EDITOR’S NOTE: Santee was on the CBS Late Movie on October 16, 1975 and January 5, 1977.

Here’s some trivia you can use on your friends. Santee was one of the first motion pictures to be shot electronically on videotape, a groundbreaking technique at the time. This was achieved using Norelco PCP-70 portable NTSC cameras and portable Ampex VR-3000 2″ VTRs, marking a significant shift in film production technology.

Director Gary Nelson mainly worked in TV before this, but he has some interesting films to his credit, like the original Freaky Friday, The Black Hole and the Mike Hammer TV movies.

Jody’s long-awaited reunion with his father takes a dramatic turn when he discovers that his father is an outlaw on the run from a relentless bounty hunter named Santee (Glenn Ford). The story takes an unexpected twist when the two adversaries, Jody and Santee, find themselves forming an unlikely bond, realizing that they share a deeper connection than they could have ever imagined.

Santee boasts a diverse and intriguing cast, including Dana Wynter (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Jay Silverheels (Tonto himself, who for some reason has been showing up in nearly every movie I’ve watched lately), Robert Donner (who also is in Nelson’s Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold), Dark Brothers repertory actor Jack Baker, X Brands (the oddly named actor who may have been of German descent and from Kansas City, but always played Native Americans), Chuck Courtney (who played Daniel Reid Jr. on The Lone Ranger, the character who would grow up to be the father of The Green Hornet) and Lindsay Crosby (Bigfoot).

Edward Platt, the Chief on Get Smart, produced this film and played a crucial role in financing it. Platt raised the money to buy the video cameras, a significant contribution to the film’s production. One can only assume that his involvement also led to Nelson’s directorial role in the TV movie Get Smart, Again.

You can watch this on YouTube.