Zane Grey Theatre: Calico Bait (1960)

Inger costarred with Robert Culp in the Calico Bait episode of Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre. This episode served as episode 26 of season 4 and aired on March 31, 1960. Recently, someone on Youtube shared the full episode in colorized form (it was originally aired in black and white) and you can watch that episode by clicking here. If you have not watched it, you may want to so that the rest of this post does not spoil the story for you.

Inger stars as Beth Watkins, a woman in love with a fugitive named Davey Morse (Burt Douglas). Beth has no one else to depend on (her parents have died) and believes that Davey is innocent of the murder he’s accused. When he abandons her on horse and instructs her to lead a deputy to Chino Rocks by nightfall, Beth is hesitant at first, but quickly agrees to it. Davey praises her, saying “You’re never scared. That’s the only thing about you that scares me.” 

Actor Bob Culp is Deputy Sam Anders and he comes across Beth, mistaking her—in western wear and hair up in a hat—for Davey. Beth clearly has contempt for the deputy and every comment she makes to him is brusque and tinged with criticism. When he captures her, Beth responds, “You’re kind of handsome, you know? Now that I see past that badge. Don’t take much of a man to capture a woman.”

 

The deputy assumes that he is using Beth as bait to entice Davey, not realizing that Davey is also using Beth as bait to reel in the deputy. Beth cannot believe that the deputy has accused Davey of murder, responding, “Nobody saw it. Davey couldn’t kill anyone.” Beth attempts to escape Sam when they stop at a saloon. She begs two men to free her, but doesn’t realize how impure their intentions are. The men follow Sam and Beth back to camp. While one man attacks the deputy, the other man attempts to assault Beth. When Sam takes a bullet to the shoulder in rescuing Beth, Beth’s feelings about her captor begin to change. She remarks, “You didn’t have to get yourself shot at. Why’d ya take the chance?...I’m grateful. You’ll never know how grateful I am.” 

Despite her gratitude, Beth continues to lead the deputy to Chino Rocks. When he realizes that he’s in danger and looks to Beth for answers, she calls out, “I had a great choice. Leave you back there to die or bring you here to get shot at. At least here you’ve got a chance.”

Beth soon understands that Davey is more ruthless than she knew. As the deputy is cornered, Beth assumes Davey will let him go. To Davey, Beth pleads for Sam's safety, “He did a decent thing for me. You listen to me...to my feelings. Or maybe you don’t know I got any? I’m in love with someone who didn’t know a thing about me.” As Davey raises his gun to kill Sam, Beth realizes she’s been in love with a murderer. She shoots Davey to save Sam. Numb at what has taken place, Beth ends the episode with the words, “I didn’t really know him. I didn’t know him. You look for something, somebody, you look everywhere. All you find are strangers.”

Inger’s television roles are always compelling and the character of Beth is no different. Inger simply had a discerning eye when it came to the roles she selected. As Beth, Inger delivers perhaps more scathing lines than we typically hear from her. Beth is a world-weary woman who’s been let down by her father and has made the mistake of falling in love with the wrong man—Inger could certainly relate to those facets of Beth. 

Beth has a tough exterior, but we are able to see her softness and her goodness shine as she makes critical decisions throughout the episode. It is this depth of feeling and a complexity of character that Inger supplies time and time again, role after role.