THE O. HENRY PLAYHOUSE was a 1957 syndicated TV series lasting 43 episodes, starring Thomas Mitchell as the celebrated 19th century author and raconteur native to New York. "Two Renegades" was only the fourth to air, featuring a highly intriguing cast, topped by the legendary John Carradine, with up and comers Charles Bronson and John Cassavetes. The year is 1905, 40 years since the Civil War ended, but Doc Millikan (Carradine), from Yazoo City, Mississippi, still harbors resentment for how his beloved Confederacy met its defeat, still convinced that they had the upper hand over the North. Bronson plays adventurous soldier of fortune Barney O'Keefe, whose stay in Panama is almost cut short by a near fatal illness, successfully treated by Doc Millikan. The grateful O'Keefe decides to forsake his Massachusetts roots and join his savior's 40 year old cause before returning to New York, where he is befriended by O. Henry (Thomas Mitchell), who then journeys down to Panama to discover the unrepentant doctor about to face a firing squad. The problem is how the famed author can save the unsuspecting O'Keefe from a similar fate before time runs out. This was the last reunion for Thomas Mitchell and John Carradine, co-stars in two of John Ford's best remembered classics, "The Hurricane" and "Stagecoach," coming two years after they appeared together in a CLIMAX! adaptation of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." This was only the beginning for Carradine and Charles Bronson, soon to star together in "Showdown at Boot Hill," then years later a final Western in 1977, "The White Buffalo."
