Well, the joke is on the Hollywood studios which rejected this 1973 screenplay, because just
Here's an intriguing slice of Hollywood History.
This entertaining screenplay, titled The Powder River Policy, was never produced, at least
as a movie. It DID have a long life on the Radio, however.
Writer Ernest Jack Neuman (1921-1998) had a long and busy career as a writer and producer, mostly
in television, writing for Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, the Twilight
Zone, and Gunsmoke. His sole movie credit was The Venetian Affair in 1967. He did a lot of
radio dramas as well.
We can date this screenplay to 1974-1975, because the title page on this script is from Neuman's
own company, P.A. Productions, Inc., which was located on the lot of Paramount Studios. It
clocks in at 116 pages-- standard for a 1970s screenplay.
My research shows this script didn't sit around for long. In 1979, it was performed on the
Sears Radio Hour, hosted by Lorne Green, of Bonanza. Then again in 1991, the California
Artists Radio Theatre staged a live production on radio station KPCC FM in Pasadena. Among
the stars were Richard Crenna, Jeanette Nolan, and Les Tremayne.
Google AI tells me you can actually hear the Sears Radio Hour version of the drama, through
Spotify or Apple podcasts!
I'm not sure how this film script differs from the radio version, (besides in length) but this
screenplay, set in 1868 Wyoming, opens with a down-on-his luck Civil War veteran, who finds
a badly injured man on the road into the town of Powder River. He takes him into town, but
there is no hero's welcome for him, as the veteran is dragged into the evil that befell the
man he tried to save.