Two Faces West is an American syndicated Western television series set in the Wild West running from October 1960 to July 1961 for a total of 39 half-hour episodes (one per week on a continuous run). It was produced by Donald Gold and Jonas Seinfeld with Matthew Rapf as the on-set producer for Screen Gems. Music was by Joseph Weiss.[1] Despite being syndicated to 150 broadcast stations the show is somewhat forgotten, never having been repeated, and never released on DVD.[2][better source needed]
The overall premise was that two identical male twins, the January brothers, were in different roles in the same locale: one a doctor and one a U.S. Marshal - one killing, one curing. Between the two they bring civility to a pioneer town in the mid west. Ben is clad in black like an archetypal badman. Typical plots involved them being mistaken for one another or deliberately swapping. Both men were in love with Julie Greer, owner of the town's hotel.
The title is a play on the wording of the 1940 John Wayne film Three Faces West.
The stories are set in the town of Gunnison, Colorado in the 1860s. The series was the first to use split-screen on a perpetual basis in order to get the brothers to talk face to face. In less technical shots, where one brother had his back to the camera, these were shot with stand-in Paul Pepper (who also appeared in his own right as Billy).
Curiously the appearance of Deforest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy predated their casting together in Star Trek by 5 years.
