Is it in the Genes?
Marshal Jim Crown (Stuart Whitman) tracks down brothers Felix (Steve Ihnat) and Gene Gauge (David Carradine) who claim innocence but are accused of a series of crimes and have a hefty bounty on their head. With Crown promising them that not only will they have a fair trial with a judge but he will investigate their claims they agree to return with him. But not everyone is happy that Crown has convinced the Gauge brothers to turn themselves in and a wealthy businessman hires a couple of bounty hunters to kill the brothers before the judge arrives in town.
So as I have mentioned before, the 1960s series "Cimarron Strip" is often split up and shown as stand alone movies here in the UK. And like many old TV series they work remarkably well as individual movies as whilst there were re-occurring characters and story elements revolving around the characters especially Crown and Dulcey, played by Jill Townsend, it is easy to work things out without watching the previous episode.
So that brings me to "The Hunted" which is technically episode five in the first series and it sees Crown dealing with a tricky situation with the Gauge brothers. It is simple enough as Crown investigates them as they voluntarily wait in town for the judge to arrive whilst rancher Mr. Buckman wants the brothers dead. But on top of this we have the extra element of Gene Gauge being a ladies man and making a play for Dulcey which irks Crown a little. It is all pretty typical but also engaging because on one hand you have Steve Ihnat playing one brother as a sensible man whilst David Carradine makes the other much more hot headed.
What this all boils down to is that "The Hunted" is another enjoyable episode of Cimarron Strip which now works as a stand alone western. There is nothing special about it but it is put together in an entertaining way so that it keeps you involved in the story.
