Jericho (2000)

Mark Valley plays Jericho, a man who tries to prevent a payroll robbery, kills one of the robbers, gets smacked over the head and knocked unconscious by a woman and is dumped along the railroad tracks by the two remaining bandits.

He’s found and nursed back to health by a bible-quoting drifter named Joshua (Leon Coffee). But he can’t remember who he is or how he came to be in that situation.

Joshua names him Jericho, after the town he found him near.

And then they head off together, figuring Jericho is probably a wanted man.

Their journeys take them on a cattle drive in Texas, gold mining in California and homesteading on a ranch.

Then Jericho, haunted by occasional images from his past, decides it’s time to head back to New Mexico and back to Jericho, the town where he’s supposed to have committed a murder.

Mark Valley as Jericho, a man being ordered out of his old hometown in Jericho (2000)

Leon Coffee as Joshua, the man who saves Jericho, then becomes his friend in Jericho (2000)

Review:

Better than average handling of the story, even if all the loose ends wrap up a bit too nicely — on Christmas day, the seven-year anniversary of Jericho’s disappearance, no less. We don’t fully understand how Jericho got into this situation until the final 15 minutes or so.

Buck Taylor, who made a name for himself on “Gunsmoke” and appears as a guest star in a number of more recent Westerns, has one of his most extensive roles here, as boss of a cattle drive.

This is one of the few non-TV roles for Valley, who got his start on Days of Our Lives and is best known for his roles as Brad Chase on Boston Legal and Christopher Chance in the lead role on a FOX TV series named Human Target.

R. Lee Ermey as the marshal who tries to track down those responsible for the robbery in Jericho (2000)

Mogana Shaw as Mildred Flynn, the ‘school teacher’ whose boyfriend plans the robbery in Jericho (2000)

Directed by:
Merlin Miller

Cast:
Mark Valley … Jericho
Leon Coffee … Joshua
R. Lee Ermey … Marshal
Lisa Stewart … Mary
Mark Collie … Johnny O
Morgana Shaw … Mildred Flynn
Buck Taylor … Pap Doolin
Kateri Walker … Calypso
Kevin Stapleton … Jack Berry
Renny Rozzoni … Ben
Kyle Ingram … Will Jr. at 17

Runtime: 101 min.

Lisa Stewart as Mary, wife of the sheriff of Jericho in Jericho (2000)

Kyle Ingram as Will Jr., son of the lawman killed in Jericho seven years earlier in Jericho (2000)

Memorable lines:

Outlaw, a Jericho straps on a gun to challenge him and two others: “Mister, there’s three of us. Just who the hell do you think you are?”
Jericho: “I don’t know.”

Buck Taylor as Pap Doolin, the cattleman who hires on Jericho and Joshua in Jericho (2000)

Mark Collie as Johnny O, a gunman who rides with Pap Doolin in Jericho (2000)

Renny Rozzoni as Ben, leader of the three men who steal a payroll in Jericho (2000)

Kateri Walker as Calypso, the Indian girl Joshua marries in Jericho (2000)

David Alvarado as the Mexico rustler who tries to steal Doolin’s cattle in Jericho (2000)

Mark Valley as Jericho, springing into action in a scrape with rowdy youngsters in Jericho (2000)