THE REBEL
THE JOURNALS OF JOHNNY YUMA
This post may only be of
interest to those of us who have a passion for the niche interest of TV tie-in
novels and associated merchandise.
From 1959 to
1961, The Rebel—The Journals of Johnny Yuma ran for 76 episodes on ABC. An
aspiring writer, young Confederate Army veteran Johnny Yuma (Nick Adams) is haunted
by his memories of the American Civil War. In search of inner peace, Yuma roams
the Texas Hill Country and the South Texas Plains fighting injustice where he
finds it with a revolver and his dead father's sawed-off double-barreled
shotgun.
His father’s
gun was a big draw for the show, as gimmick
guns were popular with TV Western heroes at the time. Johnny
Yuma was a man proud of the remnants of his rebel uniform and was often forced
to defend himself against slurs directed at him and the bitter defeat of the
South. Using both his fists, a Civil War style Dragoon pistol in a cut-off
Cavalry-flapped holster and what Yuma called his scattergun—a sawed off double
barrel shotgun altered at both ends, which he usually wore strapped to his leg.
Writer-producer
Andrew J. Fenady co-created The Rebel with the show’s star, actor-writer Nick
Adams. The only regular actor on the series, Adams was involved from the
inception in the show's design and the writing of episodes. Fenady appeared
twice in the series. One appearance was as United States Army General
Philip Sheridan in the episode Johnny
Yuma at Appomattox, which would play an important part in the further life
of the show and the character of Johnny Yuma.
Aside from
his producing and screenwriting credits, Fenady was an award winning novelist.
He wrote many Westerns as well as hardboiled detective tales, one of which (The
Man With Bogart’s Face) won an Edgar Allan Poe award from the Mystery Writers
of America. Not one to miss an opportunity, in 1998, he revived Johnny Yuma in
an original novel based on the TV show. Published in paperback by Berkley, the
novel picks up at the end of the Civil War. As part of the Confederacy, Johnny
Yuma lost the war, but the battle still rages inside him. As he makes his way
home, Johnny continues his battle—only this time he's fighting for those who
can't fight for themselves. But when the young soldier arrives home, he faces an
old enemy—and deadly new battle.
The in 2006,
Fenady further kept the character alive by adapting the episode Johnny Yuma at Appomattox (in which
Fenady had appeared as General Sheridan) into a one act play, which was
performed at the Pasadena Playhouse. It was also published in play form by
Dramatic Publishing. In the play, Fenady places Johnny in the thick of the
action at a pivotal point in history. The final battle has been fought and
lost. General Robert E. Lee is about to surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant
at Appomattox Court House on Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865. But Johnny Yuma has a
plan. If he assassinates Grant, if a Southerner kills Grant, the South will go
on fighting—and the North, without their great general, will lose. Yuma knows
Grant will humiliate Lee during the surrender. From the attic, Yuma has a bead
on Grant, and he takes dead aim. Fenady, used Lee's and Grant's actual words in
the play's reenactment.
Chosen as one
of the top 100 Western songs of all time The show’s theme, variously known as
The Rebel or The Ballad of Johnny Yuma, was composed by Richard Markowitz, with
lyrics by the show’s co-creator, Andrew J. Fenady. The song was recorded by
Johnny Cash (after he beat out Elvis Presley for the rights), but it was not
released as a single until shortly before the show went off the air. Nick Adams
had previously recorded the theme, which had been released on Mercury Records,
but it wasn’t a hit until the Johnny Cash version hit the radio waves.
During the
run of the show, Johnny Yuma was popular enough to generate related
merchandising, such as an Ideal board game, an action figure, a Whitman tie-in
novel for younger readers, and the inevitable toy gun set. Dell also produced four
tie-in comics as they did with many shows.
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