Search the Western Clippings Site

An Interview With…
        - Archives

Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins
    - Archives

Do You Remember?
    - Northwest Passage
    - Father Murphy
    - Little House on the Prairie
    - Here Come the Brides
    - Circus Boy
    - Gabby Hayes Show
    - Davy Crockett
    - Young Maverick
    - Bret Maverick
    - Wagon Train
    - Death Valley Days
    - The Travels of Jaimie  McPheeters
    - Cade’s County
    - Guns of Will Sonnett
    - Cowboy in Africa
    - Sheriff of Cochise
    - Rin Tin Tin
    - Two Faces West
    - The Monroes
    - The Westerner
    - Daniel Boone
    - Whiplash
    - Riverboat
    - Zorro
    - Wild Wild West
    - Spin and Marty
    - Grizzly Adams
    - Buckskin
    - Stagecoach West
    - Dundee and the Culhane
    - Daniel Boone (Disney)
    - Andy Burnett
    - Swamp Fox
    - Texas John Slaughter
    - Black Saddle
    - Hondo
    - Man Called Shenandoah
    - Elfego Baca
    - Man Without a Gun
    - The Big Valley
    - Have Gun Will Travel
    - Laredo
    - Custer
    - Buffalo Bill Jr.
    - Iron Horse
    - The Outcasts
    - Sugarfoot
    - The Cisco Kid
    - Lawman
    - Lancer
    - Zane Grey Theatre
    - Laramie
    - Overland Trail
    - Range Rider
    - Pony Express
    - Union Pacific
    - The Rebel
    - The Dakotas
    - Tales of the Texas Rangers
    - Casey Jones
    - Colt .45
    - Wanted Dead or Alive
    - Alias Smith and Jones
    - Cimarron Strip
    - State Trooper
    - Bat Masterson
    - Bronco
    - Cheyenne
    - Destry
    - Sgt. Preston of the Yukon
    - The Tall Man
    - Hotel de Paree
    - Tate
    - Tales of Wells Fargo
    - The Deputy
    - Trackdown
    - Stories of the Century
    - Jefferson Drum
    - 26 Men
    - The Rifleman
    - Shane
    - Broken Arrow
    - Wichita Town
    - Rawhide
    - Adventures of Kit Carson
    - Shotgun Slade
    - Yancy Derringer
    - Law of the Plainsman
    - Adventures of Jim Bowie
    - Adventures of Champion
    - Tombstone Territory
    - Wild Bill Hickok
    - Gunslinger
    - Maverick
    - Brave Eagle
    - Hopalong Cassidy
    - The Outlaws
    - Judge Roy Bean
    - Fury
    - Man From Blackhawk
    - Mackenzie’s Raiders
    - Legend of Jesse James
    - Branded
    - The Lone Ranger
    - Frontier Doctor
    - The Loner
    - Whispering Smith
    - The Texan
    - Cowboy G-Men
    - Tim McCoy Show
    - Gene Autry Show
    - Boots and Saddles
    - Roy Rogers Show
    - Rough Riders
    - My Friend Flicka
    - Sky King
    - Steve Donovan
    - Californians
    - Restless Gun
    - Gray Ghost
    - Temple Houston
    - Annie Oakley
    - Johnny Ringo
    - Cimarron City

Comic Book Cowboys
    - Archives

Rangeland Elegance
    - Archives

Westerns of...
    - Archives

Heavies and Characters
      - Archives

The Stuntmen - Neil Summers
    - Archives

Western Treasures
    - Archives

Circus Cowboys
    - Archives

Radio Range Riders
    - Archives

Western Artifacts
    - Archives

Film Festival Fotos
    - Archives

Silent Western Reviews
    - Archives

Serial Report
    - Archives

Subscribe to Western Clippings

THINGS TO PURCHASE:

Western Clippings Back Issues

Daily Comic Strips
    - Page 1 (1910-1949)
    - Page 2 (1950-1979)

Sunday Comic Strips
    - 1907-1990

Books

Miscellaneous Collectibles

Autographs

Lobby Cards

Movie Posters

Home

Sugarfoot logo.“Sugarfoot”

music note “Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy
lopin’, cattle ropin’ Sugarfoot,
Carefree as the tumbleweeds, a-joggin’ along with a heart
full of song
And a rifle and a volume of the law.

Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, never underestimate
a Sugarfoot,
Once you get his dander up, ain’t no one
who’s quicker on the draw.

You’ll find him on the side of law and order,
From the Mexicali border, to the rolling
hills of Arkansaw.

Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot, easy lopin’,
cattle ropin’ Sugarfoot,
Ridin’ down to cattle town, a-joggin’
along with a heart full of song
music note And a rifle and a volume of the law.”

Will Hutchins as Sugarfoot sitting in his "Sweet Toes" chair.Warner Bros. and ABC premiered “Sugarfoot” starring Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an out-west law school correspondence student, on September 17, 1957. Some of his adventures had a comedic flair (as does Will himself) while others were deadly serious.

In one of his WESTERN CLIPPINGS columns Will explained, “A Sugarfoot is a feller workin’ his way up to be a tenderfoot. That’s not all that was tender when we shot the ‘Sugarfoot’ pilot (“Brannigan’s Boots”). My horse, Sickle, must have been part mule, or he read a different script from mine. We were never on the same page. Hence, we had to use a lot of trickery to create the illusion I was one with my hoss. We filmed the scenes of Sickle ‘n’ me many times from many different angles so the editor could cut out all the humiliating stuff and blend the few good moments together, plus lots and lots of stock footage. By some miracle, Sickle and I made it through that show intact. Before we filmed episode 2, ‘The Reluctant Hero’, Warner Bros. sent me over to Pickwick stables in Burbank for intensive lessons in horsemanship under the able tutelage of Emile Avery.”

Sugarfoot (Will Hutchins) on his horse Penny.Unfortunately, Will and Sickle just weren’t born to be. “So,” Will continued, “For our second season, to the end of the trail, the boss wrangler, Ace Hudkins, took mercy on me and replaced Sickle, that big galoot, with sleek, speedy, beautiful, copper-colored Penny. It was love at first sight. Penny was half quarter horse, half thoroughbred; and when I eased myself up into his saddle I felt I was ridin’ on the wind. Sadly, we never left the cramped back lot where the Western streets and trails were located. Penny was my best pal at Warner Bros. I put him right up there with Trigger, Champion, Tony, Topper and all the others.”

Writer/producer Hugh Benson designed “Sugarfoot” as “a gentle itinerant cowpuncher who goes from place to place but still has that law book…someday he’s going to be an attorney.”

Will explained, “First, Jack Warner put me into a TV production, ‘The Magic Brew’ (an episode of “Conflict”) starring Jim Backus as a snake oil salesman. Freddy de Cordova of ‘Bedtime for Bonzo’ fame handled the megaphone. My next assignment at Warners: ‘Stranger On the Road’ (another “Conflict”). I played a rube on a ranch. I mounted a horse facing tailward. The big climax was Rex Reason Vs. me in the mother of all fistfights. Monte Pittman penned that puppy, and its success led to the birth of ‘Sugarfoot’.”

Benson and Warner Bros.’ TV production head Bill Orr both felt Will was the character, “He really was just about the same person.”

Will Hutchins.Warner Bros.’ hit, “Cheyenne” with Clint Walker, had been on for two seasons (‘55-‘57) when “Sugarfoot” joined him in September ‘57 alternating on Tuesday nights from 7:30-8:30 EST. Will wrote in a column, “When I hired on at the Bar WB ranch in Burbank, Clint ‘Cheyenne’ Walker was our foreman. He trail-blazed the way for us. He was the king, the backbone of Warner Bros. TV. For some reason I reminded my bosses of Will Rogers, so quicker than a fast draw Marshall Hutchason became Will Hutchins.”

Here’s where it gets tricky. When Clint Walker left “Cheyenne” over a salary dispute, Ty Hardin joined the Warner Bros. cowboys as “Bronco” in September ‘58, but Warners still called it “The Cheyenne Show”. “Sugarfoot” alternated until September ‘59 when ABC and Warner Bros. moved Clint and “Cheyenne” to its own Monday night timeslot. “Sugarfoot” and “Bronco”, alternated on Tuesday evenings. For the ‘60-‘61 season, all three, “Sugarfoot”, “Cheyenne” and “Bronco”, alternated on Monday nights from 7:P30-8:30 EST. (I know, damn confusing!) “Sugarfoot” rode his last on April 17, 1961…a total of 69 episodes. [See also the prior columns on “Bronco” and “Cheyenne”.]

Some of the best episodes of “Sugarfoot” are those in which Will played a dual role—Tom Brewster and the evil Canary Kid. Will recalls, “Monte Pittman, my favorite writer-director, came up with the idea of my playing dual roles: Tom ‘Sugarfoot’ Brewster and his look-alike evil cousin and nemesis, the notorious Canary Kid. The Kid’s heart was as black as his hat. He robbed, looted, sacked, pillaged, plundered, cursed, cavorted with the ladies, spat, chewed, smoked rotten ceegars, drank cheap whiskey, spent many a moon in the hoosegow and put slugs in vending machines. I loved him. When Monte finished the first Canary script I had to come up with a characterization pronto. I asked myself, ‘What would Lee Van Cleef do?’ And I took it from there.”

Wayde Preston ("Colt .45") is perplexed! Which Will is Sugarfoot and which is the Canary Kid?

Will also points out, “Clint Walker, Ty Hardin and I made one of my favorite shows, ‘Duel at Judas Basin’, sort of like the Three Mesquiteers. I thought we had a good blendship. Today we three could do one of those TV reunion shows: ‘Cheyenne, Bronco and Sugarfoot Get Hip Replacements’.”

Will Hutchins went on to star in “Hey Landlord” for NBC in ‘66, and “Blondie” for CBS in ‘68. He also managed to make several movies—“Merrill’s Marauders”,  “Lafayette Escadrille”,  “No Time For Sergeants”, “Claudelle English”, even a couple with Elvis, “Spinout” and “Clambake”. Will guest starred on “Gunsmoke”, “77 Sunset Strip”, “Maverick”, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “Perry Mason” among others, but he’ll always be best remembered as that easy lopin’ Sugarfoot.

Will and Jack Elam as Toothy Thompson in the "Angel" episode of "Sugarfoot".In his own inimitable way, Will sez, “The toughest gang in the West was not the James Gang or the Dalton brothers—the toughest gang in the west was the Warner Brothers. They rode us hard and put us away wet. On weekends they’d send us out on public appearances for which they were paid handsomely and we were paid ugly. Being a TV cowpoke for four years wasn’t all fun and games. Mostly, it was a job of work. We never left the studio to go on location. We stayed at home and shot our ‘Sugarfeet’ in the musty sound stages and out on the cramped back lot, where, sometimes, you had to say your lines between noises off. Once, I lost control of a few head of cattle and rode desperately after them down the main western street and smack dab into the middle of a scene in ‘Maverick’. Once in awhile the producers would toss in some footage from the Warner film library to give the illusion of a higher budget. Then I’d get to dude-up in assorted outfits to match the stock shots. Over the years I had the privilege of wearing Walter Brennan’s shirt, Errol Flynn’s coat and Humphrey Bogart’s pants. I never felt comfortable with scripts that made me too brave. I was a reluctant hero. When the writers went on strike the suits merely switched scripts and we’d all re-make each other’s shows. The writing credits went to the mysterious W. Hermanos (that’s Spanish for Warner Brothers).” On the other hand, Will concludes, “I had the honor of working with some mighty fine folks: childhood heroes, character actors, cowboys, stunt people, the wonderful crews, directors, producers and my secret loves, my leading ladies. I’m proud I got to hit the saddle and go on that glorious, wild ride across America’s small screens, guns a’blazin’.”

 

top of page