TV Westerns

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

At first glance James Goldstone's CALAMITY JANE (CBS 1984) looks like an ordinary run-of-the-mill made-for-tv movie. Nothing about it is visually interesting, but take another look. There is historical intelligence at work and accurate biographical detail in this character-driven drama about a woman who was so different from other women she could not find a place in civilized society. Even lonely men stranded in isolated frontier camps found Martha Jane "Calamity Jane" Canary too repulsive to associate with. The script by Suzanne Clauser (best known for A Girl Named Sooner) rescues the frontier woman from the silly public image of her created by the Broadway musical identified with Doris Day. Researchers have unearthed a lot about Calamity Jane since this biopic was made, but Jane Alexander's performance still holds up. At one point she howls at the moon, adding her voice to the chorus of wolves in the distance, with whom she identifies. Watch the film for what she does with her character. She's a heartbreaker here. There aren't many in-the-trenches women characters in westerns, but Alexander's Calamity Jane is authentic and memorable.

Frederick Forest shows some color as Wild Bill Hickok, the man she loved who couldn't stand being in the same room with her.

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[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

The advantage of shooting at Mescal, a board & batten cowtown set about 30 miles north of Tombstone, Arizona is that it sat under the sun on a grassy plain with mountains in the distance. You could approach it from several different directions and from miles away with the camera mounted on a high crane and see nothing but a period town sitting all by itself in a vast landscape. None of the western street sets in Hollywood allowed for wide angle entrances and exits. For that you had to come to Arizona. The location and frosty winter-light lend a gritty visual authenticity to GUNSMOKE: TO THE LAST MAN (1992), the final made-for-tv film inspired by the old series. Actually there isn't much connection to the series. Dodge City, Miss Kitty, Festus etc all are not even alluded to. If it weren't for the presence of Matt Dillon, there would be no connection, and the film would unfold as a stand-alone western with no loss. I was pleasantly surprised at how fast-paced and violent it is. Matt Dillon is retired from the law, and living on a ranch outside of Tombstone with his grown daughter. While burying his wife the cattle are rustled and driven toward Pleasant Valley. Matt sets out to get them back, and bring the rustlers to justice, but in so doing he rides straight into the Pleasant Valley War. The story unfolds with a brazen disregard for geography, mileage, and the historical facts of that long-standing feud -- which, incidentally, was still being fought in the early 1960s. But who cares about history. Earl W. Wallace's script is a model of structure and narrative technique. Each character is succinctly defined by what they do, with no boring or unnecessary exposition. The action never lets up, and the violence is surprisingly harsh. There are numerous lynchings and stand-up gunfights in the best western tradition, with some gunfights being loose re-enactments of gunfights that actually happened. The bodies keep piling up. Except for one girl who has the temerity to wear pants part of the time, the costumes and props are accurate, the cartridges are filled with plenty of black powder to make plenty of smoke, the horses show more spirit than usual, and the dialog is peppered with colorful expressions from Webster's slang dictionary. At the age of 71 James Arness is gaunt and haggard, with so many creases and gouges in his face he looks mummified. But pull back and he's Matt Dillon again, standing tall and confident and refreshingly simple. No wonder everybody backs away at the sound of his name, except of course for his daughter, who never listens to a word he says, and keeps complicating his manhunt by getting into trouble. There are several familiar faces from TV westerns in the cast, including Pat Hingle, Morgan Woodwrd and Don Collier. The film is smartly directed by Jerry Jameson, a long-standing veteran of episodic TV and telefilms and one of the most reliable genre directors in television. He shoots the night scenes at night instead of during the day, with light from torches and camp fire, which helps the atmosphere. GUNSMOKE: TO THE LAST MAN was shot on 35mm film. With no commercials and no station ID to break up the continuity you'd think it was a feature film. The transfer could stand an upgrade.



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[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

I made a mistake in the post above. There were 5 GUNSMOKE features, not 3:


5 - 1994 One Man's Justice directed by Jerry Jameson.
4 - 1993 The Long Ride directed by Jerry Jameson.
3 - 1992 To the Last Man directed by Jerry Jameson.
2 - 1990 The Last Apache directed by Charles Correll and written by Earl W. Wallace.
1 - 1987 Return to Dodge directed by Vincent McEveety and written by Jim Byrnes.

4 and 5 have not been released on DVD. In between 1 and 2 James Arness starred in a remake of RED RIVER for MGM / CBS-TV. Of all the nerve.

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Warner Archives just released this made-for-tv sequel to the popular feature film SKIN GAME (1971). Louis Gossett reprises his role as the freeman turned conman in the post-Civil War west. Larry Hagman replaces James Garner. Veteran western director and COMBAT creator Burt Kennedy directed. I haven't seen it but I am curious. SKIN GAME was great.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

We have a separate thread on it somewhere but for my money, the greatest western TV series of all time was and still is Deadwood.

I enjoy Gunsmoke re-runs when I catch them though. And as a kid I used to like watching Bat Masterson reruns with my dad and my grandfather. So I have a soft spot for that series.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

HELL ON WHEELS is pretty good, too, have you seen that?

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

No sir.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

I have the first season of DEADWOOD. I loved the pilot film with Keith Carradine playing Wild Bill Hickok. Walter Hill directed and I think it's one of his best. I saw three or four episodes that followed and I agree it's a compelling program. It really dragged the western genre out of its rut, wouldn't you agree. I've been meaning to get the rest of it.

I thought DEADWOOD might rub off onto feature films but that hasn't happened.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

I really liked DEADWOOD but it never made the impact it deserved to. However, my favourite Western series would either be HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL or THE HIGH CHAPARRAL.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

Never thought about it before, but I think my favorite TV series is THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT (1967-9) starring Walter Brennan which is available in mediocre quality, mostly from the slightly trimmed syndicated versions. THE RIFLEMAN was a fine program for young boys. Another one I liked only lasted a season in 1968, THE OUTSIDERS starring Don Murray. It was more hardbitten and hardboiled than most.

I'd like to buy the complete CHEYENNE, the complete LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP, the complete HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, the complete THE TALL MAN and perhaps one or two others. I need to check out BAT MASTERSON, RAWHIDE, WAGON TRAIN, and WHISPERING SMITH with Audie Murphy. If THE HIGH CHAPARRAL ever comes out I'll certainly get that; I used to watch it being filmed. I could never get interested in BONANZA, THE VIRGINIAN, THE BIG VALLEY, LANCER and all those others. My interest in GUNSMOKE is tapering off in the middle of the third season.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

The entire run of THE HIGH CHAPARRAL is available on DVD in Germany, Richard.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

Shouldn't be too long before it gets a domestic release, then. I can wait. A retro network airs two episodes of HIGH CHAPARRAL in the morning and again at night. So I've been getting reacquainted with it. Beautiful transfers.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

The Rifleman has a website:

http://www.therifleman.net/

The production company is trying to bring the newly restored episodes to DVD out in seasons sets before the end of the year.

Sam Peckinpah wrote and directed several episodes, including the 1958 pilot.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

I really liked DEADWOOD but it never made the impact it deserved to. However, my favourite Western series would either be HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL or THE HIGH CHAPARRAL.

DEADWOOD has had and is having a huge impact in the USA, Paul, culturally and creatively.

EDIT: it just isn't being carried over to new films and programs unless you include HELL ON WHEELS. The resistance is so great, we're lucky to get that.


Regarding DEADWOOD ... why is everybody angry all the time? and sarcastic? The program thrives on anger and sarcasm. Fade in, before anything can happen, someone is angry and the other is sarcastic. Sheesh. I wish the individual season sets were available on blu-ray, but the only way to get the show on blu-ray is to buy the complete series box. I can afford to buy one season a month. But the entire series box on blu-ray is too pricey.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

This song is incredible. Not even the Blues Brothers cover can top it: