RAWHIDE--"Incident Of The Dowery Dundee"

 

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post on an episode of the 1960s American TV series 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, which featured Hammer horror stars Barbara Shelley and Hazel Court as guest stars. Hazel Court appeared on a number of classic TV shows in the sixties after she married actor-director Don Taylor and moved to the United States. Court was a guest star in such shows as THE TWILIGHT ZONE, BONANZA, and THE WILD, WILD WEST. I didn't know until recently, however, that Court appeared in an episode of RAWHIDE. 

That particular episode was titled "Incident of the Dowery Dundee". It begins with trail hands Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) and Quince (Steve Raines) discovering a Scottish woman named Kathleen Dundee (Hazel Court) traveling by all be herself on the prairie, along with her four bulls. Kathleen tells Rowdy that a man she was engaged to be married to treated her badly, and is now after her and her dowry. Rowdy, feeling bad for her, invites her to tag along with the cattle drive, much to the consternation of trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming). It turns out that Kathleen is actually married to the man she said she's running from--and she's pregnant. 

"Incident of the Dowery Dundee" is one of the more lighthearted episodes of RAWHIDE. Kathleen Dundee isn't just Scottish--she's really Scottish, in a way that would give James Doohan's Montgomery Scott from STAR TREK a run for his money. Kathleen is feisty and spunky, and Court plays her in a broad but entertaining manner. The idea of Kathleen Dundee and her obsession over her dowry is basically a variation on THE QUIET MAN, and that movie's Mary Kate, played by Maureen O'Hara. (Many of the plots for episodes of classic American TV series were influenced by famous films). 

Hazel Court in the RAWHIDE episode "Incident of the Dowery Dundee"

It's fun to see Hazel Court show some comedic chops, and it appears she enjoyed playing this character. Kathleen Dundee is a far cry from most of the Gothic ladies Court typically portrayed, and while the actress isn't as dolled up as usual, she still looks quite fetching in her plaid outfit. The rough-and-ready cattle drive hands are charmed by Kathleen, but she does nothing but annoy Gil Favor, what with her bulls constantly spooking the herd. (Eric Fleming is very sarcastic and dour in this episode.)

"Incident of the Dowery Dundee" premiered about halfway through RAWHIDE's sixth season, in early 1964. It's a decent enough episode, but there really isn't much to it, other than Hazel Court's performance. Kathleen's husband doesn't show up until the latter part of the show, and he's played by long-time bad guy Lyle Bettger. As soon as the husband does show up, it's easy to predict that Kathleen will start to go into labor, and she and her husband will make up after the baby is born. (It needs to be pointed out that Court is one of the most un-pregnant looking pregnant women in the history of television.) The comedy in the story is more silly than amusing--even Clint Eastwood winds up taking a pratfall. 

What "Incident of the Dowery Dundee" does do is show how talented Hazel Court was. She gives a performance way beyond the English Gothic roles she's best known for. I've long believed that classic American television gave many notable actors much more of a chance to be versatile than the theatrical films that made them famous. The various TV series appearances of several great stars are almost ignored, and that's a slight that needs to be rectified. I've tried to do that a few times with this blog.