The Quest (1976)

Tim Matheson is Quinton Beaudine, a young doctor who tracks down brother Morgan (Kurt Russell), who had been captured by the Cheyenne eight years earlier.

Next, the two set out to find their sister, who was taken captive at the same time as Morgan.

Morgan — he prefers to go by his given Indian named Two Persons — also has a score to settle with and Indian scout.

That scout led a massacre of his Cheyenne Indian village and killed Morgan’s young wife.

Their journey has barely began when they chase off some would-be rustlers preparing to ambush a small cattle drive led by Tank Logan (Brian Keith).

Logan, a partially paralyzed, ex-bounty hunter turned cattleman, takes a liking to the young men and hires them on. After all, they’ll need money to finance their search.

They wind up in the wide-open town of Cheyenne, where Morgan falls in love with a prostitute from China, rides a camel in a horse race and is reunited with that Indian scout.

What he and his brother don’t know is that those cattle they just helped drive to market were stolen.

Kurt Russell as Morgan Beaudine, ready to embark on a personal quest for vengeance in The Quest (1976)

Tim Matheson as Quinton Beaudine, trying to convince Tank Logan to give him a lesson in six-guns in The Quest (1976)

Review:

A pretty well-done TV movie that served as the pilot for a short-lived series by the same name. The series ran for just 11 weeks on NBC during the fall of 1976, opposite ABC’c “Charlie’s Angles.”

This pilot benefits from one of Brian Keith’s better performances in a Western. He’s an aging rascal who doesn’t regret one damn thing about a life in which he’s done enough to hang “at least once.”

Most of the other guest stars — from Cameron Mitchell to Neville Brand — have bit parts. Irene Yah-Ling Sun plays China, the girl Morgan tries to “save” from her life of ill repute only to find that she doesn’t need or want to be “saved.”

From an action standpoint, the camel vs. horse race is an interesting change of pace. The riders have trouble keeping their mounts headed in the right direction and nearly destroys a saloon in the process.

Brian Keith as Tank Logan, a man with questions about camels in The Quest (1976)

Cameron Mitchell as Shadrack Peltzer, the lawman on the trail of Tank Logan in The Quest (1976)

Directed by:
Lee H. Katzin

Cast:
Kurt Russell … Morgan Beaudine / Two Persons
Tim Matheson … Quinton Beaudine
Brian Keith … Tank Logan
Keenan Wynn … H.H. Small
Irene Yah-Ling Sun … China
Cameron Mitchell … Shadrack Peltzer
Morgan Woodward … Sheriff Moses
Neville Brand … Shea
Art Lund … Blanchard
John Anderson … Army officer
Will Hutchins … Earl
Luke Askew … Crane
Gregory Walcott … Blacksmith
Mark Lambert … Young gunman
Nick Ramus … Iron Wolf

Runtime: 93 min.

Irene Yah-Ling Sun as China, the prostitute Morgan Beaudine falls for in The Quest (1976)

Neville Brand as Shea, the man who runs an opium den in Cheyenne in The Quest (1976)

Memorable lines:

China, running her hand through Morgan Beaudine’s long blonde hair: “You gonna be another Wild Bill, or something?”

Tank Logan: “China, my darling, this poor lad was raised by savage Indians for eight long years in the wilderness. And I want to tell you, he is in dire need.”
China: “That true? You raised by savage Indians?”
Morgan Beaudine: “Well, the Indian part is true enough.”
China, settling into his lap: “What about the dire need?”

Morgan Beaudine, contemplating the camel vs. horse race: “What I can’t figure is how to get on the damn thing.”

Tank Logan: “I tell you, I’ve bragged about so many killings I can’t remember which ones were mine and which ones were the Lord’s.”

Morgan Beaudine: “The steel vest isn’t fair.”
Tank Logan: “Fair? You don’t know nothin’ about fair boy. Now look at me for instance. I run around all these years dodgin’ bullets, and what happens to me? Bronco Apache sneaks up, shoves a knife into my back. Any kind of justice in that? But I don’t regret one minute of it (his life). Not one damn minute.”

Keenan Wynn as H.H. Small, owner of the circus that visits Cheyenne in The Quest (1976)

Morgan Woodward as Sheriff Moses, warning Tank Logan about the use of guns in Cheyenne in The Quest (1976)

Gregory Walcott as the blacksmith, and the camel he’s about to bet against in The Quest (1976)

Nick Ramos as Iron Wolf, the Cheyenne chief who might know where the location of the Beaudine brother’s sister in The Quest (1976)

Will Hutchins as Earl, one of Tank Logan’s cowboy in The Quest (1976)

Luke Askew as Crane, one of Tank Logan’s cowboys in The Quest (1976)

Irene Yah-Ling Sun as China introducing herself to Morgan Beaudine (Kurt Russell) in The Quest (1976)

Tim Matheson as Quinton Beaudine and Kurt Russell as Morgan Beaudine, brothers searching for their sister in The Quest (1976)