In 1958, Walt Disney Studios released a television miniseries entitled The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca and starring Robert Loggia in the title role.[1] Significant is the care Disney took to depict the famous siege in as authentic a manner as possible, given the known details.[1] Among those who appeared in the series were Skip Homeier, Raymond Bailey, and I. Stanford Jolley. Episodes of the series were later edited into a movie titled Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law, which was released in 1962.
The theme song's tag line was, "And the legend was that / Like el gato, "the cat" / Nine lives had Elfego Baca."
Serials[]
| # | Title | Airdate | Writer(s) | Director(s) | Summaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca | October 3, 1958 | Norman Foster | Norman Foster | Wherever this man went--there was trouble. Death stalked him at every turn. Elfego Baca is "The man who couldn't be killed!" Incredible...but every astounding incident actually happened. |
| 02 | Four Down and Five Lives to Go | October 17, 1958 | Norman Foster | Norman Foster | Elfego is so feared by the bad guys that as sheriff and asks them all to turn themselves in, they almost all do so. Later he is badly injured trying to catch a murderer, and he realizes that being sheriff is not what he is cut out to do. |
| 03 | Elfego Baca: Lawman or Gunman | November 28, 1958 | Maurice Tombragel | Christian Nyby | Elfego tries to defend a rancher whose land is in danger of being stolen by a crooked judge. He is able to overcome capture by the crooks, and escapes just in time to prove his friend the rightful owner of the land. |
| 04 | Law and Order, Incorporated | December 12, 1958 | Maurice Tombragel | Christian Nyby | As a new partner in his law firm, Elfego must try to save the land of a friend whose deeds have been stolen from the archives in Santa Fe. The local banker seems to be one of the crooks. |
| 05 | Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law | February 6, 1959 | Maurice Tombragel | Christian Nyby | Elfego becomes a lawyer, and with his first case, he is to defend an accused thief. He discovers the man is being framed, eventually discovering that the real thief is the local deputy. |
| 06 | The Griswold Murder | February 20, 1959 | Maurice Tombragel | Christian Nyby | Elfego defends a rancher who has been unjustly accused of murder. It is up to Elfego to track down the real murderer, and in doing so, he wins his first case in Santa Fe. |
| 07 | Elfego Baca: Move Along, Mustangers | November 13, 1959 | Maurice Tombragel | George Sherman | Elfego is asked to help the Mustangers, who wants to settle in the area but is being harassed by the local ranchers. When the son of a rancher is captured, the sheriff resigns rather than jail him, and Elfego has to become the law in town. |
| 08 | Elfego Baca: Mustang Man, Mustang Maid | November 20, 1959 | Maurice Tombragel | George Sherman | Elfego continues to help the Mustangers who are being persecuted by the town. After the cattlemen cause a stampede through the Mustangers' crops, Elfego manages to capture the ringleaders and peace comes to the area. |
| 09 | Elfego Baca: Friendly Enemies at Law | March 18, 1960 | Barney Slater | William Beaudine | Attorney Elfego Baca is called on to investigate Rawls Kettrick, a powerful cattle baron. Rawls is accused of trafficking in stolen cattle but proclaims his innocence. As Baca looks into the case the list of suspects grows. |
| 10 | Elfego Baca: Gus Tomlin Is Dead | March 25, 1960 | Fred Freiberger, Arthur E. Orloff | William Beaudine | Elfego travels to Granite searching for Gus Tomlin. He discovers that Tomlin is still living but is being protected by the town because he saved it from a typhoid epidemic. Elfego decides to help the town protect the now honest man. |
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Special edition of American Cowboy magazine. Page 28: "Walt Disney, the only producer of 1950s TV Westerns to focus on minority issues, powerfully told the full story of Baca's career in a ten-episode mini-series for ABC between 1958-1960, starring Robert Loggia. The title The Nine Lives of Elfago Baca, played off the hero's nickname 'El Gato,' the cat."