The Adventures of Jim Bowie

The Adventures of Jim Bowie

1956
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
The Adventures of Jim Bowie

The Adventures of Jim Bowie

6.8 | NR | en | Western

The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.

View More
AD

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

Seasons & Episodes

2
1
EP38  The Puma
May. 23,1958
The Puma

Jess Miller, in Texas to collect some money for his friend Bowie, is mistaken for Bowie by the Mexican army, who try to take him prisoner.

EP37  Man of the Streets
May. 16,1958
Man of the Streets

Owed a lot of money by a man who has no cash, Bowie makes him an offer for his land in New Orleans, and we learn the origin of some of the street names there.

EP36  The Cave
May. 09,1958
The Cave

Bowie tries to find out what happened to his cousin's bride, who disappeared on her wedding day after being seen with a hypnotist.

EP35  Bowie's Baby
May. 02,1958
Bowie's Baby

In Natchez, Bowie tries to find a new home for an infant who was the sole survivor of an Indian attack, but has trouble with the sheriff.

EP34  A Night in Tennessee
Apr. 25,1958
A Night in Tennessee

Bowie decides to run for Congress from Louisiana, and meets another frontiersman who did the same thing from Tennessee, Davy Crockett.

EP33  Bad Medicine
Apr. 18,1958
Bad Medicine

At the President's urgent request, Bowie guides a doctor to a Choctaw village to cure a sick boy, only to discover that the doctor is an inexperienced youth fresh out of medical school.

EP32  Patron of the Arts
Apr. 11,1958
Patron of the Arts

Looking for an investment for his mother, Bowie considers purchasing artwork instead of another plantation.

EP31  The Brothers
Apr. 04,1958
The Brothers

When young Jefferson Davis wants to join Bowie in his search for the lost mine, his older brother objects and challenges Bowie to a duel.

EP30  Jim Bowie, Apache
Mar. 28,1958
Jim Bowie, Apache

Bowie becomes the blood brother of an Apache tribe whom he believes know the location of the lost silver mine he has been searching for, but discovers that his old friend has done the same thing with a tribe of Comanches who also know the secret.

EP29  Horse Thief
Mar. 21,1958
Horse Thief

Bowie almost loses the friendship of the Mexican governor of Texas when an old friend turns out to be a horse thief.

EP28  The Lion's Cub
Mar. 14,1958
The Lion's Cub

Bowie manages to get back across the border into Texas by signing on as an Englishman's valet, but then the pair are attacked by both outlaws and Comanches.

EP27  Up the Creek
Mar. 07,1958
Up the Creek

When Bowie solicits help from his cousin after being swindled by a group of good-natured hillbillies, he almosts gets the poor fellow married to one of them.

EP26  A Grave for Jim Bowie
Feb. 28,1958
A Grave for Jim Bowie

Bowie comes to the aid of naturalist Johnny Appleseed, who has been captured by criminals who think that the riches in the ground he talks about are buried treasure.

EP25  Apache Silver
Feb. 21,1958
Apache Silver

Bowie gets a lead on the location of the lost silver mine of the Apaches, but both hostile Apaches and Mexican officials make it difficult for him to follow it up.

EP24  Ursula
Feb. 14,1958
Ursula

While negotiating with Mexican government officials to build a cotton mill in Texas, Bowie is attracted to the daughter of one of them.

EP23  Deaf Smith
Feb. 07,1958
Deaf Smith

Now in Texas, Bowie encounters famous scout Deaf Smith while on the trail of an outlaw gang.

EP22  Home Sweet Home
Jan. 31,1958
Home Sweet Home

Bowie learns that foul play may be attempted at a concert arranged by his friend at the newspaper for composer John Howard Payne.

EP21  Curfew Cannon
Jan. 24,1958
Curfew Cannon

When Bowie and his brother learn that the bank they own in New Orleans is being robbed, they try to keep the thieves from getting away by using the city's signaling cannon.

EP20  Pirate on Horseback
Jan. 17,1958
Pirate on Horseback

Bowie tracks down an outlaw gang when he finds out that one of them is using his name.

EP19  Close Shave
Jan. 10,1958
Close Shave

An assassin after Bowie kills an innocent man instead, but that doesn't stop him.

EP18  Choctaw Honor
Jan. 03,1958
Choctaw Honor

When Jim Bowie is robbed, he learns that the man who robbed him is also wanted by an Indian tribe for murder.

EP17  Silk Purse
Dec. 27,1957
Silk Purse

When a hillbilly puts up his daughter as a stake in a poker game, Bowie goes along with the idea to teach him a lesson, and then decides to send her to a finishing school to become a lady.

EP16  Mexican Adventure
Dec. 20,1957
Mexican Adventure

Bowie and his pirate friend Jean Lafitte, attempting to rescue a U.S. ambassador who has been captured by revolutionary forces in Mexico, take refuge in an inn at Christmastime.

EP15  Country Girl
Dec. 13,1957
Country Girl

Bowie and his brother's fiancee are duped by swindlers claiming that a relative has been unjustly imprisoned in Mexico.

EP14  The Alligator
Dec. 06,1957
The Alligator

Inside a doll he bought as a birthday gift, Bowie finds a clue to a homicide plot.

EP13  The Bridegroom
Nov. 29,1957
The Bridegroom

In order to hide from a waterfront gang, Bowie has to pretend to be a prospective bridegroom at a French home.

EP12  Hare and Tortoise
Nov. 22,1957
Hare and Tortoise

Bowie uncovers a plot to increase the value of some land upriver by moving the state capital there.

EP11  Charivari
Nov. 15,1957
Charivari

Bowie becomes suspicious when an elderly man dies abruptly on the night of his wedding.

EP10  Pearls of Talimeco
Nov. 08,1957
Pearls of Talimeco

When Bowie and an Indian friend make up a story to send an annoying acquaintance on a wild goose chase, it comes back to haunt them.

EP9  The Whip
Nov. 01,1957
The Whip

While on his way to inform the authorities of a plot to misuse the labor of prisoners, Bowie is trapped in a warehouse and attacked by a whip-wielding stranger.

EP8  House Divided
Oct. 25,1957
House Divided

Recovering from a gunshot wound in a fancy mansion, Bowie is asked by a young woman not to identify the person who shot him.

EP7  A Fortune for Madame
Oct. 18,1957
A Fortune for Madame

When Bowie finds that he cannot purchase some land because the owners have just been swindled out of it, he decides to help them recover it.

EP6  Quarantine
Oct. 11,1957
Quarantine

Bowie risks his life to recover a stolen shipment of desperately needed smallpox vaccine.

EP5  Bullet Metal
Oct. 04,1957
Bullet Metal

Bowie tries to purchase a lead mine, but the pacifist owner refuses to sell it to him if the metal will be used to make bullets.

EP4  Counterfeit Dixie
Sep. 27,1957
Counterfeit Dixie

Bowie solicits the help of a former pickpocket and a former horse thief to defeat a gang of counterfeiters.

EP3  The Irishman
Sep. 20,1957
The Irishman

A indentured servant, whose contract is purchased by Bowie, deludes an innkeeper that he is the master and Bowie the servant.

EP2  Flowers for McDonough
Sep. 13,1957
Flowers for McDonough

A wily Scotsman gets the better of Bowie on an important real estate deal.

EP1  Epitaph for an Indian
Sep. 06,1957
Epitaph for an Indian

When Bowie goes to his dead Indian friend's home town to deliver the news to his father, he finds that the father has just been shot.

SEE MORE
SEE MORE
6.8 | NR | en | Western | More Info
Released: 1956-09-07 | Released Producted By: , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

The Adventures of Jim Bowie is an American Western television series that aired on ABC from 1956 to 1958. Its setting was the 1830s-era Louisiana Territory. The series was an adaptation of the book Tempered Blade, by Monte Barrett. The series stars Scott Forbes as the real-life adventurer Jim Bowie. The series initially portrayed Jim Bowie as something of an outdoors-man, riding his horse through the wilderness near his home in Opelousas, where he would stumble across someone needing his assistance. He was aided by the Bowie Knife, his ever-present weapon. He designed it in the first episode, The Birth of the Blade.

...... View More
Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Scott Forbes

Director

Lewis R. Foster

Producted By

,

AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers

Reviews

pensman I was about eleven when this series appeared and it was a favorite of mine along with Yancy Derringer, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Davy Crockett. We weren't looking for historical accuracy, just heroes. We had all heard of Jim Bowie and the knife he made, so this was a perfect show. Jim was all the things it said about him in the theme song: he was brave, courageous, and bold. The stories were pretty simple; but Scott Forbes looked the part, and he had some interesting adventures. Now that they have started to rerun the series on Cozi TV, I get a kick out of the revisionist history and the portrayals of Jean Lafitte, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and even George Washington. A modern audience might either be confused or interested in watching Bowie in his many trading trips into Texas which to him is a Mexican territory. Bowie always tries to be courteous in his dealings with the Mexicans and everyone else. There is a bit of a mystery about the series as it was a hit for Desilu and for no apparent reason the series was canceled. It is still a watchable show but actually more character than action driven.
bkoganbing I think I remember this series because right around the time that I saw this on television I read Marquis James's two classic biographies of Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston which covered the era in our American south that Jim Bowie was operating in. If anyone has not read anything by Marquis James I urge them to. Better biographies have come out on both these guys, but as a writer James can't be beat. Maybe he romanticized the south a little too much, still his is the most readable of history.The real Jim Bowie whose life was ennobled by martyrdom at The Alamo was a thoroughgoing scoundrel. But you won't find it here. Scott Forbes with an easygoing southern charm and accent that British players find so easy to adapt is the Jim Bowie of our frontier legends.During the course of the two year run of the series, Bowie ran into just about everyone of consequence in that part of America most of whom he may never have met. One episode had him with Davy Crockett and in fact those two never met until The Alamo. Andrew Jackson appears in a couple of episodes. In fact Jackson might have carved Bowie up with his own knife had they occasion to meet for Bowie's politics made him a supporter of Henry Clay.One guy who does pop up in the series a few times is pirate Jean Lafitte. He and Bowie did a considerable amount of business together including buying and selling of slaves and stealing and double selling same. That's not in the series however.The Adventures of Jim Bowie was distinguished by that theme song which I can still remember sung by the King's Men and hummed at various points of the episodes for effect. I had occasion to see some episodes a few years back and they were as I remember them as a kid. But I have to confess I burst out laughing when the King's Men sung about how Bowie fought for the rights of man.Jackson, Houston, Crockett, Lafitte, John Howard Payne, Johnny Appleseed, John James Audobon, Osceola, just some of the folks you'll run into in this series even if the real Jim Bowie never did.
Thomas Diemer Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Jim Bowie is the only TV show to have its theme song hummed. Maybe there was music too, but there was also the sound of men humming with it.Since I have to have ten lines of text I guess I will go on with this comment of Jum Bowie. Since I was born in 1951, I was only four or five when this show was on, but I remember it well. I guess that would prove that it is an impressive show for someone that young to remember it. What I remember particularly is two men fighting. One of them stretches the other man's arm out over a fire and the other man screams in pain.All I really wanted to do is submit the trivia about the humming of the theme song, you can throw the rest of this out since I am only rambling on to get the minimum ten lines of text.
Akzidenz_Grotesk I bought the Volume 2 DVD of the Jim Bowie TV series at Wal-Mart and was entertained by its contents! Three episodes which feature entertaining actors, stories and fight scenes! So what if it's low-budget; Have you noticed that modern TV and movies are 99% monstrous mega-budget junk?! Jim Bowie is retro-cool action from a simpler time and conjures up fond memories of visiting Frontierland and Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland! Scott Forbes plays well as the strapping Bowie and his narration adds a nice extra touch to these episodes. I'm probably a bit biased because I'm a fan of all things vintage, but if you enjoy "boy's adventure" themed movies and books like Tom Sawyer you'll appreciate this series. I'm on the hunt for the other volumes!