The Education of Sarah Jane and Jena Engstrom

"The Education of Sarah Jane" was my introduction to Jena Engstrom a half century after it was first broadcast. "Why don't I know her?" was a question I asked myself several times as the story unfolded. For me, there was nothing false in this performance. This actress hit all the marks, the posture, the expression, the delivery of lines were all spot on. (Well, I was glad that Paladin had taken the shells out of her shotgun because she would have been in a world of hurts if she ever pulled the trigger.) And there were some really good lines written by writer Betty Andrews and Duane Eddy and Jena Engstrom had great chemistry. That is what I think now, but as I watched this episode for the first time I kept wondering why I didn't know who this actress was. I got her name from the credits at the end of the show and looked her up on IMDb. There was a list of credits (incomplete and mixed with her mother Jean Engstrom -- a problem that has since been mostly corrected) and many were Westerns. The Westerns Channel plays some of the shows she appeared in and I found some at Netflix so I was able to see some of the other work. What I wanted to see was whether or not Jena Engstrom's performance as Sarah Jane was a fluke. It was not. She was good in everything I saw, especially her two roles on Gunsmoke. I have enjoyed watching her perform in the episodes available on DVD, and have always thought it unfair that she left acting, for whatever reason, as soon as she did. I watch this episode whenever it comes on TV and have also come to appreciate the work of Duane Eddy. He had some corny lines, but he handled them well and, as I said above, he and Jena Engstrom played very well off one another.