|
|
|
1. Incident of the Day of the Dead [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
Clint Eastwood's first big break on the series when he stars as Rowdy, away from the herd, losing at poker and being compromised into breaking a dangerous stallion. Viveca Lindfors (at one time the wife of Don Siegel, who was to direct several of his early movies) appears as a domineering senorita. The Mexican "Day of the Dead" is used as a back-drop, full of sinister touches, and a Juarista sub-plot is thrown in for good measure. Lindfors, clearly a formidable actress, seems constrained by her role. Rowdy is given the accolade of a voice-over at the start of this episode.
|
|
2. Incident at Dangerfield Dip [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
An infant is found by the drovers after a wounded and distraught woman stumbles into the camp. The woman dies soon after. Wishbone is the reluctant surrogate mother appointed by Favor and the drovers are soon smitten. Meanwhile two scheming brothers have set a trap for the herd by leaving infected cattle on the trail and then demanding an exorbitant price for the use of their cattle dip. When a bruised and battered man staggers into the camp we learn he is the child's father and that his family were victims of the scheming brothers, burning them out in order to steal and infect their cattle for the trap. Favor has no option but to negotiate with the brothers but this is complicated when one of them is shot at the camp by the aggrieved father. After the cattle are driven in and dipped there is a sudden shoot-out and the second brother falls dead. The herd is saved and the baby too. Good action sequences round off an above-average episode.
|
Stephen Thomas, England:
Superior episode which succesfully blends the dramatic elements of the cattle dip sequences with Wishbone's comic and sentimental elements.
For anyone new to Rawhide this is a good 'taster' episode. |
|
3. Incident of the Shambling Man [TOP]
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
A very special episode and a slice of film history.
Synopsis:
Rowdy Yates is lured away from his duties as a drover by the strange sight of a burly man alone on the prarie, shadow boxing with an invisible oponent. Unwisely he aproaches the deranged man and gets a knock out punch in the jaw. Several more crew members pitch in, attempting to subdue the fighter but are unsucessful until Gil Favor knocks him out cold with the butte of his gun.
The elderly boxer is Harry Whitman, a former championship boxer from Ireland. Harry had been in the ring past his prime and suffers from brain concussion damage. Hearing certain noises makes him think he's back in the ring; in this case it's the noises made by the drovers and cattle. Harry's daughter-in-law Rose shows up to help the drovers get him home. After explaining about the recent death of her husband (Harry's son), she asks Gil and Rowdy to spend the night, but they decline.
As they are preparing to ride away, Rose slips inside the barn where Harry is sleeping and begins to taunt him. He awakens in his murderous boxing rage. Gil and Rowdy subdue him by pouring water over his head and agree to accompany Rose to the nearby town of Rock Point to see a judge about having Harry commited to a territorial assylum. When they arrive in town they find an unfriendly setting. The town has been cleaned up by a vigilante sheriff, and its citizens live in fear of the iron fisted lawman. Rose Whitman, once considered an undesirable element by the self righteous sheriff, is not welcome in the town.
Later that day in court, the case is ridiculed by the sheriff and judge, and Harry appears to be a normal and sane man of 62 years of age. Rose is made to look like a lying schemer, and Gil and Rowdy come across as both fools and schemers. They are told to leave town by the bigoted sheriff, who refers to them as "saddletramps"and "cowherds". Gil stands up to the sheriff and tells him how unsavory he finds the town and its folk. As they are leaving Gil and Rowdy are approached by the sheriff's brother Doug, who acuses them of scheming with Rose to open a saloon, saying that his brother the sheriff told him so. Gil replies, in typical Favor fashion, "The sheriff is a liar."
Stopping to rent a buggy on the way out of town they meet the local blacksmith, who befriends them, openly expressing his dislike for the sheriff and his methods. Meanwhile, Doug, the sheriff's younger brother, pays a visit to pretty Rose Whitman. He makes her a business proposition and also tries to make romantic advances. She rejects his advance but takes him up on his offer. Rose reaveals that when her husband Harry Whitman Jr. had died he had left her stranded on the prarie with the unstable elderly man to care for. She has assets but they are all tied up in the elder Harry Whitman's name, and she can't sell them unless Harry is either commited or dead. Rose is a proper Eastern lady who wants to go back East with enough money to live well, and she will stop at nothing to acheive her goal.
Doug concocts a scheme to get Harry Whitman to go berserk in public in front of the entire town of Rock Point. With Harry out of the way, Rose and Doug can split the money from the Whitman estate. Doug's plan backfires when Harry doesn't respond to his attempts to get him worked into a rage. Foolishly Doug calls Harry a coward and removes the cherished photo of Harry's deceased son from his coat pocket, ripping it to shreds. Harry loses control and punches Doug, killing the young man with a single blow. He leaves the scene of the crime just as Rowdy and Gil arrive in town. The vengeful sheriff thinks they are the murderers and wants to lynch them, but a witness saves their lives and tells them Harry Whitman is the real culprit. The angry sheriff and his mob go to the Shannon farm to smoke out Harry. Gil and Rowdy realize that they must get there first before any harm comes to Rose. They arrive just in time to save Rose from the insane Harry, but when the mob arrives the drovers manage to talk the mob members against the sheriff.
The townsfolk never really wanted to go but went along because of their fear of their sheriff. The sheriff sees the error of his ways and takes off his badge. Harry is off the hook until Rose, realizing that he isn't going to be commited after all, attempts to demonstrate that Harry really is crazy. In doing so she blows her cover. Harry agrees to go to the assylum peacefully, but only after a last hug and embrace from Rose. Slipping his hands behind her back, he kills her instantly in a deadly death grip then turns himself in peacefully to be taken away to the assylum. The former sheriff, who has just turned in his badge out of guilt, agrees to stay with Rose's body until it can be buried to compensate for all the harm he had done her in life. Gil and Rowdy return to their herd for another adventure.
Special Note:
What makes this episode so special is that it is the last appearance on film of legendary actor and Oscar winner Victor McLaglen, who turns in a gripping performance. Perhaps his superb acting is enhanced by the fact that the director of this episode is his son Andrew V. McLaglen. Victor McLaglen was born December 11, 1883 in Kent England. The son of a protestant clergyman, the young McLaglen was quite an adventurer. He traveled to Canada to become a professional boxer, touring in circuses and Wild West shows. His touring brought him to the United States, Australia, and South Africa. He was a veteran of World War I, joining the Irish army, and after the war he resumed his boxing career. In 1920 he was given his first film role in the British movie "The Call of the Road". McLaglen would become a very popular silent star in England. In 1924 he made his American film debut in a film called "the Beloved Brute". The coming of sound films hurt McLaglen's career as a leading man, but things changed when he was cast in John Ford's classic "The Informer" in 1935. McLaglen won the best actor oscar for his performance in that film and continued to work with Ford for the best part of the rest of his life. He appeared in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" as a roguish but loveable Irish sergeant and is also well remembered for the fistfight scene with his good friend John Wayne in Ford's classic the "Quiet Man". Perhaps Victor McLaglen is the only man in the world who has the distinction of having punched both John Wayne and Clint Eastwood on screen and walked away in good health. Victor McLaglen died of a heart attack on November 7, 1959 aged 75 years. He died less then a month after this Rawhide episode hit the airwaves, making this excellent episode both a milestone and a memorial. His son Andrew V. McLaglen, the director of the episode, has helmed many fine films including "Shenandoah," starring James Stewart, "Chisum," and McLintock" with John Wayne. Both Stewart and Wayne were close friends of his father.
Review:
Let's not forget about gorgeous Anne Francis, who in her turn as Rose is both delicioulsy deceitful and pitiful at the same time. McLaglen's character emerges as a loveable but viciously lethal monster. This episode centers around the guest stars characters, and Gil and his ilk are simply background fodder. In true adult western fashion, all the main characters/heroes are whipped in a fair fight and remain helpless as they watch a beautiful woman die in front of their very eyes. This episode also has a grain of reality in the fact that the disease suffered by McLaglen's character is very real, and even today many boxers and physical atheletes suffer from brain damage and multiple pesonality disorders. A truly brutally honest episode and one more reason why Rawhide stayed on the air so long. A Milestone and a valuable document.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The drive reaches perilous farmland whose occupants have dug a series of deep well holes in an unsuccessful attempt to find water. Down on their luck and near starvation, the drought-stricken farmers have but one option, to pack up their things and move. There's only one thing in the way: the hungry farmers have eaten their horses and can't move the wagons. First they attempt to buy horses from the drive, but Favor can't spare his remuda, so the farmers steal them. When the farmer leader's daughter winds up in the bottom of a well along with Rowdy, Favor is blamed, kidnapped, and held for ransom by the angry father, who refuses to free the trail boss until his daughter is returned.
Review: Excellent scripting and atmosphere combined with a very good performance by David Brian as Jacob make for a very fine episode. The claustrophobic scenes between Rowdy and the farmer's pretty daughter are well directed, though the obviously not too deep well is a bit unconvincing and stagey. Still a good one.
|
|
5. Incident of the Thirteenth Man [TOP]
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Rowdy and Wishbone ride into a small western village to see a dentist about Wishbone's toothache. The dentist, a man name Gene Martin, also happens to be the mayor and most prominent citizen. He also happens to be on trial and very much guilty, but certain powers that be in town, including a corrupt sheriff and a mushy, soft judge, want to prevent Martin',s conviction.
Rowdy and Wishbone are sequestered as members of a shorthanded jury in spite of the fact that they are not citizens of the town. Someone on the jury is selling info to Martin's friends, and several members of the jury who want to vote guilty are prominent citizens whose business interests are destroyed so as to put fear into them. As a result, all the jurors, including Rowdy, decide to vote not guilty in Martin's favor and be done with the ordeal. Everyone except Wishbone. Rowdy and Wishbone are harassed by the sheriff and his deputies, and Rowdy decides to go with the guilty verdict, which turns the tide in Martin's trial. In the ensuing chaos the informant is revealed and forced to stand up against his tormentors.
Review:
If you are a lover of the Rawhide of wide open spaces and rugged action, this stuffy courtroom drama is probably not your favorite episode. This westernized version of "Twelve Angry Men" quickly degenerates into Ten Bored Character Actors and Two Cowboys who made a guest appearance on the Wrong Show. Notable for an appearance by Paul Fix, who was playing Marshal Micah Torrence on another TV western, "The Rifleman," at the time this episode hit the airwaves. Aging character actor Russell Thorson also appears as one of the persecuted jurors. Thorson would cross paths with our man Rowdy nearly a decade later in 1968, as one of the irate members of a lynch mob that hangs Clint Eastwood's innocent character and leaves him for dead in the movie "Hang Em High". That film was directed by Ted Post, who had befriended Eastwood during his Rawhide days. Post himself helmed several Rawhide episodes and would also work with Eastwood during his Dirty Harry phase in the film "Magnum Force".
|
Myron King, of Robinson, TX:
Comments:
Rowdy and Wishbone see a dentist about a toothache the cook has. The dentist is on trial and the two drovers are selected to be jurors.
Despite a large cast and an a number of intense performances, this episode is not especially great, for it lacks the outdoor scenery as well as the cattle drive.
|
|
6. Incident at the Buffalo Smoke House [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
A prarie fire pursues the herd. Favor finds a river crossing but becomes embroiled in the pursuit of an outlaw gang and their arrival at an isolated smokehouse where hides are being cured. An impressive supporting cast includes Vera Miles (not long after "The Searchers" and soon to triumph memorably in Hitchcock's "Psycho"), Leif Erickson (in later years to have his own western series "High Chapparal"), feature player Gene Evans in one of several appearances, and Harry Dean Stanton, who was to register over twenty years later in the cult movie "Paris, Texas". Eric Fleming and several other regulars are consigned to fleeting appearances, mostly at the beginning and the end of the episode, in a story which is heavy on personal motivations.
|
Myron King, of Waco, TX:
A prairie fire threatens the herd. Favor goes to look for a water crossing and is taken hostage near a buffalo smokehouse.
This is a suspensful episode, with fine performances by Vera Miles, Gene Evans, Dean Stanton, and Leif Erickson. The episode isn't centered on the drive, but the suspense and tension make that a moot point.
|
|
7. Incident of the Haunted Hills [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
An outcast Indian leads the drovers to water in a mountain pass inhabited by a hostile tribe. The entrance to the pass is familiar from one or two other episodes Their Indian guide is held over one of the hot springs and dies horribly. The party themselves, including an army detachment, face death when a young boy of the tribe is killed. A stalwart supporting cast includes Strother Martin, as animated as ever, and Charles Gray in his earlier role of Flagg.
|
|
8. Incident of the Stalking Death [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
Favor wounds a puma which has been stalking the herd. The creature, more dangerous than before, kills a young boy. His mother, a young widow, arrives to blame Favor, and he also has trouble with her jealous suitor. The two men, with Wishbone in tow, set off to kill the cat but are wary of each other. Cesar Romero guest stars as the jealous suitor and Regis Toomey is barely recognizable in a fleeting appearance as a mountain man.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
With a puma stalking the herd Gil Favor and his boys are unable to capture the animal and resort to their last hope, hiring a well-known Spanish long hunter. Gil and the hunter track the animal to the top of a mountain, where they are trapped inside a cave by an old hermit who thinks the mountain land is his and doesn't like strangers invading his domain.
Review: Cesar Romero in a fine guest appearance as the snobbish hunter. Very atmospheric, and the ending is certainly claustrophobic, to say the least.
|
|
9. Incident of the Valley in Shadow [TOP]
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
After being missing for several days in Cheyenne country, Pete returns to the herd. All of the worried drovers welcome him with open arms. His homecoming is marred by the presence of a new drover, a bounty hunter named Dagget. Dagget had taken in one of Pete's friends for the reward and the man had been lynched, only to be proven innocent after his death.
Pete provokes a fight with Dagget, but Gil Favor intervenes because Dagget is a good cowman who knows his way around the drover business. Dagget says he has given up bounty hunting to be an honest drover. Later Dagget is approached by a fellow bounty hunter and the two decide to stick together because they are after a common goal, finding captive white women being held prisoner by the Cheyenne. Both men had joined the herd because it was moving thru Cheyenne country and their main goal is a to collect an $8, 000 reward for a young captive white girl named Nancy Curtis.
Gil decides to go scouting ahead to give Pete a chance to rest. He crosses paths with Cheyenne chief Manso. Manso is an open-minded chief who wants to make peace, and the two converse. After Gil leaves, Manso is attacked by the two bounty hunters and questioned about Nancy Curtis. Gil Favor returns and stops their harassment, telling them that their job is to herd cows, not collect rewards. Manso asks Favor why he didn't kill the two trouble makers and Gil tells him that he thinks they've learned their lessons.
While they are talking, Gil is shot in the shoulder by an arrow. Two Cheyenne warriors reveal themselves, and Manso kills the warrior who shot Gil for disobeying his order. It is Cheyenne law to kill the unruly and disobedient, and Manso believes Favor made a mistake by letting the two bounty hunters live. Gil is wounded and taken to the Cheyenne village for treatment. While there, Gil meets a young white girl living with the Cheyenne named Winetka. Having seen the Nancy Curtis reward poster he asks questions. She responds and vaguely remembers her childhood in the white man's world but is very confused. Manso is angered by Gil's questioning and tells him to leave.
Back at the herd Dagget and his fellow bounty hunter are fired by Rowdy, but they take several members of the crew, including Teddy and Joe Scarlett, who think bounty hunting is a much more rewarding way to earn a living than being a drover. Winetka, whose real identity is Nancy Curtis, leaves her people and comes to the herd to ask Gil Favor for help, but Manso follows and promises warfare if she is not returned. Thinking that she is causing trouble, Winetka leaves to return to her people to prevent bloodshed.
On the way back to the Cheyenne Village she is captured by Dagget and the bounty crew. Gil and Manso team up to bring her back. Dagget is killed and Joe and Teddy return to the herd. Winetka returns to the Cheyenne village but is freed by Manso, who promises to return all Cheyenne captives and vows to change his tyrannical law.
Review:
A fine episode which is very obviously influenced by the classic John Ford western 'The Searchers'. It has a theatrical feel very seldom seen in television shows of the era. Fay Spain is very good as Winetka. In spite of the fact that some of her dialogue is stilted, she does an excellent job of conveying the innocence, confusion, and culture shock associated with the character. 'Combat' star Rick Jason makes his second appearance as Manso. He is nowhere near as watchable and scene stealing in the role in comparison with his turn in "Incident of the Coyote Weed". Classic western character heavy Leo Gordon as Dagget does his usual Gritty turn. Sadly Rick Jason committed suicide in 2000 and Leo Gordon died a year later in 2001. Both were solid professionals and masters of their craft. This episode was directed by B-movie director Harmon Jones, who obviously knew how to flesh an hour-long television episode into something a bit more personal and artistic. An extremely good episode that is nonetheless burdened by a few loose ends and at times appears a bit lumbering and uneven. Still better than most of today's uninspired non-creative television.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The drovers nervously anticipate a coming thunderstorm. Their anxiety isn't helped by the fact that the herd is illuminated by St. Elmo's Fire, which makes their horns glow in the darkness. Superstitious Hey Soos tells them a Hispanic folk tale about the spirits of deceased vaqueros returning from the dead to ride the horns of a mighty herd. The Fire brings bad luck and will be followed by the coming of a stranger who will be the devil.
Oddly enough, a stranger appears just in time for the coming stampede. Rowdy turns the herd and heads it off with quick thinking. When all is quiet after the storm Gil questions the mysterious young man, whose name is Lucky Markely. Lucky claims to bring luck to those around him, but the superstitious drovers, particularly Hey Soos, think he's bad medicine. Lucky claims it was he who averted the stampede, not Rowdy's tactical maneuver.
While out chasing a few strays, Teddy and Lucky come upon several Comanches, who claim the beef to be their own. An argument ensues, and Lucky kills the Comanche. The dead Comanche turns out to be brother of the chief, who wants revenge but will settle for a peace offering. The chief parlays with Gil and Pete, his interpreter. The chief wants ten cows and half the remuda. Gil tells Pete to tell him to "Blow it up his elbow," to which Pete responds by tapping his raised elbow at he angry chief, who leaves with bad feelings promising to return.
Gil has an especial fondness for young Lucky, who reminds him of a childhood friend who is now dead, also named Lucky. When Lucky wants to leave, Gil asks him to stay in spite of the drovers' belief that he is the devil. Hey Soos picks a fight with Lucky, which is broken up by Rowdy, who orders Lucky to leave. Lucky tries to befriend young Rowdy because they are both youthful and have a lot in common, but his efforts are to no avail on the weary and worried young ramrod.
The Comanches are averted, but the herd stampedes with the coming of a new storm. Young Lucky attempts to turn the herd, but in doing so he is struck in the neck by lightning. His horse keeps going with the dead youth in the saddle. The drovers, who are unsuccessfully attempting to turn the disarrayed herd, notice Lucky riding by, slumped over in the saddle. His horse keeps going and heads the herd off, bringing calm, then disappears. Later Gil, Rowdy, and Hey Soos find Lucky at the bottom of a cliff. The horse had broken his neck in the fall, but Lucky doesn't have a scratch or a broken bone anywhere to be found. Gil finds the lightning marks on his neck and determines that it must have been electricity that killed him, but it is still a mystery how a dead man could have turned a stampeding herd. The episode ends with the confused drovers looking upward to a threatening, cloudy sky, determining that their are some things mortal man isn't meant to know.
Review:
In many years of viewing western movies I have never run across anything quite like this. This episode is both dark and very edgy, a superb piece of entertainment. Well known character actor Skip Homier adds his presence as Lucky, the lonely, doomed, misunderstood young man who never finds his place in life and ultimately never determines whether his luck is good or bad. Rawhide producer and veteran western film director and cowboy guru Charles Marquis Warren directs an episode that has an anthology series feel, something like "The Twilight Zone" meets "Zane Grey's Western Theatre".
The characters of Lucky and nervous Gil Favor interact well, and Gil gets to admit he's scared in this one. Rowdy is coldhearted here in his rejection of Lucky as well as being annoyingly whiny about the fact that Lucky made him look bad in Favor's eyes by claiming credit for Rowdy's glorious moment of turning the stampeding herd. Hey Soos in one of his earliest appearances is a superstitious young busy-body. Of historical note: anyone who has researched 1860's cattle drives in the post Civil War west realizes that these young men, who were used to being indoors surrounded by all the comforts of the time, were suddenly thrust into a wilderness to boldly go where very few had gone before. Being that close to nature and unexplained phenomena, a number of campfire legends and superstitions arose, and many books would be written about the darker side of the west. Perhaps Charles Marquis Warren had heard this particular story from an old timer. In all likelihood on this very night some graying elderly cowboy lost in the expanses of the modern prairie is sitting around the camp fire with a young wrangler relaying the story of The Last Ride of Unlucky Lucky.
I award this Grim Prairie tale 5 Cows.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The drive is pursued by a gang of ruthless Mexican mercenary soldiers, who are seeking a young Mexican drover, the son of a revolutionary. When Gil Favor refuses to relinquish the lad, the bent army leader resorts to using a harlot, the daughter of a once powerful Mexican general (who has turned alcoholic over the death of his wife) as bait to lure their quarry into the trap.
When it works and the young man is incarcerated, Gil and Rowdy must go to Mexico to try and rescue him. Gil is captured and tortured by the Mexican forces, as neither he nor the captive Mexican boy will tell the whereabouts of the boy's father or the rebel group that he leads.
The two recieve some unexpected help from the seniorita and her alcholic father, who come to the realization that they have been used in a plot and have been working for the wrong side.
Review:The old phrase "Politics make strange bedfellows" could apply to this episode, which has a little spy movie tinge to it. Good scene in which our dastardly general orders Gil Favor's eyes burned out by having one of his men hold the trail boss's face close to a fiery incinerator. Very Good!
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
A weary drover tired of working for seemingly nothing wanders away from the herd looking for a little excitement. He finds a strange young woman who keeps mumbling about her own death and talking in phrases. When he tries to have his way with her she runs away and accidentally finds her way to the herd. She seems taken with Gil Favor and tells him she knows exactly who he is and that they were destined to meet before she dies under a tree.
The girl is named Maye, and they are soon joined by Maye's father, a professor who is combing the prairie looking for Stonehenge-inspired, Druid rocks in the heart of Texas. He also talks of treasure, which makes some of the drovers want to go chasing ancient ruins themselves.
Maye and Mr. Favor get very close as the drive progresses and fall in love. When she is kidnapped along with her father by several drovers who want to go treasure hunting, Gil follows, only to find young Maye dead under a tree, a victim of a nervous drover's gun. After burying her, he and Rowdy are joined by Maye's identical twin sister (same actress)to seek out and punish the guilty.
Review: An appearance by Claude Akins as the drive-weary drover who makes most of the trouble in this episode. An intriguing episode to say the least, in which one gets to know more than they ever would have bargained for about Druids. This one has sort of an Indiana Jones adventure feel and a lot of psychology. The character of Maye is a bit overdrawn but interesting. It would've been a bit more even if she had bit the bullet towards the end of the episode, and the introduction of the sister character played by the same actress is pointless. Very good fantasy and a bit of Saturday Matinee feel, with lots of cliff hangers. I almost felt it would've been better had the villains been thrown into a pit of rattlesnakes or something, rather than dying in a traditional gunfight. Still, very unusual, intriguing, and well acted.
|
Philip Lindley, England:
One of the drovers discovers a man dead of smallpox. He and Favor both touch him unaware. Joined by Rowdy, they seek medical help in the nearest town, but its dedicated doctor is prevented from administering smallpox vaccine by a stubborn barber-dentist. When the townsfolk begin to lose confidence in their leader and a source of life-saving cowpox vaccine is discovered, modern medicine gains a line of converts which includes the bereaved barber-dentist. James Dunn is excellent as the doggedly humanitarian doctor, and Robert F. Simon - another Rawhide "occasional" - turns in an impassioned performance as the barber-dentist, a man whose seeming bigotry masks a genuine concern for the townsfolk. It's worth remembering that the Howard Hawks western classic "Red River", starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, was a major inspiration for the Rawhide series.
|
|
14. Incident of the Devil and his Due [TOP]
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Gil Favor stumbles upon the dead body of a former outlaw, who has just been murdered by members of his old gang. Naturally the dead man's wife and son think he is the killer. Gil gives himself up the local sheriff, an elderly but wise man who believes in his innocence. When Rowdy and the rest of the men find out that Favor has been jailed, they ride in and threaten to tear apart the town unless he is released. A compromise is reached: since no judge will be in the vicinity for another month, the sheriff agrees to let Gil ride along with his herd till they reach a nearby town for trial, but the sheriff and the dead man's son must accompany them.
When the sheriff comes to the realization that he's too old to handle the situation, he deputizes Rowdy, who is gleeful at the idea of getting to ride herd on his boss and lets the assignment go to his head (in a very funny sort of way). The decision to deputize one of the drovers isn't a popular one with the dead man's young son, who hates Mr. Favor and believes he is guilty.
At the same time a preacher is traveling on a stagecoach. He is disguised as a gambler because he is carrying funds to build a new church nearby. The coach is robbed by the same men who killed the man Favor is accused of murdering. They leave thinking they have a payroll but come up empty handed and decide to follow the preacher and the stagecoach passengers, who have crossed paths with the herd. In the ensuing chaos the sheriff is accidentally killed, and the boy learns of Favor's innocence by finding his father's bracelet on one of the outlaws. When his two cohorts are killed in a gunfight the outlaw leader arrogantly tries to turn his back and walk away, assuming that honest men like Gil Favor and the preacher won't shoot an unarmed man in the back. He is stopped when Rowdy knocks him out with the butte of his gun.
Review: A typical story is heightened by wonderful characters and excellent actors to fill their shoes. Most notable for the appearance of the always wonderful Neville Brand as the outlaw leader. Mr. Brand needs no introduction to lovers of film and television, but for the uninitiated here goes. Brand was the fourth most highly decorated G. I. to emerge from World War II. Before the war he had intended to be a career army man, but afterwards he studied acting on the G. I. bill. His major breakthrough role was in the 1949 suspense thriller D. O. A. A master heavy, tight-lipped, nervy, often brutish, Brand is best remembered as Al Capone in the classic television series The Untouchables. Western fans also remember him for his own series, the comic western adventure Laredo, which ran from 1965-1967. This series was a comedic western, a rarity in its time, and Brand's portrayal of loveable Texas Ranger Reese Bennet carried the show. It also changed his image from the man you loved to hate into the man you hated to love but couldn't help yourself. Neville Brand died in 1992. His performance in this Rawhide episode brings a certain intelligence and dignity to a part that would have been rather stoic in another actors hands. He emerges as a sort of thinking man's bandit and a very good leader. All the performances are very good and very well drawn. Still, a loose-ended episode and a typical plot and story seen all too often in those days of wine and sagebrush. Not bad though.
|
|
15. Incident of the Wanted Painter [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
The drovers find an artist who has been attacked and robbed on the trail. His assailants manage to plant one of their number on the drive and a second attempt is made to rob him. When the second assailant is shot, the drovers decide they have had enough of their guest. Mushy getting shot in a successful third attempt makes this definite. Meanwhile, Favor learns that his former commanding officer in the Civil War is to be hanged in a nearby town. The place is wrapped tight, expecting a raid to free the guerilla leader, and Favor realises that a view of the town by the artist will be used by the guerillas to plan their leader's escape. Favor, Rowdy, Pete, and the artist enter the town and are arrested but at length are able to help foil the raid. It stretches credulity that the desperados would walk calmly into jail after being persuaded their plan is futile, but that is what happens, giving another limp ending to another otherwise strong and atmospheric episode. Meanwhile the serious wounding of Mushy seems to have slipped everybody's mind. Robert Lowery returns to "Rawhide" as the guerilla leader. The episode opening, unusually, is voice-overed by Sheb Wooley as Pete.
|
Myron King, of Waco, Texas:
Wishbone's brother, T.J. Wishbone, is shot off his horse by Indians. He is okay, but to make the Indians think he is dead, the drovers hold a mock graveside service. He later tells the drovers that he is a tinker.
Humorous and dramatic with a surprise ending, this is an enjoyable episode with a fine performance by Regis Toomey. This episode is an excellent character study of the Wishbone brothers.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Rowdy and Teddy come across a mustang trap which threatens to harm the approaching cattle. When they try to tear it down, they are fired upon by what turns out to be a young girl. She tells them the traps were set by her father and that they will be sorry. Later, back at the herd, the drovers are met by the girl and her father, a stubborn man who has set traps all around the surrounding area in the path of the oncoming herd and refuses to tell the drovers where the traps are located. The only option the drovers have is to go through a pass which is part of the horse hunters' land. When the man refuses to allow this it looks as though a fight is coming.
To make matters worse, Gil Favor and the old man are acquainted and have a long-standing grudge against one another. When Favor tries to deal with the stubborn horse hunter, his pleas fall on deaf ears, but the man's wife is an open-minded gypsy, and a compromise is reached.
The old man has hunted unsuccessfully for years for the mysterious night horse, a black mustang who hides by day and roams the range at night. The horse was responsible for the death of the old man's son, who had once been a friend of Gil's. When the hunt fails, the old man refuses to allow passage for the herd, and the only other option is for the two men to fight out their differences physically to the death.
The fight is interrupted by the appearance of the night horse, who is captured. The old man has a change of heart and decides to let the herd pass throgh his land. Then he tries to kill the horse in revenge for his son's death, but in the process he himself is trampled to death.
Review: Very good, dark episode. Nowhere near the caliber of 'Incident of the Blue Fire,' but it is very well scripted and acted. One loose end though. When Mr. Favor meets the old horse hunter, the man doesn't remember Favor until the trail boss reminds him who he is, but later it looks as though there is a long-standing hatred between the two and that they have been waiting for years to kill one another. How can one forget someone he hates so passionately? Perhaps it was senility on the part of the old man. Nonetheless, this one was beautifully photographed and atmospheric, and the scene where Mr. Favor and his nemesis stare into the darkness searching for the night horse is chilling. Also, the conversation between the two about how a horse doesn't bear hatred in his heart is poetically surprising and beautifully delivered by Mr.Fleming. I give this one four cows and a black horse. Maybe that's worth four and a half in drover lingo.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Rowdy Yates is framed for a murder committed by an escaped convict posing as a lawyer. To authenticate his story the bogus lawyer agrees to represent Rowdy's case in court, planning to purposefully lose the case and see the young ramrod at the end of a rope.
Review: Jock Mahoney appears as Vance the phony lawyer, who is very good at muffling gunshot noises and seems to take his lawyer persona very seriously. Like the best Rawhide episodes, this one continues to evolve and flow from beginning to end and always keeps us guessing even when it seems predictable. In this case Mr. Mahoney brings a lot of dignity to his role, and we sometimes marvel at his transformation from grubby, inarticulate outlaw to super suave lawyer. Mr. Mahoney the actor and renowned stuntman is best known for two western series of his own where he plays the hero," The Range Rider" and "Yancy Derringer". He is also the father of actress Sally Field.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The drive is joined by an old man, Mr. Cartwright, and his daughter Sophia. Sophia is a lonely, unmarried, middle-aged woman who dreads the thought of returning to her home town because she is subjected there to her family's old maid jokes and other persecution from them for her marital status. Sophia and Pete Nolan become fast friends and concoct a scheme. Pete will accompany Mr. Cartwright and Sophia home, pretending to be her fiancÈ. After several days, Pete will return to the herd and later Sophia will tell her relatives that he was killed in a stampede to explain his absence. However when she returns home Sophia meets a man named Mr. Fisher, a store owner who is a widower, and the two develop feelings for one another. Pete and Sophia must now come up with a new plan to have Pete 'killed off' much sooner so Sophia and Mr. Fisher can be together.
Review: A charming, heartwarming, funny, and sad episode, a true rarity for a show which prided itself on being rugged and macho. Sheb Wooley as Pete really shines in this one as does Margaret Phillips as Sophia. Fans of western films may recognize Tom Drake, the actor who plays Mr. Fisher, for his role as the leader of a gang of misfit cowboys who menace Henry Fonda in the classic western movie "Warlock". However he is overshadowed by another guest star here. The actress who plays Sophia's cheery aunt is Frances Bavier. Miss Bavier would go on to become everyone's favorite aunt, Aunt Bee, on the Andy Griffith show. This is a truly delightful episode. My hearts calculatin' that this is one of the best.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Rowdy, Hey Soos, and a drover named Walter are bathing in a creek when they are taken prisoner by a band of Comanches who think the men are responsible for stealing their horses. When the truth is revealed, the trio is freed, but later that night someone steals the drovers' horses. Thinking Indians were responsible, the desperate drovers go to the nearest horse ranch to buy a whole new remuda. They arrive at Sulphur Creek Ranch, owned by aging Arvil Lacey and his brother Brad. Arvil's wife is having a baby, and Arvil wants to leave his son an empire but feels too old to build, one so he resorts to stealing horses from others. His brother Brad is having an affair with Arvil's wife.
The drovers arrive and discover that they are dealing with the thieves and are outnumbered by them. Mr. Lacey tries to sell the horses back to the drovers. When the tables turn the drovers get their horses back and disarm Lacey and his men, but Comanches attack the Sulphur Creek Ranch before they can depart. The drovers are forced to give the guns back to Lacey and his men, and the two groups must team up to fight the irate Comanches. Before the battle is finished, Mr. Lacey finds out the truth about his brother, and Brad is forced to face up to his own cowardice.
Review: Appearances by John Dehner as Arvil Lacey and Charles Aidman as Walter the drover, who loves to revel in tall tales about his former life, which is a mystery. Good situation western and a good example of how Rawhide utilized character interplay to build stories, unlike the soapy plot structure of other westerns like Bonanza.
Side note:This is the first of three second and third season episodes that would feature future Rawhide alumnus William R. Thompkins, who would play the character Toohless during the fifth and sixth seasons. The others were 'Incident of the Dancing Death' and 'Incident of the Running Iron'. In all three he plays different characters. Thompkins apparantly also accompanied Eastwood overseas for the filming of "A Fistful of Dollars," as he is listed in the credits as having served as technical advisor and consultant for that film. Not bad for an actor of limited range who only got a few lines in every now and then during his tenure on Rawhide.
|
|
21. Incident of the Champagne Bottles [TOP]
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The drive is joined by three shady characters, Mr. Parker and his wife and their guide Matt Holman. They are carrying fragile cargo and are not moving very fast. They reveal that they are carrying cases of imported champagne, but when one of the bottles explodes Gil Favor discovers the champagne bottles are loaded with stolen nitroglycerine. The desperate trio take Gil and Rowdy hostage to ensure their silence and force them to walk along in front of the wagon and scout for rocks in the road which might jolt the wagon and cause an explosion.
Review: Hugh Marlowe and Patricia Barry as Mr. and Mrs. Parker and western heavy Lane Bradford as Holman. The most interesting casting hers is John Hart, who plays Murdock, the minor heavy who shows up in the end. Mr. Hart is best remembered for playing the Lone Ranger in the television series during the absence of actor Clayton Moore. A nail-biting, tense episode, a well-drawn character study, and a memorable scene in which Gil Favor bluffs Holman by juggling one of the explosive champagne bottles. Rowdy and Gil get to flex their muscles in this one by playing mules and pulling the wagon across a rocky outcropping.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
While out doing his routine scouting, Pete Nolan notices a stagecoach letting a woman off in the middle of nowhere. When he investigates, she tells him her name is Mrs. Turner and that she is going to meet her husband Roger at this isolated location. Roger is a famous astronomer and Mrs. Turner has been away taking a rest in Chicago. When they return to the ranch, however, Mrs. Turner doesn't recognize the man who claims to be her husband. Evidence shows that he is, however, and the truth is revealed that Mrs. Turner has really been away to an asylum. Pete returns to the herd but he doesn't feel convinced that the so-called Mr. Turner is really Roger Turner the renowned astronomer. Together with Wishbone, who is dressed in convincing disguise as a professor and calling himself Wishingham, the two set out to ride back to the Turner ranch and find out the truth.
Review: A delightful episodic mess that's fun, original, and very tense but also funny. Equal parts comedy and suspense. It's also worth noting that Buddy Ebsen makes an appearance here as Mr. Turner's chief heavy in an undistinguished co-starring credit, in spite of the fact that even at this point in his career, before the Beverly Hillbilly's TV series, Mr. Ebsen was already more well known than all the principal actors. A good episode: this one has it all--lies, deceit, psychology, suspense, comedy, all the information you could ever hope to find out about the state of the cosmos from a TV western, and let's not forget the title bout and main event: Jed Clampet versus the Purple People Eater, with Professor Wishingham as referee.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
A young gypsy girl hides in Wishbone's cook wagon to avoid a betrothed marriage. When her would-be suitor comes looking for her, he is murdered, apparantly by a drover. The unlucky groom turns out to be the son of the tribal matriarch, and the old lady demands the killer be turned over to her to face gypsy tribal law. When Gil Favor refuses to relinquish the unknown killer, the old woman gives him an ultimatum: Turn him over or face the dreaded curse of the dancing death.
Review: Dark around the edges and an unusual story. The use of carnivalesque music heightens the tense mood, and the strange circus wagon the gypsy's travel in is downright frightening. Good performances by all, especially Antony Caruso as the frightened gypsy drover whom everyone thinks is the killer until his own accidental death exonerates him.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis: The drovers are lured away from the herd, against Mr. Favor's wishes, to a remote trading post and bar in the hills for a little liquid refreshment after months on the drive. While they are gone the herd is stolen by a group of hide cutters who plan to slaughter the cattle only for their hides and leave the meat to rot. The Arana Sacar is a reference to Twin Buttes which are used to dupe the drovers into believing that both the herd and the rustlers have disappeared.
Review: Another good action show written by Charles Marquis Warren. Also marked by an appearance by classic western heavy Chris Alcaide, who plays the ruthless character Pagan. The character certainly lives up to the heavy name bestowed upon him. Not a classic but solid and a good addition to any Rawhide fans video library.
|
Myron King, of Waco, Texas:
A group of hide cutters lure a number of drovers to drinks. After doing so, they steal the herd. Their intent is to slaughter the cattle.
Here is a great episode with great performances by Cloris Leachman and Chris Alcaide. Veteran director Joe Kane keeps the story and action moving extremely well.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:The deserter in this case is not a refugee from the U.S. cavalry, as the title would suggest, but our trusty camp cook Wishbone. After a run-in with a local freighter/teamster boss who is controlling all freight shipments for a repressed mining town, Wishbone is badly hurt and his cook wagon destroyed. With Mushy in tow he heads to the nearest doctor, who turns out to be a lady and also happens to be the girlfriend of the tyrannical freighter. Not happy with her suitor, she pursues Wishbone and romance develops between the two.
The lady doctor has a nice stove in her home which Wishbone admires, but since she doesn't know how to cook, he decides to teach her. Without any kind of a restaurant in town, the two decide to get married and open an eatery for the hungry local miners. The jilted ex-boyfriend, angry over his rejection, begins crowding the miners, who are afraid to fight back. The stubborn Wishbone tries to unite them against their nemesis while still trying to open his restaurant.
Meanwhile, Mushy returns to the herd with news that Wishbone has decided not to return, and the hungry drovers' only alternative is to appoint the inept Mushy as their new cook. When this doesn't turn out so well, Favor sends Mushy back to the town to talk Wishbone into coming back. By now Wishbone and his lady have come to realize they aren't happy together and she wants to be back with her former boyfriend, who has turned out to be a good hearted man after all. When the strike is over and the happy ending is looming in the near future, Wishbone decides inevitably to return to the herd. The newlywed couple have decided to give him a going away present, the cook stove, so this episode ends with Wishbone riding off into the sunset, pulling a huge cook stove behind his horse.
Review: Twists, plot turns, and conventional storytelling make a nice mix here. Nice, charming, romantic story, but more notably it shines some light on Wishbone and actor Paul Brinegar. Far from being the comedic fop that he often becomes on Rawhide, Mr. Brinegar was also an excellent dramatic actor, and no one knew this better than Clint Eastwood. Years after he had left behind Rawhide for international film stardom, Eastwood would cast Paul Brinegar in his finest dramatic role in the movie High Plains Drifter. That film, directed by Eastwood and produced thru his Malpaso company, saw Brinegar playing one of the slimy townspeople who had been responsible for the death of Eastwood's character and one of those whom his ghost sought for revenge. A fine dramatic part and a far cry from loveable Wishbone. As most of you probably already know, Paul Brinegar died in 1995 at the age of 77. If any one Rawhide episode stands as a memorial to this actor and his talent, perhaps it is this one.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis: Hey Soos Patinas rides into a small town to see his mother. He is stoned in the streets and left to die by superstitious villagers who believe that Mrs. Patinas is the devil. Rowdy and Pete come to investigate and stop the angry townspeople before they can burn the old lady at the stake.
Review: A story that truly introduces the character of Hey Soos and gives some background details about him and his past. Good, well-rounded story about fear and prejudice and a frightening story about history repeating itself. A good example of how Rawhide writers sometimes eschewed the reality of the cattle drive to tell a story with a good message and feel. Wonderful episode that's alternately frightening and touching. All the principals are very good, and western fans may recognize that the townspeople are played by such names as Ed Nelson, Peter Whitney, R.G. Armstrong, and Whit Bissell, names and faces that populated many a western town on the television frontier of the 50's and 60's.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis: A group of strange young cowboys, all from the same town, join the herd. Initially they are hired to guide Favor and his crew through a dangerous bog, as they know the terrain and the lay of the land. But before they left town the group had been involved in a some sort of strange scheme and had to leave town fast but none of them will talk about it.
The young men begin to turn up dead one at a time. Right before each one is murdered a mysterious steer appears. The steer has the word MURDER branded straight across his side in huge letters. It follows an old folk tale which is relayed to the drovers by the always superstitious and wary Hey Soos.
Gil Favor slowly unravels the grisly truth about the lads and their involvement with the Murder Steer.
Review: Yet another excellent story, similar in plot and content to "Incident of the Night Horse". The concept of the Murder Steer is very much like the film "The Shining", in which the word REDRUM (murder spelled backwards) appears in a mirror right before a victim is killed. I wonder if director Stanley Kubrick or writer Steven King didn't see this particular episode. Notable guest star in this particular episode is James Franciscus, the handsome, blond-haired golden boy of the late 50's, who appeared all over television and filmdom and was a teen idol of sorts. I feel compelled to give this episode five cows for uniqueness and presentation even if it does have a few loose ends. I myself live on a farm in rural Bristol, TN, and my family have cattle. I fear if I give it a bad review I may look in my pasture and see a cow with the words MURDER branded across its side in huge letters. Just a joke but seriously an excellent episode.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis: Gil and Rowdy are duped into taking in an old Swedish man who is alone on the prairie and seemingly in distress. While helping the man get his wagon out of a rut, Gil's foot is smashed by a wagon wheel. The foot goes untreated and sets up an infection, which makes the trail boss gravely ill. The only comfort he can find is the music which comes from the music boxes carried by the kindly Swede, who also happens to be an accomplished gunsmith. So good is his work that he manages to get all of the drovers to surrender their guns to him for repair work.
Several days later a crew of rough looking men come and attempt to steal the herd. When the drovers try to retaliate they find that the firing pins have been taken out of their guns and their weaponry is useless. The thieves turn out to be the sons of the Swedish man. With Favor still sick, the seemingly honest Swede agrees to take only 50 head and to take Mr. Favor to his home to rest until he is fully recuperated. The drovers are skeptical, but having no other choice they agree to let the trail boss go with the family.
Home for the Swedish man and his family is not an easy matter. Their settlement is impoverished and their families starving, leaving them to resort to stealing. Favor is well taken care of, but upon awakening he realizes that his drovers are alone in Comanche country without any guns to defend themselves. To make matters worse, the Swedish man's sons have decided to take matters into their own hands and rob the defenseless herd once more, this time taking everything. The Swedish man thinks this is wrong and decides to help Favor return to the herd before it can be attacked by either Comanches or his desperate sons.
With no available metal to replace the firing pins in the drovers' guns, the old man is forced to use his only resource, the metal inside the cherished music boxes which had once belonged to his now deceased wife. He is also plunged headlong into a showdown with his sons. Seriousness takes a backseat for a humorous and unexpectedly comical ending.
Review: Excellent story about the plight of starving immigrants in the west. Brilliant acting by Peter Whitney, who all but disappears into the character of the seemingly honest and sentimental Swedish man caught between a rock and a hard place and forced into thievery he detests to feed his family. Mr. Whitney, who had only several weeks previously been one of the townsfolk in "Incident of the 100 Amulets," uses a flawless Swedish accent and great deal of acting technique to convey a character which really comes to life. Viewers may also notice that one of his sons is played by Werner Klemperer, the German-born Jewish actor who would become famous for playing the bumbling Nazi Colonel Klink on the sitcom "Hogan's Heroes". Also of note, this is the first noticeable appearance of Rowdy's super slick snake-handled pistol. The gun was either owned by Eastwood or purchased from CBS after the series ended and would appear in all of Eastwood's classic western films of the late 60's and early 70's.
|
Philip Lindley, England:
When she witnesses her father's murder, a young girl is shocked into becoming a mute. Two escaped convicts change into the clothes of the murdered men and one claims the girl to be his in order to provide himself with cover for his escape. After they are found and offered protection by Favor, the real murderer comes to the drive to sell cattle. The final shoot-out is signalled by the girl's traumatic rediscovery of her voice.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
The crew find a French poodle hiding in the bushes, which they mistake for a lamb. The dog belongs to a little girl named Jeanie Porter. Jeanie, her father, and their guide are traveling to meet with Mr. Porter's partner, a scheming local rancher who is not happy about splitting his empire. While Jeanie is away on an errand, the partner and one of his hired hands show up, and when an argument ensues both Mr. Porter and his guide are murdered while helpless Jeanie watches, hiding in nearby bushes. The scene is traumatic for the little girl, and she is left speechless and mute. The next day two escaped convicts from a nearby prison show up and exchange clothes with the dead men. They find young Jeanie, and one of the convicts wants to kill her but the other, a soft hearted man, decides to take her and pretend to be her father.
The convicts are being followed by a U.S. Marshal and two Indian scouts he rides with. They decide to split up as they can travel faster. The marshal, who is a shoot first, ask questions later type, shows up at the herd to ask the drovers if they have seen the convicts. A little later the new 'Mr. Porter' and his daughter, whom he calls Carrie because he doesn't know her real name, show up looking to hitch a ride to the nearest town. When Wishbone finds a slip of clothing with the name Jeanie Porter on it he tells Rowdy, who wishes to investigate. Before he can do so he is approached by a rancher from nearby who wants to sell him some cattle. This happens to be the partner of the deceased Mr. Porter. When young Jeanie sees the murderer, she regains her speech and identifies him, but the two are held prisoner by and sure to be killed by the greedy rancher. They are saved by the ex-convict. Several moments later the hard-nosed Marshal shows up, having witnessed the whole event, and with Rowdy and Jeanie to testify in his behalf, the marshal promises to put in a good word for the kind-natured convict in court.
Review: Sharp psychological drama, softened considerably by the interaction between the little mute girl and the loving, soft-hearted convict. Excellent performances all around and very well constructed. Like "Incident of the Valley in Shadow" there are a lot of little details, and everything from the hard-edged marshal who travels with Indian scouts (many lawmen in the real west hired Indians to do their tracking) to a well-framed shot of Pete Nolan watching the herd on horseback while he smokes a home-rolled cigarette, spells quality. That particular scene stands out in my mind as it has the look of a Charles Russell painting. Also notice the sparse towns pictured in this episode. Most town scenes featured in Rawhide episodes were filmed on CBS's western street, where Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, and hordes of other shows were filmed. This episode is a true gem and one that I would highly recommend to any newcomer who has never seen Rawhide before. One of the finest dramas the show produced during its second season.
|
Philip Lindley, England:
A newlywed Boston couple, en route to an uncle's ranch, seek refuge with the herd after being caught in a flash flood. The drovers are much amused by the hen-pecked young husband and share the regrettable view found among working men everywhere that all his wife needs is ... what she gets at the end, to a hearty round of applause. Today's audience might be even more offended by the instant obedience and devotion of the chastened wife. At one point, an elderly Indian chief is nearly finished off by the panicking husband. We are reminded that, even then, not all Indians were regarded as hostile.
|
Timothy W. Booher, of Bristol, Tennesee:
Synopsis:
Two young newlyweds are traveling west in a wagon. Both are Easterners who know nothing about survival of the fittest in the west. The groom is traveling to his uncles ranch to build a new life for his bride, a snobbish young lady who hates the west and the outdoor life. She finds fault in nearly everything her young husband does and when their wagon is destroyed in a flood the young couple find their way to Gil Favors herd to seek refuge. While they are there the young lady flirts with Rowdy to enrage and her husband and make him jealous as she thinks he is a failure as a man and wants him to be more like the rugged young ramrod. The young man is forced to standup for himself and in the process his wife finds out he is a bit more of a man than she had originally thought.
Review:good little episode which retains a brisk pace and though its a typical coming of age story it has many fine moments, particularly when Pete and his Indian friends get to powwow around the campfire. The friendly 'injun chief' is played by Frank DeKova of F-Troop fame.
|
|
31. Incident of the Garden of Eden [TOP]
|
Philip Lindley, England:
Rowdy is sent to a small town to buy cattle to replace losses from the herd. He discovers a community of expatriate English led by landed aristocrat Robert Coote. Rowdy is charmed by Coote's daughter, but there is tension with the ranch foreman, of whom all seem afraid, played by later series regular John Ireland Rowdy then discovers an embarassing truth about the ownership of the ranch which leads to his reassessment of the foreman. The lovely daughter is somewhat worse than embarassed when she discovers the truth about her parentage, and her reaction leads to tragedy. Robert Coote was never better as the archetypal English gentleman - something we English have had to put up with in American cinema and TV for many years! - and the dark and tragic nature of the story is well put across. Attitudes towards those we now call Native Americans are examined and might puzzle a present-day audience.
|
|
Rawhide: 1959-65 (CBS)
Eric Fleming as Gil Favor
Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates
Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan
Paul Brinegar as Wishbone
James Murdock as Mushy
|
Theme performed by Frankie Laine
|
|
Eric Fleming movies
|
 The Glass Bottom Boat
Doris Day mistaken as a spy! Sounds like a light-hearted 60's romp to me. In addition to our man Eric Fleming, the movie also features Arthur Godfrey (by the way, am I the only one who can sing about dotting the "i" for the inventors?), Paul Lynde, Dick Martin, and Dom DeLuise.
|
 Curse of the Undead
Eric Fleming stars as Preacher Dan Young in this, yes, vampire western. How cool is that?
|
 Queen of Outer Space
Eric stars with Zsa Zsa Gabor, dahling, in this hilarious sci-fi flick. A reviewer at the Internet Movie Database says the movie "reeks of cardboard sets, silly dialogue, and more phallic symbols, hot babes, and sexual innuendo than you can wave a stick (or laser gun) at."
|
 Conquest of Space
Eric stars as Captain Barney Merritt in this story about the first manned expedition to Mars. A reviewer at amazon.com numbers among the movie's merits its inclusion of: "MST3K ready dialog! The obligitory accidental weightlessness scene! ... The first ever burial in space! The first ever snowfall on Mars!" In other words, you can't lose!
|
|
The Rawhide theme
|
 Rockin'/Hell Bent for Leather
Head 'em up, move 'em out! Frankie Laine performed the rousing song played over the opening credits of Rawhide. The Rawhide theme is among the 24 tracks on this CD.
|
|
Sheb Wooley Sings
|
 The Purple People Eater
31 tracks including the classic title song
|
 Wild and Wooley, Big Unruly Me
29 tracks
|
 Rawhide/How the West was Won
24 tracks including Sheb's version of the Rawhide theme (this is not the version performed in the opening credits of the show!)
|
 That's My Pa
Four box set totaling 47 tracks
|
|
