OUTCASTS, THE: MY NAME IS JEMAL (TV)
Summary
One in this western series about two heroes, one white and one African-American, who form an uneasy partnership as they travel around the Wild West.
Jemal plays cards at a saloon the night before he is to depart on a stagecoach with Earl. However, he is slipped drugged whisky by a group of buffalo soldiers and passes out. He awakens the next morning, handcuffed in the back of a wagon. He pleads to be let out but is refused, and one of the men escorting him refers to him as “Taggert.” Earl waits in town; he and Jemal have signed on to guard a shipment of gold being delivered south. The real Taggert poses as Jemal and robs the gold shipment, killing the stage drive in the process. The stage returns to town and Earl learns of “Jemal’s” actions, much to his shock. Jemal continues to try to convince his captors that he is not Taggert, but they do not listen. Earl escapes town before he can be taken in, as some believe that he is an accomplice to the robbery. He rides off and finds the empty strongbox where the gold was kept, now discarded on the side of the road. He is followed closely behind by a posse from town. Meanwhile, Jemal is delivered to another town to await execution; Taggert, the man he has replaced, was a military commander court-martialed for killing a traitor under his command. He is considered a hero by the men under his command, particularly the African-American soldiers, and so his execution is ordered to be “quick and painless” so as not to affect “morale.” Jemal attempts to explain himself to the marshal and believes that if they can find Earl, the truth would be made plain.
Earl manages to delay his pursuers by unhitching their horses while they are asleep and running off with them. Taggert continues to flee along with his wife Michelle, hoping to start a new life for themselves with the stolen gold. Earl comes upon them and Taggert shoots his horse to prevent him from pursuing them. The executioner hired to hang Jemal, a local sheriff, starts to believe his claims, although the marshal is insistent that he is simply drunk and making up an elaborate alibi. They argue about the situation; the buffalo soldiers under Taggert’s command are thought to be totally loyal to the army, but the executioner believes that they may have had more loyalty to Taggert as a fellow runaway slave. Earl continues to evade his pursuers by hiding in tall grass and disguising himself as a shepherd. He receives a new horse and supplies from a farmer whom Taggert once saved. An old ally of Taggert’s comes to visit the prison and pay his last respects, and this helps confirm Jemal’s supposed identity in the eyes of the marshal. Jemal protests and learns about Taggert’s robbery.
Jemal makes an escape attempt by using his leg irons as a means of bashing out the bars of his cell window; his fellow prisoners sing a loud spiritual so that the guards will not overhear his attempt. He is successful and steals a horse, riding off into the night. Meanwhile Taggert and Michelle take shelter in an old abandoned church during a raging storm, struggling to stay warm. Earl finds them and tries to speak to them, and Jemal comes upon him during this. Taggert fires upon both of them, and they fight back. They manage to shoot Taggert, and he dies in Michelle’s arms. She asks to be left alone with him, and Earl and Jemal depart, resuming their journey together. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:51:07
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 123443
- GENRE: Drama, western
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; TV - Drama, western
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1968-1969
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Hugh Benson … Executive Producer, Developed by
- Jon Epstein … Producer
- Sheldon Schrager … Associate Producer
- Louis H. Goldstein … Associate Producer
- Harvey Hart … Director
- Leon Tokatyan … Created by
- Ben Brady … Created by
- Gerry Day … Writer
- Hugo Montenegro … Music by
- Don Murray … Cast, Earl Corey
- Otis Young … Cast, Jemal David
- James Edwards … Cast, Taggert
- Janee Michelle … Cast, Michelle
- Roy Jenson … Cast, Ben
- Arthur Franz … Cast, Anse Farnum
- John Marley … Cast, Bricker
- Walter Brooke … Cast, Trask
- Charles Dierkop … Cast, Jeeter