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| John Bromfield |
The Sheriff of Cochise was a modern-day "detective" show that metamorphosed in its second season into United States Marshall [aka U. S. Marshall) when the main character went from being a sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona to a Marshall in Tucson. John Bromfield stars as Frank Morgan, a no-nonsense lawman who was also a veteran of the Korean War. About a dozen or so episodes of the series are available on DVD or on youtube. In "Lynching Party" James Best is accused of murder when he is confronted by his girlfriend, Gloria Talbott's, angry old man. In "Trigger Happy," Martin Milner is accused of murdering the man he was sent to arrest; Jean Allison and Donna Douglas are also in the cast and are notable, as is Milner. Charles Bronson is vivid as a soldier who goes on the warpath in the well-done "Pursuit," with Abbie Shelton and Robert Fuller. "Helldorado" finds the sheriff protecting gambler Robert Horton during an annual celebration week, with Frank Ferguson as an excitable old codger who lost a lot of money. Other guest stars on the show include Joan Taylor, Jack Lord [in a fine turn as a hard-bitten killer], Kathryn Card from I Love Lucy, Michael Landon, Michael Connors, and Ric Vallin. In movies such as Three Bad Sisters and The Big Bluff, handsome star Bromfield was usually a sleazy, sexy character who was busy lovin' up and two-timing the women. In this series he's the good guy, stalwart and brave, and he's fine, but the character is humorless -- and dateless. The producers should have brought in a few femme fatales for Bromfield to fool around with and vice versa -- it might have made the show more interesting and more fun. It's as if the part were created for Broderick Crawford, the homely star of Highway Patrol! The show was produced by Desilu.
Verdict: Standard but reasonably entertaining intrigue. **1/2.
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