A Pleasant Southern Surprise

Sometimes something good happens when you aren’t expecting it. I have discovered, quite by accident, a 1959-1961 television show, “The Rebel,” which I have been streaming with pleasure for several weeks. The show is a wonderful contrast to the ignorant, vile, and dishonest portrayals of Confederates that have appeared in the “entertainment” media in recent decades.


“The Rebel” reminds us that hate-Dixie was not always the prevailing case in American popular culture. In better times all the major Hollywood stars played admirable Confederates in the movies: John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, Martin Sheen, Allan Ladd, Charlton Heston, William Holden, Victor Mature, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, Clint Eastwood, and many more I could mention. And I am not even counting the Southern-born like Randolph Scott, Joseph Cotten, or Audie Murphy.


“The Rebel” ran for 2 seasons with 76 half-hour episodes. The main character is an ex-Confederate roaming the wide West. He is still in Confederate clothes, which are probably among the few clothes that he has, and thus is recognizable by friend or foe wherever he goes. He is satisfied that the war is over but has no apologies for his proud service in the Confederate army.


He is a good man. He always helps out people in trouble and only kills Yankees and Indians when it is unavoidable. He keeps a diary of the stories he experiences in his wide travels. Perhaps he will be a writer someday.


The plots are mostly quite good. The historical settings of the rough West and its people are mostly authentic, which cannot be said about most War Between the States or “Westerns” shows even from earlier days. Jefferson and Varina Davis even appear in an episode. Johnny Cash does the theme song: “The Rebel, Johnny Yuma.”


“The Rebel” is Nick Adams, the screen name of a Ukrainian-American from the Pennsylvania coal fields. He does not have the accent but many of the characters do. He plays very well and convincingly, a good man—modest and independent but just and charitable, as well a good fighter with fist, Colt, and sawed off scatter-gun. The fine actor, born Nicolas Adamshock, died at 36 under unclear circumstances.