You Bette Your Life

A while back, I wrote here about how Have Gun, Will Travel had SO many great movie people (actors, writers and directors), and Wanted: Dead or Alive was pretty good, too.

Well, last night I might have topped them both, and on a different show, which I almost never watch – Wagon Train. 

I usually don’t even check its listings.  For some reason, I did a couple nights ago.  And the description didn’t list who any guest stars were, so I ignored it.  Later, though, I was browsing the schedule again, so Wagon Train and decided to click the remote button for more information, which brought up photos of the cast.  And to my shock, after all the photos of the series regulars, was – Bette Davis!  I thought it had to be a mistake, maybe an actress with the same name (though “Betty”), and they put up the wrong picture.  But I checked out, just in case.  And sure enough, it was Bette Davis.  Unfortunately, it was the last two minutes, so I missed the show.  But – it’s being repeated, and I’ve set the DVR to record it.

I have no idea why she was on Wagon Train.  Maybe it was a period when she wasn’t getting enough film work, and she did a bunch of TV.  Maybe she had friends on Wagon Train (like Ward Bond), and did it as a favor.  Maybe she liked the show and thought it would be fun to do.  She did do a little television at that time, most notably filling in for Raymond Burr on Perry Mason when he was ill, serving as the defense attorney in "The Case of Constant Doyle."  And she even made a pilot in 1962, though the series wasn't picked up.  So, who knows??  

If you’re interested, although the first airing was on the INSP channel (for Inspiration), the repeat in on something called FETV, the Family Entertainment TV channel.  On my Spectrum system, it’s channel 477.  I doubt if it would be the same everywhere – especially if not on Spectrum.  It’s being repeated this coming Sunday, November 21 at 1 PM Los Angeles time – so that would be 4 PM in the East, and 3 PM Central time.  The name of the episode is “The Elizabeth McQueeny Story.”

​Set your DVR...

Or, you can just watch it embedded below!  The image is fine, though runs a little weirdly.  But she's in the very first scene -- and given a proper entrance, since they knew who they were dealing with -- so, even if you watch only the first minute below and prefer to try and watch the whole thing better on the rerun, that little alone will be fun to see.