"Barbary Red"

(Original air date 02/16/66)

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A dance-hall girl helps Jarrod rescue Nick and some ranch hands
shanghaied by a captain
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Writer: Judith Barrows

Director: Michael Ritchie

As a special treat for Nick’s birthday, ranch hands Clint (Bing Russell) and Hap (Paul Sorensen) bring their boss to the Toast of the Stockton Waterfront, the Barbary Red saloon. They convince the birthday boy to have a quick one before picking up Eugene at the train station.
Inside the saloon, Nick feasts his eyes on the alluring hostess Barbary ‘Barbary’ Red (Jill St.John). She invites the boys out back for a birthday party.
The bartender drops a drug in each of the whiskey jiggers and hands the tray over to saloon girl Dolly (Donna Michelle). One sip of the doped alcohol and all three drop like flies.


Back at the ranch the family is gathered in the dining room anxiously awaiting the birthday boy’s arrival. Eugene shows up alone saying that Nick never came to pick him up at the station. Victoria suspects her son is being entertained at the new Barbary Red saloon, hence the reason why he forgot about his brother. The name triggers a reaction in Jarrod, prompting him to excuse himself from the present company to go in search of his missing brother.
Meanwhile the three unconscious men are discreetly hauled in the back of a paddy wagon and then taken out of town to be locked inside a storage room.
Later in the evening Jarrod drops by the saloon and renews her acquaintance with his former client whom he defended against charges of being involved in the shanghai racket. Barbara resented Jarrod for believing she was guilty, the verdict sending her to a correctional facility. To make amends, Jarrod invites her out to dinner.


Jarrod returns home empty-handed. He confides in his brothers his suspicion that Nick might have been shanghaied. He goes on to explain that his former client was once involved with a crimp named Jack Thatcher (George Kennedy), a man who entraps men into shipping as sailors. She spent six months in jail for enticing men to sea against their own will and he suspects she’s back in business using her saloon as a front.
He asks Heath to check in at the Sailor’s Paradise Hotel to do a bit of snooping and Eugene to drop by the Harbour master office to obtain a list of incoming and ongoing ships, while he tries to fish out more information out of Barbara.
Meanwhile Nick and his hands try to jump Thatcher and his men as they shove in more shanghaied victims inside, but fail. Thatcher takes pleasure in beating any notion of escaping out of Nick.


After meeting with a disguised Heath for a report on Nick’s possible whereabouts, Jarrod heads on down to the saloon to hand over his mother’s formal invitation to have Barbara over for dinner at the ranch. She gladly accepts but insists on riding to the ranch alone.
In Jarrod’s office, Eugene reports of two ships leaving the dock at dawn. Since they can’t involve the sheriff for fear of endangering Nick’s life, Heath suggests getting himself shanghaied to get a lead on his brother’s location. Jarrod won’t hear of it for the plan entails too many risks.


While Barbara is getting ready for her dinner date, Thatcher hassles her to entice more men to fill out his order for three crews.
As she rides out to the ranch, Barbara has a sudden change of heart and doubles back. It is therefore obvious to Jarrod that in order to succeed in his endeavours to wring the truth out of her he will need to tread on her own territory.
Therefore he goes to Barbara’s hotel room to invite her out to a fancy restaurant where he confronts her about the shanghai business. She firmly denies his allegations that she is responsible for the mysterious disappearances.


Jarrod is convinced Barbara is involved in Nick’s disappearance. As for Victoria she suspects her son to have fallen hard for the woman, which makes it harder for him to play her for a fool. Heath comes in to report that a ship is taking off in a couple of hours.
Thatcher impels his prisoners to willingly sign on as crewmembers. He orders his men to knock some sense into the hard heads, including Nick, until they finally agree to sign the register. They learn that they will be assigned to Captain Robert Waterman’s ship, a name that somehow registers with Nick as one associated with his family.


Jarrod goes to Barbara to plea with her to forgo this life of crime and start anew with him but Thatcher has other plans. Upon Barbara’s threat to leave him should he shanghaied Jarrod, Thatcher opts instead to have his two goons leave the unconscious man out in an alley.
The name Barkley strikes a familiar note with Thatcher. He starts suspecting that Barbara may have told Jarrod about their small operation and therefore plans to keep a close eye on her to ensure that the transaction with Captain Waterman goes without a hitch.


After berating the family for keeping him the dark about the operation, the deputy sheriff (Michael Harris) reluctantly agrees to go along with their last resort to have Heath shanghaied.
Heath goes to the saloon where he steps into the role of a drunken sailor looking for a good time.


After feigning unconsciousness, Thatcher drags him outback to a surrey and drives on with Barbara, unaware that Jarrod and the sheriff have witnessed the scene. The posse follows the carriage at a safe distance to the storage room


Meanwhile, Nick tries to convince Captain Waterman (John Hoyt) that all were compelled to sign the register against their own free will, but the old man turns a deaf ear.
Thatcher orders one of his men to guard Barbara while he finalizes the transaction with Waterman.


Inside the storage room, Heath’s wink tells Nick that his capture is a set-up to catch the crooks. When Thatcher and his men come to pick them up, Heath grabs one man’s leg while Nick lunges at Thatcher and orders him to open the door.


Once out the door, gunfire erupts ending with Thatcher biting the dust. Jarrod apologizes to Barbara for having used her in order to save his brother’s life.


Nick finally celebrates his birthday. During the cake cutting Heath notices Jarrod quietly slipping out of the house to go visit Barbara in jail. Heath knows the woman is getting the best lawyer in town.



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