Alias Smith & Jones
Pete’s filmography on this site was compiled and written by Cherie and is listed in reverse order of airdate. Active links are to the Internet Movie Database for more information; they are not to video or video clips.
To watch video, please visit the Video Gallery.
Alias Smith & Jones … as Hannibal Heyes/Alias Joshua Smith (33 episodes, 1971-1972)
Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, two of the most wanted outlaws in the history of the West, are popular “with everyone except the railroads and the banks,” since “in all the trains and banks they robbed, they never shot anyone.” They are offered an amnesty on condition that they stay out of trouble for a year and that they don’t tell anyone about it. With a view to keeping their noses clean, they adopt the identities of Smith and Jones and use all of their ingenuity keeping out of the way of the law.
Editor’s note: Golden Globe-winner Earl Holliman tells the story about how he tried to get the Alias Smith & Jones producers to allow his character ‘Wheat’ to have the first name of ‘Puffed.’ “Get it?” he asked. “Puffed Wheat?” Earl eventually became the President of Actors and Others for Animals, an organization Pete might have been active in, given his own love of animals.
SEASON 2
The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg (Season 2, Episode 18; Airdate: 1/27/72)
In Pete’s final episode, Heyes and Curry are captured by a kindly family who turns them in for the much-needed reward money. Feeling regretful, the family then helps them break out of jail and are charged themselves for aiding in the escape. It is up to the outlaws now to find a way to help the family out of their mess. In a somewhat prophetic final scene, Heyes and Curry are seen riding off into the sunset. J.D. Cannon and Wally Cox guest-star.
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Red Gap (Season 2, Episode 17; Airdate: 1/20/72)
A train ride leads to both the threat of being exposed when the outlaws run into Winford Fletcher, the swindler they swindled, and the offer of a job from Chester E. Powers, a bank president (played by Broderick Crawford) they share a card game with. The only trouble is, while waiting for instructions to start the job, they are reported to have robbed that very bank president’s bank. How will they clear their names this time? Rudy Vallee returns as Fletcher.
The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone (Season 2, Episode 16; Airdate: 1/13/72)
McCreedy is at it again — to have Heyes and Curry steal back his Bust of Caesar from Armendariz. When they refuse, they are able to work out a deal to simply transport the statue to San Francisco to be sold at auction. Sent to wait for the bust to be delivered to a well outside a “peaceable” little town, they instead find several gun-wielding ranchers terrorizing citizens out of voting. While they wait for the bust, Kid runs afoul of the ranch foreman (played by Lee Majors), who sets out to humiliate him at every turn. Bradford Dillman stars as a minister, who turns to the bottle when he loses his faith.
21 Days to Tenstrike (Season 2, Episode 15; Airdate: 1/06/72)
Heyes and Curry take jobs as drovers when the last of their money won’t even buy two good meals. It isn’t long before other cowboys start turning up dead and Kid is suspected. Heyes does all he can to think the mystery through, but he just can’t seem to come up with a reason these people are being killed, or where the murder weapon is being hidden. Returning after previous appearances on the series are Walter Brennan and Pernell Roberts; talk show host Dick Cavett also has a small role.
Miracle at Santa Marta (Season 2, Episode 14; Airdate: 12/30/71)
A rich horseman (Craig Stevens) hires The Kid to act as bodyguard as he transports his thoroughbred filly to Mexico, while Heyes stays behind to bilk a group of poker players who don’t even understand the laws of probability. Before long, Hanley turns up dead and Kid is arrested for murder. Wired for help, Heyes rushes to his partner’s aid. With the evidence against him, Heyes will have to pull off a miracle to prove his partner’s innocence. Patricia Crowley guest-stars.
On December 31, 1971, only hours after viewing this episode, Pete Duel ended his life.
Everything Else You Can Steal (Season 2, Episode 13; Airdate: 12/16/71)
Someone has committed a robbery and pinned it on Heyes and Curry, so they head to a new town to clear their names. When they run into their old friend, Jenny (played by Anne Sothern), she tells them a story they don’t want to hear: that her son and his friend posed as Heyes and Curry to rob the bank and are now dead. Jessica Walter guest-stars.
The Bounty Hunter (Season 2, Episode 12; Airdate: 12/09/71)
Lou Gossett plays “Joe Sims,” a freed slave turned bounty hunter who has found his heyday in Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry. But a black man traveling with two white captives doesn’t sit well with those they pass on the journey and Joe runs into trouble time and again. Heyes and Curry grow fond of Joe and, in a poignant turn of events, the outlaws become the rescuers of the man who ultimately wants to sell their freedom for a reward.
Shootout at Diablo Station (Season 2, Episode 11; Airdate: 12/02/71)
Stage coach passengers Heyes and Curry, along with several others, are held captive by a psychopathic gunman and his cohorts in a way station run by a retired tough-as-nails Army General (played by Pat O’Brien). The bandits plan to ambush Sheriff Lom Trevors in the morning when he comes to investigate why the stagecoach never reached its destination. It seems the deluded man (played by Neville Brand) believes Trevors killed his brother in cold blood and is set to avenge his death. Of course, Heyes and Curry have strong motivation to keep Lom alive: their amnesty. Anne Archer guest-stars.
Dreadful Sorry, Clementine (Season 2, Episode 10; Airdate: 11/ 18/71)
Heyes and Curry are surprised and delighted to run in to their old friend Clementine Hale (played by Pete’s Gidget co-star and friend, Sally Field) only to discover she has the only known picture of them and is not above using it to blackmail them into participating in her scheme to steal $50,000. Can Heyes get them out of it by stealing the photo from the hotel safe? Or does Clem have some tricks up her own sleeve? Rudy Vallee appears as swindling land agent Winford Fletcher. Jackie Coogan and Don Ameche also guest-star.
The Reformation of Harry Briscoe (Season 2, Episode 9; Airdate: 11/11/71)
J.D. Cannon reprises his role as Harry Briscoe, Bannerman Detective, as he follows a woman posing as a nun — but whom he tells Heyes and Curry is really an embezzler. It may be, though, that the nun isn’t the only one who can’t be trusted. Jane Wyatt guest-stars. Pete’s dog, Shoshone, makes a cameo appearance, her second in the series.
Night of the Red Dog (Season 2, Episode 8; Airdate: 11/04/71)
When a staggering old man collapses in the street, Heyes, Curry, and two other men carry him to the Undertaker’s office where they discover he is actually suffering from exhaustion from carrying around a huge amount of gold dust. When a doctor is brought in, he informs the old miner he is near death, prompting him to give all the men the map to his gold mine. Once there, someone can’t be trusted, and Heyes makes an amazing observation — essentially discovering the concept of a lie detector. Guest-starring such notables as Rory Calhoun, Paul Fix, Joe Flynn, and Jack Kelly.
Six Strangers at Apache Springs (Season 2, Episode 7; Airdate: 10/28/71)
Arriving in a borderline ghost town, Heyes and Curry expect to find some peace and quiet and maybe a simple poker game on Saturday night. Instead, they find Caroline Rangely (played by Carmen Mathews), a colorfully eccentric widow, who hires them to retrieve gold left behind in the mountains when the area was taken over by a band of “50 or 60 scrawny Chiricahua,” who left their reservation because of mistreatment by the government. Sian Barbara Allen guest-stars and Logan Ramsey makes his second appearance in the series, the first being in “The Root Of It All.”
Something to Get Hung About (Season 2, Episode 6; Airdate: 10/21/71)
Heyes and Curry are hired by a man to track down his runaway wife — whom it appears has taken up with another man — and deliver a letter imploring her to return home to him. With some difficulty, they manage that task only to become involved in a murder investigation, in which a book by Mark Twain plays a huge part. Monte Markham and Meredith MacRae guest-star.
The Posse That Wouldn’t Quit (Season 2, Episode 5; Airdate: 10/14/71)
Relentlessly pursued by a posse, the outlaws ditch their horses and hitch a ride with a woman returning with supplies to her ranch. Invited to stay, they become attached and comfortable with the woman and her family, including two young tomboy daughters, Bridget and Beth (played by real-life sisters Lisa and Cindy Eilbacher). When the posse catches up with them, however, they are forced to reveal their true identities to the family and face the consequences of not only the law, but their friends’ disappointment in them. Pete sings a sweet rendition of “Simple Gifts” in this episode. Vera Miles guest-stars.
Smiler with a Gun (Season 2, Episode 4; Airdate: 10/07/71)
After playing cards together, Heyes and Curry team up with an aged miner (played by Will Geer) and a fast-shooting, smooth-talking stranger who always seems to wear a smile, to work the old man’s mine in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In a darker episode than most, the fugitives are challenged beyond most human endurance and it is Curry, and not Heyes, who takes the lead and vows to avenge a wrong regardless of the consequences. “Danny Bilson” is played by Roger Davis, who worked with Pete in The Young Country; Davis also stepped into the role of Heyes after Pete’s death.
Jailbreak at Junction City (Season 2, Episode 3; Airdate: 9/30/71)
Heyes and Curry are hired to transport a band of sheriff-killing robbers to Junction City for trial. Finding out along the way that the sheriff there is one they have crossed paths with in the past, they are perplexed by how they will manage to carry out the task without being arrested themselves. Because Heyes has the silver tongue, the pair decides he should visit the lawman (played by George Montgomery) and make a deal — their freedom in exchange for the rewards to which they are entitled. Jack Albertson guest-stars as a benevolent judge.
How to Rob a Bank in One Hard Lesson (Season 2, Episode 2; Airdate: 9/23/71)
Jack Cassidy guest-stars as Harry Wagoner, a former Devil’s Hole Gang wannabe who spots Heyes and Curry as they ride into a new town and settle in for a restful stay. Using two beautiful women to lure them into a trap, Harry sends off a bound Kid to a hidden location with the women and forces Heyes, under the threat that The Kid will be killed if he doesn’t cooperate, to rob a bank safe only he has ever had the skill to crack. Can Heyes dream up a scheme to save both their chance at amnesty and his partner’s life?
The Day They Hanged Kid Curry (Season 2, Episode 1; Airdate: 9/16/71)
In the second season opener, old friend Silky (played by Walter Brennan in the first of his three appearances on the series) informs Heyes that The Kid is on trial for murder. Rushing to Kid’s aid, he finds an imposter on trial and The Kid enjoying the spectacle. Heyes convinces him it is in their best interest to prove the man’s identity before he is hung — but the poser makes it hard, because “being” Kid Curry has brought him fame and admiration. Robert Morse plays the unlikely identity thief, and Earl Holliman and Dennis Fimple return as Wheat and Kyle, respectively.
SEASON 1
The Legacy of Charlie O’Rourke (Season 1, Episode 15; Airdate: 4/22/71)
Riding into a new town, Heyes and Curry hear an old partner-in-crime, Charlie O’Rourke, calling out to them from behind the barred window of the jail. Visiting with him, they find out he was involved in a robbery, netting him $100,000 in gold bars, but also resulting in several deaths, for which he will be hanged in the morning. Turning down Charlie’s offer of directions to the cache, the outlaws are then the target of most everyone in town who thinks the men know more than they do, including saloon entertainer, Alice (played by Joan Hackett, who also starred with Pete in The Young Country) and Harry Briscoe who, filled with greed, has plans to get the gold himself.
Never Trust an Honest Man (Season 1, Episode 14; Airdate: 4/15/71)
While traveling by train, the outlaws are coerced into joining the railroad owner in a game of poker. All goes well until, once settled at the hotel, they discover the carpetbag Heyes grabbed is actually filled with ladies undergarments and a bag of very valuable rare gems — clearly not belonging to him. Not wanting to jeopardize their shot at amnesty, the right-thinking men decide to return the bag to the railroad owner (played by Severn Dardin in a dual guest role as Mr. Harlingen and his son, Allen). But, of course, getting a hefty reward for their good deed wouldn’t hurt, either.
Journey from San Juan (Season 1, Episode 13; Airdate: 4/8/71)
Hired by the victim’s father to trick a murdering woman (played by Susan Oliver) who has taken refuge in Mexico back over the border into the U.S. to be arrested, Heyes and Curry ingratiate themselves into her busy life as a saloon and hotel owner. Posing as cattle men, they find Michelle (played by Claudine Longet), a beautiful young stowaway hiding in their wagon, and protectively take her back to town. While Heyes amorously sidles up to Blanche only to trap her, the romantic feelings The Kid begins to feel for Michelle are quite real. Nico Minardos, who worked with Pete in the movie Cannon for Cordoba, and also appears in the Alias Smith & Jones episode, “Miracle at Santa Marta” guest-stars here as El Clavo.
The 5th Victim (Season 1, Episode 11; Airdate: 4/1/71)
Players in a poker game Heyes and Curry were a part of start dropping like flies at the hands of a murderer. Heyes tries to convince Kid the victims probably had much more in common than that poker game, but his partner can’t be dissuaded, especially when Heyes is shot in the head and nearly dies. The Kid sets out to solve the murders while his best friend lies unconscious in the home of the ranchers who hired them to rid their property of mountain lions. Guest-starring Joseph Campanella who had worked with Pete before in The Bold Ones, “Trial of a PFC.”
The Root of It All (Season 1, Episode 12; Airdate: 3/25/71)
Another stagecoach hold-up, this time just after Heyes has smugly told a trio of female sightseers that the Wild West is no longer so wild. Heyes and Curry don’t see much reason to go after the bandits for the meager $14 they took from them, but passenger Leslie O’Hara (played by Judy Carne, Pete’s friend and former co-star in Love on a Rooftop) has other ideas and offers them $500 to retrieve the mailbag that was also stolen. It seems she has an important letter in that mailbag, but refuses to disclose what it’s about. Never able to turn down an offer of money for a short day’s work, the outlaws become enmeshed in a story of greed, buried treasure, and feminine wiles.
The Man Who Murdered Himself (Season 1, Episode 10; Airdate: 3/18/71)
With the flip of a coin, the partners decide who should take the job of transporting high explosives across many miles of rough mountainous terrain and who should take the less dangerous job of guiding an archaeological party into Devil’s Hole in search of evidence of a tribe of very tall, red-haired Indians. Kid has lost the coin toss, as usual (primarily because he never asks to see the outcome), and sets out on the shaky journey with the explosives while Heyes becomes tour guide on what turns out to be anything but a safe excursion, since no one on the trip is who they say they are and one is killed. Juliet Mills plays an attractive woman posing as a newlywed. How is it, then, that she shares a kiss with Heyes?
Stagecoach Seven (Season 1, Episode 9; Airdate: 3/11/71)
When their crowded stagecoach is held up and Heyes and Curry recognize one of the robbers, they wonder if the man also recognized them. While the travelers are stopped at a way station, the gang sneaks onto the land and surprises station master Charlie Utley (played by Keenan Wynn) in the barn, with the offer of a deal to give him money in exchange for two of his customers — who they expose as the wanted outlaws Heyes and Curry. The quick-thinking old man agrees, takes the money and then double-crosses the robbers once he gets back inside the station, figuring he might as well get the reward if anyone is going to. Randolph Mantooth, of later Emergency fame, guest-stars as a protective young husband and father.
A Fistful of Diamonds (Season 1, Episode 8; Airdate: 3/4/71)
When they hear that they have been implicated in a bank robbery and murder in Kingsburg, Heyes and Curry set out to clear their names by swindling the bank manager who really committed the crime, and thereby forcing him to confess. Turning once more to their old pal Soapy (again played by Sam Jaffe), they devise a scheme to convince the guilty man that they have found a diamond field, and use Soapy’s collection of uncut diamonds — and the man’s mistress — to set the trap. John McGiver plays August Binford, the crooked bank manager.
Return to Devil’s Hole (Season 1, Episode 7; Airdate: 2/25/71)
In another episode where the partners are split up, Heyes bids Curry farewell as he undertakes a journey to escort a woman into the Devil’s Hole hideout — at great risk not only to her, but to himself. But the money is good and, based on her sad story, he believes the woman needs his help to find her husband who has taken up residence with the gang to hide from a murder charge, which has since been dropped. Once safely in the camp, the story the woman told proves to be untrue — and Heyes pays the price by angering his old friend and current Devil’s Hole Gang leader, Big Jim Santana, whom he is trying to encourage to live a straight life. Fernando Lamas guest- stars as Big Jim and Dennis Fimple reprises his role as loveable gang member Kyle Murtry.
The Great Shell Game (Season 1, Episode 6; Airdate: 2/18/71)
In a plot told in two separate stories that tie together for Heyes and Curry, each has an encounter with a lovely, refined, deceitful woman, Grace Turner (played by Diana Muldaur) for different purposes. Heyes impersonates a silver mine owner to entice the woman into his confidence game — in hopes of conning her out of $10,000 — with excellent results. It isn’t until the story of what happened to his partner and how it nearly shattered the outlaws’ chances at amnesty unfolds that we really understand the woman’s true colors. But is it possible the boys still find her appealing? Sam Jaffe guests as Soapy, a retired grifter, and Peter Breck (of Big Valley fame) also appears.
The Girl in Boxcar #3 (Season 1, Episode 5; Airdate: 2/11/71)
In one of a handful of episodes in which the charismatic pair of outlaws is split up, Kid Curry’s attempt to transport $50,000 in cash from a community bank before it closes is made more difficult by a teenage girl he meets along the way. When the chips are down, Heyes shows up to help his partner. Heather Menzies (The Sound of Music) guest-stars. Alan Hale, of Gilligan’s Island fame, also guests as the banker.
Wrong Train to Brimstone (Season 1, Episode 4; Airdate: 2/4/71)
Almost immediately after selling their horses and gear for an $80 poker stake, the outlaws spot the sheriff of the town, a man who would know them on sight. When they can’t afford to buy back their horses from the greedy liveryman, they end up mugging two men and stealing their train tickets to Brimstone. Once aboard they are surprised and dismayed to find that the train is a decoy, filled with gold and Bannerman detectives set on ambushing and killing the Devil’s Hole Gang — especially Heyes and Curry — when they attempt to rob the train. J.D. Cannon guests in the first of what will be a recurring role as bumbling “Bannerman man” Harry Briscoe.
Exit from Wickenburg (Season 1, Episode 3; Airdate: 1/28/71)
Showing his prowess at poker playing, and spotting the cheaters at his table, Heyes catches the eye of a saloon-owning widow (played by Susan Strasberg), who offers Smith and Jones jobs as saloon managers. Beginning to feel settled into their new jobs and the pleasant town, the outlaws debate the possibility of setting down roots. That is, until they are beaten senseless and dumped outside of town with instructions to leave — and never come back. Not being given to taking orders, the boys set out to find who so badly wants them gone — and why. Guest-star Pernell Roberts (of Bonanza fame) appears again in the second-season episode, “21 Days to Tenstrike.”
The McCreedy Bust (Season 1, Episode 2; Airdate: 1/21/71)
Saddle-sore and road-weary, Heyes and Curry stop in a saloon for some much needed refreshment. An altercation there leads to them taking a job from Big Mac McCreedy (played by Burl Ives) — the town’s bigwig — to retrieve his prized Bust of Caesar from his nemesis across the border, Armendariz (played by Cesar Romero). Heyes brokers a deal for a payday of $20,000, to which McCreedy agrees, but only on the stipulation that the boys give him a sporting chance to win it back in a high-stakes poker game.
Alias Smith and Jones Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1; Airdate: 1/5/71)
Hoping for amnesty from the Governor of Wyoming, Heyes and Curry enlist former gang member Lom Trevors, now a Sheriff, to set up the plan with the Governor. However, they soon find the amnesty they covet has heavy strings attached. They must remain out of trouble for a year to prove they are worthy, and they must keep the plan for amnesty a secret, living under assumed names. And so begin the adventures of Joshua Smith, the smooth-talking, deep-thinking Heyes, and Thaddeus Jones, fast-draw specialist Curry. James Drury plays Lom and Susan Saint James is Miss Porter.