The Rebel (TV Series) The Unwanted (1960) User Reviews

The story left too many loose ends.

[kfo9494 · 6/10 · 23 August 2014]

During the first few minutes of the episode it look as though we were in for a heck of a show. However when the climax of the plot was revealed it was so overplayed that most of the real story was lost.

It begins when Johnny saves an old man, Sam, from some bandits and the old man asks Johnny to take him home to the city of Perdition. Upon arriving Johnny finds that the old man is unwanted. In fact they threw the old man out of town when he was seen taking valuables from the soldier's cemetery.

Johnny has just hours to get Sam out of town or the town may turn upon him. But for some reason the old man returns to the cemetery with a shovel to continue his unearthing of graves.

Even though this episode had the interest of the viewer, the ending played out without tying up all the loose ends. We left open the relationship of the old man with the town, the relationship between the old man and his daughter-in-law and the grandson. Felt like we were left in the dark on this one.

Trevor Bardette on the road to Perdition

[kevinolzak · 5/10 · 20 July 2016]

"The Unwanted" features veteran character player Trevor Bardette in a rare leading turn, cast over the years in many ethnic roles in such classic films as "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island" and "The Grapes of Wrath" (he'd be back in "The Threat"). As old codger Sam Amister, he saves Johnny Yuma from being bushwhacked by a pair of outlaw brothers, and in return wants to go back to his hometown of Perdition, the site of one of the war's most hard fought battles, with two cemeteries nearby, one for Union soldiers, the other for Confederates. Unfortunately, Sheriff John Peeples (Carleton Young) warns Yuma that the town wants nothing to do with Sam, whose reputation for desecrating the graves of the deceased has even shaken up the wife of his late son (Moria Turner). Not until the end do we learn the reason behind such strange behavior, and until then the slack pacing marks this as a lost opportunity. Henry Rowland would return for "Shriek of Silence," while the familiar face of Joseph Perry is a reminder of his early days in TV Westerns, before graduating to more lighthearted fare by the 70s (he reappears in "Unsurrendered Sword" and "Blind Marriage").