"Young Billy Young" and Bad John Behan

Hi!

Some rare color promo slides from the 1969 feature film Young Billy Young recently joined the Kellection. This western stars Robert Mitchum as deputy marshal "Ben Kane" and Angie Dickinson as dance-hall gal "Lily Beloit".

 

Jack Kelly plays a natty but nasty supporting character named "John Behan" in Young Billy Young. Behan owns the Gaslight Saloon where Lily dances and considers Lily his property as well.

In reality, John Harris (or "Johnny") Behan was the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, when the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred in Tombstone in 1881.

The John Behan whom JK portrays in Young Billy Young also differs from the historical Behan in other ways. In addition to serving as a lawman, the real Behan was a prison warden (among various other occupations) and died of natural causes at age 67, whereas JK's fictionalized version is shot dead in the film.

And, while the historical Behan was a known womanizer who had a common-law relationship with a "soiled dove" named Josephine (a.k.a "Sada", "Sadie" or "Sarah") Marcus, it's doubtful he treated her like JK's version treats Lily in the film. 

 

After the fictionalized Behan accuses Lily of cheating on him with Kane, he savagely beats her.

As I've said before, this Behan is a very bad guy, but JK does a very good job of portraying him.

Please stay tuned for more about JK and his many roles  in TDS!

"A Safe Journey" With JK! :)

 

Hello Everyone!

Did you enjoy seeing Jack Kelly in The Silent Service? (Silly question... ;->)

Well, get ready for another blast from JK's pre-Maverick past: "Safe Journey", a suspenseful episode of The Star and The Story, an anthology series which originally aired 1955-'56.

"Safe Journey" (2/5/1955) was directed by Blake Edwards before he hit it big with Richard Diamond, Mr. Lucky, Peter Gunn and The Pink Panther franchise. Edwards also wrote the 1954 feature film Drive A Crooked Road, which co-starred JK.

Below are some screencaps of "Safe Journey" from a DVD in the Kellection. (And, stay tuned for a special video clip at the end!) :)

 As host/star Frank Lovejoy explains in his introduction to the episode, "Safe Journey" is about some "people on a train...and who they are, and what they are...and, if they are what they say they are."

Two of the people who will be on the train are Sam Neeley (Lovejoy) and his traveling companion (JK). When we first see them, they appear to be businessmen having coffee before their departure:

 

 

However, Neeley's companion seems anxious to leave...

 

 

...and we soon learn why:

 

 

Neeley is actually a prisoner on his way to testify in an underworld trial and the other man is a detective assigned to make sure he gets there.

 

The detective vigilantly observes everything and everyone around him, including a woman glancing at Neeley from the train window:

 

 

 

He remains on edge on the train, while Neeley relaxes with a book:

 

 

The detective suspects that nearly anyone on board could be out to "spring" Neeley.  He draws his gun when a nearsighted passenger blunders into their compartment:

 

 

He's still tense at dinner, when the mysterious woman from the window joins the pair and claims to be a reporter who's dying to get the scoop on Neeley:

 

 

 

The detective doesn't believe her story and tells her there will be no interview with the convict. She doesn't take "No" for an answer, though, and sneaks into their compartment. The detective raises his gun...

 

 

...but the lady winds up with his weapon...

 

 

...and the detective winds up unconscious!

 

 

When he comes to, he thinks the woman helped Neeley escape and starts to panic. But, the porter tells him not to worry...

 

 

...because the lady really is a reporter and Neeley is still on the train:

 

 

Now the detective can relax:

 

 

 

 

 

JK, as always, is wonderful (and wonderfully handsome) in "Safe Journey". In a role reversal, he would later play the prisoner on a different train, in the Maverick episode "The Third Rider", when Bart is falsely accused of being a bank robber.

 

Now, here's the clip I told you about:

 

 

Please stay tuned for more journeys with JK in TDS! :)