DVD review: “Yancy Derringer – The Complete Series, All 34 Episodes”

Jock Mahoney was a journeyman actor with scores of B-movie Westerns to his credit and a manly reputation as a World War II fighter pilot and durable stuntman when he took on the TV role of riverboat gambler Yancy Derringer in 1958.

And although the distinctive series lasted only one season, Mahoney’s dashing Southern gentleman with the signature pistol hidden in his hat and a fierce Indian companion at his side has grown over the years into a baby-boomer icon. Now, “Yancy Derringer – The Complete Series, All 34 Episodes” have been collected in a nifty boxed set for TV fans yearning to revisit Yancy on his crime-fighting adventures in post-Civil War New Orleans.

Decked out in a crisp white suit and pillbox hat (always with a derringer stashed inside), Mahoney suavely essayed the role of Yancy Derringer, ex-Confederate soldier and owner of the riverboat Sultana and the family plantation, The Waverly. A smooth lady’s man in hazy, moss-draped New Orleans, Yancy appears to live the easy, insouciant life of gambler and fey Southern aristocrat.

But in the shadows he lives a double life as a secret agent for John Colton (Kevin Hagen), civil administrator for the city, who has authorized Yancy to maintain law and order and bring miscreants to justice by any means necessary.

To that end, Yancy always carries his weapons of choice, the Sharp’s four-barrel Derringer pistol, hidden in his hat and vest, along with a rapier in his cane. And watching his back in silent stoicism is partner Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (X Brands), a flinty Pawnee warrior who speaks only in sign language and carries a long knife in his scabbard and a mean sawed-off shotgun under his cape.