Wild Wild West

Night of the Returning Dead, #6605

Agents West and Gordon meet with Carl Jackson, a wealthy ranch owner, and Sheriff Ned Briggs to investigate the appearance of a mysterious night rider who haunts the region. When they encounter this ghostly apparition, it charges at them before disappearing into thin air. The agents question a local stable boy named Jeremiah who is blessed with a special ability to hypnotize animals with his eerie flute music. They attempt to lure the phantom rider out of hiding with Jeremiah's flute. The plan works but the mysterious rider escapes again, leaving his hat behind. The agents discover that the hat inscription reads Colonel Beaumont Carson, a Confederate who died in a fire thirteen years earlier.

Peter Lawford (Carl Jackson) Frequently partnered with Sammy Davis, Jr., on and off the screen, Lawford played the villainous Carl Jackson in The Night of the Returning Dead while Davis won the role of the hero. Lawford was born in London on September 7, 1923. The son of a knighted WWI general, he was educated in private schools and made his film debut at the age of eight in Poor Old Bill (1931). Following his appearance as a cockney boy in Lord Jeff, Lawford was groomed as a rising star by MGM where he was placed in roles that emphasized his social poise, British accent, and aristocratic good looks. Offscreen he had a reputation as a playboy and for years he was associated with Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack" gang. He gained additional social prestige as the brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy due to his marriage to Patricia Kennedy. In addition to numerous character parts in films, he could be seen in such television series as The Thin Man and The Doris Day Show. He also served as executive producer on Salt and Pepper (1968) and One More Time (1970), two comedies in which he co-starred with Sammy Davis, Jr.
Jeremiah: Sammy Davis, Jr.
Carl Jackson: Peter Lawford
Elizabeth: Hazel Court
Tom Kellogg: Ken Lynch
Ned Briggs: Alan Baxter
Directed by Richard Donner & Written by John Kneubuhl
* The above information was compiled from The Wild Wild West: The Series by Susan E. Kesler (Arnett Press), "Michael Garrison's Wild Wild West," an article by Robert Alan Crick in Epi-Log Journal #11 and other sources.
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Animated graphics (c) 2001 by The Animation Factory.