Barbarian coast on the wild, wild west The western genre is a nursed child of American cinema, born in the era of the youth of cinema itself. With the development of television, this vast layer of American culture quickly settled into a new environment and spawned hundreds of projects.
In the 1970s, the western genre overtook an ideological crisis and many series in this style died ingloriously, not standing in the fight of ratings.
One such project was the CBS series Barbarian Coast, funded by Paramount Studios. It lasted only one season, counting 13 episodes and a full-length pilot.
The production company invited William Shatner to the lead role, who headed a full-fledged television project for the first time since the legendary days of Star Trek. Creator and ideological inspirer of the series Douglas Hayes chose Shatner Dennis Cole as partners.
The pilot episode defined the genre contours and overall tone of the series. The historic scenery recreates the remote, fun, frivolous atmosphere of San Francisco in the 1870s – a special period in the life of America, which survived the chaos of the Civil War. A surge in crime has swept the city. And the name of the series - "Barbarian Coast", awakening allusions to the eponymous film melodrama of 1935, aptly describes not the exemplary morals of postwar society.
Shatner's hero is Governor Jeff Cable's secret agent, who curbs crime, fights foreign agents and restores law and order in this abode of lawlessness. Like Artemus Gordon, the hero of the famous 1960s series Wild, Wild West, Shatner’s character is forced to constantly try on new images and keep his cover, because conspiracy is the only way to avoid exposure and fight criminals, using the effect of surprise. And Cable brilliantly transforms into dozens of images, crushing criminal personalities of all stripes with invariable irony, endurance and truly brilliant calculation. Shatner’s play is impeccable, he draws details of each image of Cable, and hiding under the mask of another character, he masterfully changes plasticity, facial expressions and funny imitates accents of different regions of America. And the charm, intelligence and wit of a secret agent can envy even James Bond. An excellent example of Shatner's acting work in the light genre.
Partner, friend and assistant Cable in a difficult and dangerous case to combat crime – Cash Conover, owner of the saloon and casino “Golden Gate”, a professional card player, a virtuoso cheater and a pragmatic businessman. Conover expresses his life credo in the laconic phrase “Cash does not make enemies.” The pilot series reveals a key detail in the relationship between Cable and Conover - in a duel, Cash killed the governor's son, repelling the nefarious maneuver of the enemy. Cable saves Conover from the vengeful governor, but from now on, as a return service, the Golden Gate becomes Cable's safe house, from where he leads his uncompromising fight against crime. But Conover's involvement in Cable's affairs is not limited to this - the agent, masterfully manipulating his friend's conscience, constantly involves him in his investigations. In the pilot series, Cash's character was entrusted to a very venerable television star Cole. Cold, arrogant, aristocratic and condescending to the eccentricities of Cable Conover performed by Cole matched the original concept of the series, conceived by Hayes. However, after the launch of the project, Hayes was replaced by Cy Chermak, who revised the overall idea of the series, giving it more frivolity, irony and light, sparkling humor. And therefore, the character of Cash is transformed - a detached, refined southern gentleman disappears and he is replaced by a broken, life-loving, simple crook performed by Doug McClure - the star of the long-running 1960s series "Virgins". It was on the set of "The Virgin" that McClure and Shatner met for the first time - Shatner twice participated in this series as a guest star - in 1965 and 1969. And it was McClure, the owner of an incredibly organic comic gift, who managed to create an extremely successful duet with Shatner. Their interaction in the frame is a joy for the eyes. In the relationship of a secret agent and a card player, faithful friendship and funny clashes of their completely different characters are mixed in impeccable proportions. And the sparkling, witty dialogues are simply amazing.
It is worth noting the work of screenwriters who created virtuoso, conscientiously thought out intricacies of storylines. The story of the next investigation of Cable, unfolding in each series is a real masterpiece that requires a certain erudition of the viewer. Cable quotes Bulwer-Lytton in a very original context, the circumstances of the case make the viewer recall the history of the French annexation of the island of Tahiti and the role of Queen Pomare in these events, reflect on the fate of Lincoln’s killer John Wilkes Booth or reflect on the war crimes of the Civil War. All this dynamic, colored with rich colors of humor action is accompanied by dashing, fervent music of John Tartaglia - another wonderful detail of this series.
Barbarian Coast is a self-contained, perhaps not original, but an original and solid product of American television. His ambiguity, his idiosyncraticness, are disguised under false frivolity, just as Cable is under the thick layer of makeup of his next character. Perhaps it was the lack of one-dimensionality in it that doomed this project to ruin, since the new standards of television of the 1970s dictated completely different requirements, and the expectations of the audience were focused on different plots.
Every moment of this series definitely deserves a score of 10 out of 10.
