundstage in FATHER KNOWS BEST). A western set during a time when Ohio was pure wilderness, this offbeat show remains fondly remembered.