"Annie Oakley" (1954) TV series 1954-1956

Directors:

Thomas Carr
Don McDougall

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

January 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A fictionalized account of the life of legendary Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Set in the quiet western town of Diablo...

Plot Keywords:

Sharpshooter | Deputy Sheriff | Deputy | Annie Oakley | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Gail Davis	...	Annie Oakley (81 episodes, 1954-1957)
Brad Johnson	...	Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig / ... (81 episodes, 1954-1957)
Jimmy Hawkins	...	Tagg Oakley (80 episodes, 1953-1957)
Bob Woodward	...	Stagecoach Driver / ... (37 episodes, 1954-1957)

Runtime:

30 min (81 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Annie Oakley Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Annie rode Target, Lofty rode Forest, and Tagg rode Pixie.

Movie Connections:

Version of Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

Annie Rides The Range

Let me start out by saying that this show had absolutely nothing to do with the life and times of the real Annie Oakley. The real Annie was an honest to God deadly markswoman, but who was born and raised in the Wild West of Ohio. I'm not sure where the television Annie did her exploits in the Hollywood Never Never Land of the Old West, but it was definitely west of the Mississippi. Possibly in Colorado because.....

Annie was the niece of the sheriff who we never saw. One of the things I remember about this series was that several times the excuse why the sheriff wasn't around was that he was 'delivering a prisoner to Denver'. Hence I assume that's where the Oakleys resided.

Gail Davis played Annie. I still remember her in those cowgirl outfits in rather juvenile looking pigtails. The fashion may have been some of Dale Evans's castoffs, but it was deliberately so because this wholesome girl in pigtails fooled many an outlaw into not taking her seriously to their regret. Gail Davis was Gene Autry's leading lady in several of his later westerns and he managed her career.

The sheriff left his deputy, Lofty Craig as played by Brad Johnson. Given the mores of the Fifties, Lofty was always in trouble and every week the law needed the assistance of sharpshooting Annie.

If Lofty wasn't in trouble it was her brother Tagg. Tagg was played by Jimmy Hawkins who is probably best known as one of the Bailey children from It's A Wonderful Life. Annie was constantly coming to his aid.

I'm sure a whole generation of feminists saw Annie Oakley as kids and saw a woman could compete in a man's world most successfully. As did the real Annie Oakley in her career.

One of those kids who saw and liked Annie Oakley was my sister Nancy who's no longer with us as is Gail Davis. And this review is dedicated to a show she was crazy about as a child.