Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Clu Gulager as Charlie Cobb, discovering his mission isn’t quite completed though he’s delivered Charity to the McVea ranch in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Blair Brown as Charity, the young woman Charlie Cobb is hired to escort to Cactus Creek for a reunion with her father in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Clu Gulager is Charlie Cobb, a private detective working out West and inflating his business expenses to get more money out of his boss every chance he gets.

His latest mission: Escort a pretty young lady named Charity (Blair Brown) to a ranch in Cactus Creek.

Charity is claiming to be the long-lost daughter of a cattle king named McVea (Ralph Bellamy), and there’s already been one attempt on her life.

After all, whoever inherits the McVea ranch lands a prize worth north of $2 million. And five phony daughters pretending to be the real Charity have already shown up, hoping to cash in.

McVea’s second wife Martha (Stella Stevens) and ranch foreman Waco Burns (Christopher Connelly) have grown so suspicious, they won’t let Charity set foot inside the ranch house until Mr. McVea returns home, and he’s in a neighboring town trying to identify a horse thief.

That gives Cobb more time to try to seduce Charity, run afoul of the sheriff (Pernell Roberts) and try to find out more about Miss Adams, a dark-haired beauty who seems to be following him.

Pernell Roberts as Sheriff Josh Yates, ordering Charlie Cobb out of his town as soon as possible in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Stella Stevens as Martha McVea, second wife of a cattle king and stepmom of his long-lost daughter in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Review:

The pilot for a TV series that wasn’t picked up, which might be a good thing since the characters who make this telefilm interesting — Blair Brown, Stella Stevens and Pernell Roberts — presumably wouldn’t have been part of that show.

A couple of plot twists make this watchable. Most of them involve the identity of those trying to keep a real Charity from reuniting with her father.

The subplot involving Miss Adams, however, comes off as a silly diversion. After telling Gulagar she specializes in personal services and sending his libido into overdrive with thoughts of what they might mean, she turns out to be a fellow detective working with the Pinkertons.

Tricia O’Neill as Miss Adams, the lovely lass who specializes in personal servies and seems to be following Charlie Cobb in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Christopher Connelly as Waco Burns, the young man who counted on inheriting the McVea spread, until Charity shows up in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Directed by:
Richard Michaels

Cast:
Clu Gulager … Charlie Cobb
Ralph Bellamy … McVea
Blair Brown … Charity
Christopher Connelly … Waco Burns
George Furth … Tobias Conroy
Carmen Mathews … Miss Cumberland
Tricia O’Neil … Angelica
Pernell Roberts … Sheriff Josh Yates
Stella Stevens … Martha McVea
Josh Taylor … Virg
Ted Chapman … Potter
Wallace Rooney … Editor
Madison Arnold … Guthrie
Bob Neill … Thatcher
Jack Garner … Station master
Peter Looney … Preacher

Runtime: 100 min.

Ralph Bellamy as cattle king McVea, questioning the young woman who claims to be his long-lost daughter in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Madison Arnold as Guthrie, the man hired to make sure Charity doesn’t reach Cactus Creek in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Memorable lines:

Charity, when a holdup man stops the stage on which they’re riding: “Shouldn’t you shoot him or something?”
Charlie Cobb: “I’d like to oblige, but my gun’s in my saddlebags.”
Charity: “Why aren’t you wearing it?”
Cobb: “Because it tends to get dangerous.”

Charity: “Mr. Cobb, be careful. You’ve been so brave through all of this, I want you to know, I’m very grateful.”
Charlie Cobbs re-enters her room, hopefully.
Charity, smirking: “Not that grateful.”

Charity, when Waco suggests her father would be pleased if they became a couple: “Mr. Burns, I’m sorry if my sudden appearance has upset your plans. But when, and if, I let a man come courting, it will have something to do with my happiness and not my father’s.”

Sheriff Yates, abandoning Charlie to a possible lynch mob: “Why, Mr. Cobb, I’m leavin’ my best man to protect you. Just make sure you stay away from short ropes and tall trees. Ya hear?”

Blair Brown as Charity and Clu Gulager as Charlie Cobb, reacting to the stagecoach being stopped in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Stella Stevens as Martha McVea and George Furth as family attorney Tobia Conroy, reacting to McVea’s acceptance of Charity as his daughter in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Tricia O’Neil as Angelia Adams, showing up fireside to the surprise of Charlie Cobb in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)

Clu Gulager as Charlie Cobb, reminding Charity he saved her life twice, in hopes of spending the night in Charlie Cobb, Nice Night for a Hanging (1977)