Letters to the Radio Times: Laramie
I would like to thank BBC-TV for giving us the pleasure of a second showing of the Laramie series. For my family and myself this is unquestionably the best of the week’s programmes, and is eagerly looked forward to, whether the adventures are being shown for the first or second time.
When the RADIO TIMES is scanned each week, great is our pleasure to discover that ‘the boys’ are to be with us again, and great our disappointment if they are not!
We are very fond of both the boys, and enjoy seeing them together, but especially of Jess-he is the number one favourite with us all-W. Brown, London SW.16
The Bullet Box
I would like to split a historical hair over the Laramie episode which showed demonstrations demanding female suffrage.
In fact Wyoming Territory, in which the real Laramie is situated, granted women full political rights as early as 1869, the first state or territory in the Union to do so-
Sean Tara, London, W.1
Jess Harper's Gloves
I should be interested to know why on earth Jess Harper, in the excellent Laramie series, clings so passionately to his gloves? Except on one or two rare occasions when he was ill in bed, I scarcely remember seeing him without them; he even wears them when shooting it out with a gunman-and though I’ve seen many Western films, which I enjoy, I never remember seeing any other cowboy character who wore gloves. Can you tell me why?-Margery Lawrence, London W.2
Jess Harper's Past
In reply to Margery Lawrence (Radio Times, June 18) I would say that the most likely reason for Jess Harper’s constant wearing of gloves lies in the original conception of the character as a reformed gunman-gambler.
There was, you remember, the gambler in The Magnificent Seven who also refused to be parted from his gloves for fear of damaging his sensitive card-sharping fingers.
As Robert Fuller is an excellent actor with a wholly professional outlook, it is likely that he realises this eccentricity left over from Jess Harper’s slightly disreputable past provides a reason why his well-kept hands are at variance with the outdoor life of a rancher which the character is now supposed to be leading.-(Mrs) M. Smart, London S.W.4
