A Stranger in Town

Produced and directed by Earl J. Miller, "A Stranger in Town" probably hasn't been seen in over 40 years, particularly unfortunate since it contains one of the last performances of an ailing Lon Chaney. Originally broadcast in three parts on the National Educational Television series WHAT'S NEW, it was repeated on the same show two years later under a new title, "The Children's West" (NET ceased operations after 1972, in business since 1958). Filming took place in Brackettville Texas, where Chaney 'really had a ball with those kids,' all students from the University of Texas, in a Western storyline in which he played Doc Whitaker, recently returned from the Civil War, still haunted by the death of his wife, for which he was acquitted but remains under suspicion. When someone goes missing, Whitaker is naturally accused and put behind bars, leaving his young allies free to attempt to clear his name once and for all. The thoughtful contributions of certain cast members involved with this production provide what little insight we have on the making of this still lost telefilm. At this time, there remains one other lost Chaney performance from his final decade, the 1961 release "Rebellion in Cuba."