Frontier Circus is an American Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until September 20, 1962. It was also shown on the BBC in England.
Overview
The show's setting was the T & T Circus in the late 1800s in the American Southwest. Colonel Casey Thompson, played by Chill Wills, and Ben Travis, played by John Derek, were the co-owners. Richard Jaeckel portrayed Tony Gentry, the circus's scout.
Episodes depicted interactions of circus personnel with each other and with outsiders whom they encountered as they traveled from one town to another via wagon train. (The TV series Wagon Train provided inspiration for Frontier Circus.)
Guest stars
- Claude Akins
- Chris Alcaide
- John Anderson
- Edward Andrews
- R. G. Armstrong
- Eddie Albert
- Parley Baer
- Roy Barcroft
- Don "Red" Barry
- Patricia Barry
- Lane Bradford
- Kathie Browne
- Red Buttons
- Harry Carey Jr.
- Paul Carr
- Albert Cavens
- John Cliff
- Iron Eyes Cody
- John Considine
- Richard Conte
- Ellen Corby
- Alex Cord
- Lloyd Corrigan
- Royal Dano
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Frank DeKova
- Irene Dunne
- Dan Duryea
- Jena Engstrom
- Jason Evers
- Frank Ferguson
- William Fawcett
- Constance Ford
- James Gregory
- Herman Hack
- Don Haggerty
- Alan Hale Jr.
- Chick Hannan
- Anne Helm
- Chuck Hicks
- Robert Hinkle
- Skip Homeier
- Clegg Hoyt
- Anthony Jochim
- Arte Johnson
- Carolyn Jones
- Henry Jones
- Brian Keith
- Warren J. Kemmerling
- Adam Kennedy
- Jess Kirkpatrick
- Otto Kruger
- Cloris Leachman
- Norman Leavitt
- Bethel Leslie
- George Macready
- Howard McNear
- Vera Miles
- Roger Mobley
- Elizabeth Montgomery
- Jeanette Nolan
- Nehemiah Persoff
- William Phipps
- John Pickard
- Joe Ploski
- Mike Ragan
- Aldo Ray
- Thelma Ritter
- Gilbert Roland
- Mickey Rooney
- Charles Ruggles
- Barbara Rush
- Robert Sampson
- Walter Sande
- Vito Scotti
- Jay Silverheels
- Robert F. Simon
- George Sowards
- Joan Staley
- Stella Stevens
- Barbara Stuart
- Gloria Talbott
- Kenneth Tobey
- Rip Torn
- Jack Tornek
- Jo Van Fleet
- Robert J. Wilke
- H. M. Wynant
- Chief Yowlachie
- Dick York
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Depths of Fear" | William Witney | Samuel A. Peeples | October 5, 1961 |
| 2 | "The Smallest Target" | Unknown | Unknown | October 12, 1961 |
| 3 | "Lippizan" | William Witney | Story by: Dorothy C. Fontana Teleplay by: Lawrence Kimble | October 19, 1961 |
| 4 | "Dr. Sam" | John English | Jean Holloway | October 26, 1961 |
| 5 | "The Hunter and the Hunted" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Frank Price | November 2, 1961 |
| 6 | "Karina" | Sydney Pollack | Jean Holloway | November 9, 1961 |
| 7 | "Journey from Hannibal" | Don Weis | Frank Price | November 16, 1961 |
| 8 | "Winter Quarters" | John English | Steven Thornley | November 23, 1961 |
| 9 | "The Patriarch of Purgatory" | William Witney | Les Crutchfield | November 30, 1961 |
| 10 | "The Shaggy Kings" | Richard Irving | Samuel A. Peeples | December 7, 1961 |
| 11 | "Coals of Fire" | William Witney | Shimon Wincelberg | January 4, 1962 |
| 12 | "The Balloon Girl" | Gilbert L. Kay | Vince Skarstedt | January 11, 1962 |
| 13 | "Mr. Grady Regrets" | Don Weis | Lawrence Kimble | January 25, 1962 |
| 14 | "Quick Shuffle" | Robert Gist | Robert E. Thompson | February 1, 1962 |
| 15 | "The Courtship" | Hollingsworth Morse | Frank Price | February 15, 1962 |
| 16 | "Stopover in Paradise" | Earl Bellamy | Bob Barbash | February 22, 1962 |
| 17 | "Calamity Circus" | Lesley Selander | Frank Price | March 8, 1962 |
| 18 | "The Inheritance" | Sydney Pollack | Steven Ritch | March 15, 1962 |
| 19 | "Naomi Champagne" | Don Weis | Steven Ritch | March 29, 1962 |
| 20 | "Mighty Like Rogues" | Alan Crosland Jr. | Story by: Lawrence Kimble Teleplay by: Frank Price | April 5, 1962 |
| 21 | "Never Won Fair Lady" | Hollingsworth Morse | Shimon Wincelberg | April 12, 1962 |
| 22 | "The Good Fight" | John English | Steven Thornley | April 19, 1962 |
| 23 | "The Clan MacDuff" | Charles Haas | Story by: Steven Ritch Teleplay by: Thomas Thompson | April 26, 1962 |
| 24 | "The Race" | Tay Garnett | Ric Hardman | May 3, 1962 |
| 25 | "The Daring Durandos" | Robert Gist | Donn Mullally & Lee Erwin | May 17, 1962 |
| 26 | "Incident at Pawnee Gun" | Sydney Pollack | N.B. Stone Jr. | September 6, 1962 |
Production
Frontier Circus was produced by Calliope Productions, Incorporated, and filmed by Revue Productions, Incorporated. Samuel A. Peeples created the show and was the producer, and Richard Irving was the executive producer. Directors included Don Weis, William Witney, and Sydney Pollack. David Buttolph and Jeff Alexander composed the music.
Interior shots were filmed on the back lot at Revue's studio. Exterior scenes were filmed at a variety of sites in Nevada and California.
Schedule
Frontier Circus initially was broadcast from 7:30 to 8:30 Eastern Time on Thursdays. In February 1962 it moved to 8-9 p.m. ET on Thursdays. In September 1961 it returned to the original time slot.
Critical response
Richard F. Shepard, writing in The New York Times, described the initial episode as "a cross between an adult Western and a horse-drawn study of mental cases." Noting that the episode dealt with one lion tamer who was an alcoholic and one who was sadistic, he wrote, "If frontier circuses ran on and on like this, it's small wonder that the rodeo caught on out West."
A review of that same episode in the trade publication Variety commented, "The sawdust-and-sagebrush saga is strictly a potboiler, and its only saving grace is that it doesn't pretend to be anything more." It noted the similarity of the show's concept to that of Wagon Train but added, "... the similarity ends where script quality begins. This is pure escape stuff...".
Home media
Timeless Media Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on April 20, 2010.