After the runaway success of Davy Crockett, Walt Disney was looking for some other interesting characters to feature on his show Walt Disney Presents.  His writers naturally went to the same well for inspiration that spawned the Crockett series: American history.  This latest edition in the Walt Disney Treasures series focuses on two historical character that were portrayed on Disney's show:  Elfego Baca, based on the gunfighter/sherrif/lawyer of that name, and The Swamp Fox, a Revolutionary War series based on the exploits of Francis Marion.  These are two very fun and exciting shows that are enjoyable for the whole family.  While they may take some liberties with real history, they are never the less good drama.

Elfego Baca:

There were ten episodes of this western tale produced, and this DVD presents the first two and the fifth.  They are:  The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca, Four Down and Five Lives to Go and Attorney at Law.

The legend of Elfego Baca (Robert Loggia) starts in 1884 when he rides into Frisco New Mexico as a drunken cowboy is shooting up the town.  With the local sherif too afraid of the man's friends to arrest him, Baca deputizes himself and arrests the man.  When his buddies come riding after Baca, he hides in an adobe hut where he holds off their barrage for 33 hours.  Although the lynch mob shot over 4000 rounds of ammunition into the hut, Elfego Baca was unharmed.  This gives him the reputation that he's invincible.

He's a fair and honest man, not to mention fearless, so the locals elect him sherif.  The second episode deals with his time as a law man.  His quick draw, calm manner, and reputation for having nine lives keeps the peace in town mostly, but not always.  In one instance Elfego had to track down a murderer known only as "El Sinverguenza" (The Shameless One). He traces him south of the Mexican border, where he has no authority, but even international law won't stop the lawman from bringing in his man.

The last episode jumps forward a little to the time when Baca was a lawyer.  In this episode he has to defend a one-time bank robber who has apparently lapsed back into his old ways.  Elfego is certain that the man is innocent, and must piece together the evidence to prove it to a jury.  Annette Funicello has a small role.

These were some fun and exciting episodes, just the thing that Disney was known for back in the 50's.  The first episode hits the ground running with a gun fight minutes into the show, and it doesn't let up.  This is just the short of show I loved to see on Disney back when I was watching it the late 60's.  Baca was cool and collected and always seemed to be in control.  In one episode, he is apparently shot in the street just as he fires a round from his gun at a villain.  A priest runs up to him and in a weak voice Baca says "You better hurry and administer the last rights."  As the priest starts chanting in Latin Elfego looks up and says "Not to me, to him!"  and points to his quarry lying dead on the ground.  It's that humor and nonchalant attitude that makes the character so fun.

Robert Loggia did a great job in the role.  He was the only one that who didn't overact. Most of the other actors pound their fists and thump their chests as they threaten Elfego Baca, but Loggia underplayed the part which made it all the more enjoyable.

The Swamp Fox:

The first three adventures of this real life Revolutionary War hero are presented on disc two.  They are: The Birth of the Swamp Fox, Brother Against Brother, and Tory Vengance.

In this rollicking first episode, the officers of the garrison in Charleston are at a party when Colonel Francis Marion (Leslie Nielsen) realizes that the British are about to attack.  With the officers too drunk to mount an effective fight, Marion rides to the garrison and escorts the general's wife along with the Governor to safety.   This he does and then hides from the Red Coats in the swamps around Snow Island.  With his brother captured by the enemy, Francis leads a daring raid to rescue the prisoners.  This causes the leader of the British Dragoons to label Marion "The Swamp Fox."

In the next episode, Marion gets quite a shock.  The British have been burning the houses and barns of patriots, including the home of Marion's brother.  A group of men want to march into town and burn the homes of Tory sympathizers, including that of Francis' fiancee.  He rides ahead of the mob and discovers a party in full bloom, and his betrothed dancing with a British officer.

The disc wraps up with an episode in which the British suspect Marion's finacee of being a spy.  In addition to this tricky situation, one of the supporting characters meets an untimely end.

This show was pretty good, but not quite as entertaining as Elfego Baca.  While there was a good amount of action, the earlier show had a bit more, but this is still great TV.  Leslie Nielsen does a great job as the elusive and resorceful Swamp Fox, and the supporting actors also give solid performances.  Be sure to look for Patrick Macnee who would later go on to star in The Avengers.  In the first episode he plays a British officer.

These two discs come in a double width keepcase which is housed in a tin case.  The sets are limited to 125,000 copies, and a numbers certificate is enclosed along with an insert reproducing the cover of a Walt Disney Presents comic book which features both shows presented in this collection.  There is also an 8-page booklet included.

The main complaint I have with this set, and it is a significant one, is that they didn't present either of these series in their entirety.  It would have been an much stronger entry into the series if all eight Swamp Fox episodes were presented.  They even skip over a couple Elfego Baca episodes for some inexplicable reason.  It has been shown that the "best of" releases aren't what the public wants.  They prefer complete sets.  I'm astounded that Disney has picked up on that.  As it is, I feel the odds of getting the rest of these series released on DVD are fairly small.

Audio:

The two channel mono soundtrack is fine for TV shows this old.  There is a little distortion through both programs, and the soundtrack is a little flat.  They assuredly sound better than they did when originally broadcast though.

Video:

Both of these shows are presented with a full frame color image, though they were broadcast in black and white.  (The opening credits for Walt Disney Presents as well as Disney's introductions are in black and white though.)  The image is very good, especially for TV shows this old.  The colors are bright and the details are fine.  There was some light print damage, some reel change marks and occasional spots, but these don't mar the presentation.

Extras:

The Walt Disney Treasures series are usually filled with bonus features, but this set is an exception to that rule.  In addition to the introductions by Leonard Maltin, disc one has The Many Lives of Robert Loggia, a 17-minute interview between Leonard Maltin and Robert Loggia who stared in the series.  Loggia talks about how he was cast, working with Walt Disney, and some behind the scenes anecdotes.  It was a very interesting and fun interview.  There are also image galleries for both shows.

The second disc has an 18-minute featurette, Walt Disney Presents Heroes of the American Frontier.  This has film historians and authors discussing the popular 'Frontierland' segments of Walt Disney Presents including the origins of the productions and how the public liked them.

Final Thoughts:

These are two very enjoyable shows that are a lot of fun to watch.  They've aged very well, still retaining a lot of their appeal even 40 years after they first aired.  I was very disappointed that Disney didn't release these series in their entirety, and the fact that they skipped two episodes of  Elfego Baca seems to indicate that they aren't planning on releasing the rest.  Though this set is a little lite on extras when compared to the other Disney Treasure tins, the image is very good and the sound acceptable.  Recommended.