Some people seem fascinated that Rawhide and Gunsmoke, two hit CBS series being filmed at the same time, on the same lot by the same production company using the same network might share locations, props and soundstage (as well as actors).
Well, how about that?
Reviews
33 Reviews
The Sweeter Side of Life
(2013 TV Movie)
a daughter's Valentine to her dad!
10 June 2020
And I'm not talking about the plot, which follows the same message. A well-maintained, pampered woman falls out of a marriage to a prominent New York physician and has to return to Kentucky and the loving arms of her adoring father.
This is the last movie of James Best, lovingly rendered by his daughter, Janine and her husband Michael Damian (recording artist, Broadway star and longtime YATR regular) as writers, producers and director. What a fitting last project for a great actor, who earned most of his bucks playing heavies in early television. James Best did everything from Gunsmoke to Twilight Zone and many movies in between. I really saw the man through the eyes of his grown child, with love and grace afforded him in his old age. Like his character James was always up for anything. A hilarious comedic turn I haven't seen since his "Dukes of Hazard" days. His life was a fascinating adventure worthy of it's own movie.
Kathryn Morris proves she can smile, after all those years in the clinical police procedural "Cold Case". When she said, "Dad, I won't steer you wrong", I melted!
A didn't know she had such comedic instincts.
Some of my favorite actors in key roles. Alistair McKenzie (Law & Order UK, Monarch of the Glen) as love interest with Jane March, Sam Douglas and others.
Makes you feel like a Hallmark movie should. Escapism with an icing of familial affection and sentiment! Great dessert!
Worth watching
10 June 2020
Just to see Murray Hamilton and Ross Martin in a knife fight is priceless! These episodes are my favorite era of the long running vehicle for Jim Arness. The half-hour format is tight, compact and every nuance has to be blatant and conveyed none too subtly. Close blocking and and tight aspects show facial conveyance of motive and emotion to excellent advantage. So many times the hour-long format added nothing to the development of the episode. The actors and play are not overshadowed by the scenery. These examples are the basis for establishing the characters of all the Dodge denizens and wonderfully illustrated in this episode.
To anyone 50 and younger...
27 April 2020
If you're not familiar with Clu Gulager. watch this Virginian. This is the definitive demonstration of his presence as an actor. That voice, his black leather vest and gloves, his manner and comportment...just oozing danger. I would love to know how he developed that voice, softer and quieter than Clint Eastwood. A threatening whisper, like a hissing dynamite fuse, warning of an explosion to come. There has never been a better character introduction in episodic television. Clu first came to my attention in "The killers" this same year. He matched Lee Marvin with menace and owned his section of the big screen. He would have been a fantastic cinema realization Jack Schaeffer's 'Shane'.
Leslie Nielson, Jan Merlin and Ron Soble as town baddies. Even Raquel Welch in a saloon girl walk-on. This great series has never had a better episode, writing or direction. See it, youngster!
Notable first appearance...
29 February 2020
This is the first ever acting credit for Wilhelm von Homburg, famous German wrestler and boxer that lead to long acting and celebrity career that culminated in the famous portrait and character of Vigo in Ghostbusters II. I was surprised to learn that this episode was in part based on his sports career and specially arranged for by Andrew V McLaglen, director. McLaglen knew what he wanted to say and consistently got excellent performances from his cast, and this outing is no exception! Great watch!
A very different Gunsmoke Episode!
16 February 2020
The title of this episode is "The Cousin". Why, I don't know. It opens with a barroom brawl being settled by handsome, charmer Michael Forest. This is investigated by Matt, who at first doesn't recognize his "foster-brother", seven years his junior. This entire episode is about their relationship, which is very cloudy. When Kitty asks Matt if Chance is a friend of his, he answers "I don't know." Tight-lipped, even for Matt. They haven't seen each other since Matt was seventeen and Chance only 10 and Matt Dillon rode off into the great Western unknown, leaving little Chance behind. The teleplay is devoted to the psychological development of the two main characters, with Forest getting as much screen time as star, Arness! Now, Michael Forest is 6'3" and well-over 210 lbs, but he looks a lot smaller than the towering Matt Dillon. (You may remember his star-turn as tragic Greek-god Apollo in the original StarTrek.) Another atypical twist to the writing in this episode is that Matt sends absolutely no one to permanent residence in boot hill though he has ample opportunity to. Little bro has thrown him off his game! Maybe he's still trying to impress the ten-year old boy he left behind. Naturally Chance had chosen a wild path and openly confesses to Matt that he has just gotten out of prison. What he doesn't confide is that his gang is waiting for him to head up another robbery outside of town. The reason we know all of this is because early in the action, he broke his leg and has to recuperate in Dodge. I really like this contribution to the series and will not divulge the surprise ending! Excellent supporting cast (John Anderson, Gloria Talbot and the Dodge denizens-Doc, Kitty and Chester) and well worth the watch!
But don't look for it on Michael Forest page filmography. It's not there!
One of my favorite episodes...
8 February 2020
Every old cowboy actor, villain and character actor in this one episode. These were the reliables, rough customers, they could do more with a sneer or a squint than today's actors could with a page of dialog and fancy prosthetics. George Keymas is the first to taste the sting of Matt's massive Colt, Jack Lambert, who does his famous Scottish houligan with heavy accent, is next. Lovable lout and famous portrayer of mob-types Anthony Caruso goes down next (even though he's saved Matt's bacon from the others). All leading to Marshall Dillon's capture of grinning Richard Devon (my personal favorite heavy) in order to save an innocent man from hanging! It's like a min-movie! Along the way we meet Harry Carey Jr. as a sheriff with a bad case of the flu, and cowboy veteran Lane Chandler as an aged warden at a frontier prison! What a cast! Doc, Kitty, Sam and the rest of Dodge City get the day off. This is Matt's episode exclusively! Directed by John Ford protege Andrew McLaglen this is a character-driven excursion into the lawless frontier of Texas with James Arness at the helm. An intricate story with a straight forward plot, every danger a lawman could encounter to bring 'em back alive! I always imagined the end of a day for these guys. "What did you do today, daddy?" Oh, I got shot by Matt Dillon, son! "What, again?" Yep, pays the bills.
Episode about race...
26 January 2020
This entry penned by the great William Blinn, who wrote Brian's Song, Starsky & Hutch, Roots episodes, and Purple Rain poses the question: are we black, white or simply "human"?
In it we have a black alien who accuses a black investigator of being a traitor to his "race".
Which race, he responds, black or human? Heady stuff for 1968, when you consider MLK, Jr. was killed later that same year. This episode like the Rev. King was an attempt to show us we should unite against our mutual enemy, in this case, invaders seeking to enslave and control us! Many wonderful black actors of the day appeared in this episode. Watch and see if you can spot them and recall their other roles of note.
The Death of Dick Long
(2019)
Not a throwaway...but disposable!
22 November 2019
There is obviously some talent on the creative end of this movie, but it doesn't rise above the missed opportunities of character development. Thank goodness the unsurprising plot is in no danger of haunting you and won't linger long in my memory. The actors though, I'll be looking for further projects.
Yancy Derringer
(1958–1959)
In disagreement...
21 November 2019
In reference to the review by edalweber: Henry Russell never worked with Herschel Burke Gilbert on music for the Rifleman. Not that Mr. Gilbert never deferred to other composers on construction of soundtracks, Mr. Russell died in 1968 and Mr. Gilbert retired from series work around the same time. The Rifleman was one of his signature projects and interviews of his work on that show and others can be found on YouTube. The iconic composer would never casually lift another's music and just place in a series running simultaneously on the television schedule and Mr Gilbert's contribution to the Rifleman series was so distinct another composer's work would certainly stick out like a sore thumb!
Sheb Wooley Rides Again!
10 August 2019
I certainly didn't realize how many appearances Sheb made in the Lone Ranger series. Here's one that finds him the victim of deadly ambush with a peroxide blonde Phyllis Coates as his wife. And guess what, he brought along two buddies, Lee Van Cleef and Ian McDonald, who (along with Robert Wilkie) have a showdown with Gary Cooper in "High Noon" that same year!
There's a lot of narration in the beginning but it doesn't sound like William Conrad. I just can't place the voice and it is not credited! Anyone know?
The Lone Ranger
(1949–1957)
Embedded in my DNA...
30 July 2019
In my old age, I have taken to reviewing the fantastic television plays of the 50's and 60's. I cannot help but be "stirred" by the opening strains of William Tell Overture. I know I am about to enter the western fantasy world of the Lo-o-o-one Ranger. What a ridiculous premise. A stoic, resolute purveyor of justice riding a huge white horse called Silver accompanied by his ever faithful companion, Tonto rides through the West setting wrong to right wherever he goes. As kids, we ate it up! No matter what deviance the bad guys cooked up (and some schemes were quite intricate) right was right. And the Lone Ranger was always right! But he was not always Clayton Moore. John Hart subbed for 52 episodes. He was a bigger man and an excellent horseman but eventually Moore was rehired. American audiences don't like change. (Which is why so idiot politicians are elected over and over, but I digress) But in all my internet research, I cannot find a credit for the symphony that recorded that particular theme. The impossible power and nobility of that orchestral performance matched the justice the Masked Man dispensed at lightning speed. It moves me to this day. I don't feel as through I was being patronized or talked down to by the producers or creative force behind the series. Elevated and relieved that there were those that protected and advanced moral value without asking for anything in return. Touched at the ending question: Who was that masked man? A tear swells as the music fades in, louder..."Why don't you know...? That's the Lo-o-one Ranger! Hi ho Silver, away!
Before the infeuding, a well-done teleplay.
27 July 2019
This long running series was really hitting its stride by this episode. Full cast involvement. Some humor, deadly gunfights and character development for both regulars and guest alike. The relatively young, slim Jack Elam, in all his villainy, causes all manner of trouble for the whole Cartwright clan, angers his hill country mother and the story climaxes in an unusual, surprise ending. I loved the resolution.
Especially poignant is the fact that three of these familiar actors of the day had no careers by 1963. Don C. Harvey (as Elam's brother) died too young in 1963, Anita Sands turned her back on Hollywood that same year at the ripe age of 23. Steven Terrell left the profession not long after, having been on many 50s and 60s popular series. The daily grind of early television in the early days didn't have the glamour or lure of financial renumeration it has today. Some actors doffed the costumes and make-up for family and other pursuits. I think the attitude of actors may have been healthier and more philosophical back then. I am fascinated by actors' careers and what they do when not acting and how they reinvent themselves for private life. So many of this era worked intensely for about 12 years and then stopped. I could draw up an extensive list, they're still living. Just not acting.
A lot of anger in this episode...
20 July 2019
Seeing as how this is only the 13th episode of Season 7, I think the writers channeled their anger at early cancellation into the plot of these final two episodes. It seems like they pulled out all the stops and got a lot of repressed issues off their chest. Let's throw all the loose ends up in the air, pick the most illogical resolutions and leave all the characters in limbo. No goodbyes. No redemption. No tearful or hopeful poignancy. Just a guillotine chop to the series.
Very strange ending to a clever and well-written series that never quite settled on its identity. It started out a cerebral version of forensics procedure with a smoky jazz musical score. Morphed into an action, shoot-em-up police drama and finally a character driven and stylish police procedural. But these cops never knew a rule book they couldn't break. By the end of the story arc everyone were spouting platitudes and bringing in bad guys by hook or crook! It was fun to see what flaws each officer brought with them to the job or developed as time went on. I believe every Canadian actor worth his salt passed thru, either as a guest or as a series regular in a cast that constantly changed with a revamp each season. This was really the story of Sgt. Ali McCormick, her evolution from eager idealist to jaded pragmatist and the journey in between.
Cold Squad
(1998–2005)
Watch this crime procedural...
18 July 2019
Find a place to binge all seven seasons. If you don't care for one season, try another. Every one builds up to a dramatic peak, a cast shake-up and a complete revamp. Main characters get killed off, injured or transfer out (just like real-life).
The only link is Sargeant Allie McCormick, head of a little hole-in-the-wall newly-formed operation in the basement of the police building. In the first season she drives a used BMW 2002, has a sick mom and a head of close-cropped florescent-dyed red hair. All of this atmosphere is gone by season three, but season 1 & 2 is full of it! These are my favorite episodes. Great jazz theme by Terry Frewer, darkly photographed, emphasis on forensics and psychology and cerebral. Personal back stories take a back seat to the investigation. This balance is tested and changed over subsequent seasons, with Allie's love life and numerous liasons weaving in and out up many episodes. As a character, Allie grows on you. She is a flawed human being trying to find her stance in life, growing, falling, always picking the wrong guy and trying new hair styles and colors. Along the way she has an termination of pregnancy, affairs with fellow officers and bosses and Russian police. What a girl!
Unlike U.S. based series (where you find a formula and stick to it like cement) Cold Squad completely changed every season, bringing in the best actors in Canada to fill slots in the ensemble. All the little nuances eventually succumb to action sequences and fashionable style.
It's turned into a guilty pleasure to watch.
Pretty terrifying...
16 June 2019
I have to disagree with Leofwine-draca. I was pretty terrified at the prospect of a beautiful '79 Capri wrecking when she picked up her new adopted son. It's one of my favorite classics and I was leaning and trying to steer it to safety myself. Felt like one of my wrecks caught on video!!!
Outstanding character study!
6 June 2019
The great CBS western anthology series, Rawhide has never produced a better excursion into the dynamics of the people on a cattle drive. By season seven the producers were comfortable in their command of the medium to not expand but delve deeply into their main characters and treasured guest stars. This was written and cast as a tour-de-force for Mr. Albert Dekker, noted stage actor, screen legend and former California assemblyman. Although only 60 at the time Dekker delivers a convincing performance of a 71 year old cowpoke whose best days are hundreds of miles in the past. This a Hollywood veteran who is at the top of his game and perhaps a poignant reflection of real life. How could anyone know that in two years Dekker would lose his son (aged 16) and in a year more his life? The regular roles of Gil Favor and Mushy are fleshed out and play effectively off grizzled, aged Josh with no cheap cliches or gunfights. Just perfect character development and a tin-type glimpse into the dynamics of the life of drovers.
Jay C. Flippen, Paul Doucette and John Rickard in shining cameos!
An excellent episode!
Delving deeper into American myth by Brits!!!
1 June 2019
I have been fascinated by the event that took place at the O K Corral since childhood when I read a book on the subject. This was the birth of every gunfight portrayed in cinema across decades and continents and the blueprint for showdown scenes of the Western genre. The Brits are as miserly with their films as the French are with their wine: BBC America broadcasts endless reruns of Star Trek, X Files and Dr. Who to their colonial cousins while keeping the best programs for themselves! I enjoyed this immensely. The initial depictions of both sides' viewpoint started out very interesting indeed! The producers deserve an E, for effort. But this story needs (and could support) an entire series to dive into the close relationships and familiarity of these historical figures with each other. This was last attempted in the late 1950's with Hugh O'Brien's "Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" with some success, though highly stylized for that period.
The choice of Liam Cunningham and very recognizable British talent is inspired. His stoic, deliberate portrayal of Wyatt Earp rivals and at times surpasses others I have seen. The use of actual courtroom documents and testimony is engrossing though a bit too ponderous for the average viewer. There are problems with the pacing however. For once I wish someone would illustrate the brevity of the whole affair. 30 seconds. They could show it in real time, THEN go back for Peckinpaw slow motion blood spurts and explosions. It gives the impression (and every related movie does this) of a slow, deliberate execution and ballistic ballet, of sorts. Man, it was less time than it takes to heat a microwave do-nut and six men were shot, 3 killed! And I love these actors, but Wyatt was 33 years old when this went down. Quit getting 50 and 60 year olds as principals in this drama. This is one classic that could use a youthful make-over (like Young Guns). Even at the end, the methodical hunt for the cowboys by Wyatt's "posse" is drawn out and word infested. Things went quicker and without much talking, I surmise! I can't argue with the viewpoint taken by the screenwriters because it was a Democrat/Republican recounting of the events (involving by the way, the Democrat Cowboys and the Republican Earps. Let someone film THAT angle!)
Hour of the Gun
(1967)
Sturges' stranglehold on history!
29 April 2019
We've all seen at least 3 or more versions of the Wyatt Earp saga. This one is by far the stiffest, most somber, wooden characterization of those people and events you'd ever want to witness. Yes, all the cliches are there. The gunfight, the retaliation by the cowboys, the resultant vendetta and murders throughout the territory. But I never quite got the purpose of this version. Was it to demonize Earp? Or to give James Garner a vehicle to break out of his happy-go-lucky Maverick persona? It's like watching revisionist Shakespeare. After all this is the great American tragedy. A tale of conflict and revenge worthy of Macbeth or Richard III. But Sturges just loves to gather all these great male actors in the fashion of Magnificent Seven and rein them in tight like a team of horses. He's got a great before-they-were-stars cast here mixed with television veterans and pioneers. This movie was produced around the time of re-imagining the western hero circa Man with No Name, Clint Eastwood and the like. I feel like the director (a lover of Westerns) contributed to the demise of the genre with this installment. It's just too ugly and dismal a palette with very little color and depth to these characters. It unfolds like a crime drama rather than a western and those involved seem to explain themselves constantly throughout the action rather than let that action define them as men. Jason Robard's Doc Holiday is almost farcical as the conscience of our vengeful band of killers. Val Kilmer was far more successful at this than he. One of the last good roles that actor will ever do. A mistake made in casting this character (as well as Bill Hickcock, in other productions) is that the actor is too old! Doc Holiday was dead by 37, Hickcock by 39!
I saw this movie upon its release in 1967 and have seen it a few times since and am watching it now as I write this review. I just don't feel like the actors were enjoying themselves doing this and it reflects upon the tone of picture. Even though its set in the wide-open spaces the aura is close and ponderous and over-explained. I have heard John Sturges expound his distaste for High Noon but I find that product far superior to this effort at retelling this classic American myth!
Born too late...
15 January 2019
I was always in love with Sharon Farrell (along with all the men that married her) from adolescence-on. She had a wide range, but her portrayal of wide eyed innocence is spot-on here. Linden Chiles as the noble cowpoke wronged by James Best at his smarmiest. What a cast!!! They play to type but at a perfect pace. It's so good to watch actors trained and practiced in their art! Story: somewhat run of the mill but elevated by the ensemble's performance and great guest stars! Plenty of bits for everyone to do and the director spread it around so no one misses out. Andrew McLaglen was top-notch as is evident here! Nothing touches it today!
A don't-miss episode of my favorite western
30 November 2018
A welcome change of pace from the heaviness of this series that always lead to a shootout and eventual death at the end of Matt's six-shooter. A powerhouse performance by Betty Hutton. Singing, dancing and real suspense. I couldn't wait to see the end of the episode. She carried all aspects of entertainment on this single episode. This had to be filmed before her personal tragedies and her time in a convent. She still had so much fire in her performance and had not been broken, robbed and reformed as she later was. If you want to see a great entertainer before they walked out on Hollywood in one of her last performances on the small screen, catch this one! Jim Arness was a gracious producer and show runner and season 10 gave us performances no other production would. Let's face it, Betty Hutton was always over the top and stagey but other reviewers should lighten up. Let her entertain you!!!
Richard III
(2007)
I would love to review this movie...
3 June 2018
But, I can't find it anywhere. Not for sale, for rent or to watch online. I can't even find a photo of the actor who directed, stars and adapted it for the screen, Scott Anderson. Is this a modern day lost treasure? Many of Hollywood's avant garde have roles: David Carradine (in one of his final roles), Sally Kirkland, Maria Conchita Alonso, Danny Trejo, Richard Tyson among others. Sounds like a great premise, modern day Los Angeles locale, crime drama. Was it a vanity project, a stinker, blackballed for some reason? Now I'm curious! Has anyone seen it? Where can I find it? Google won't give it up. Amazon doesn't have the blu-ray. Ebay? No way! What a mystery!!!
I never wonder...
31 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
How things turn out for involved parties of one of these cases, but this one was facinating! It was so obvious that the crash was deliberate, I wonder why the defendant did what he did? And who was following him? This was a criminal activity and the guy should go to jail! Instead, he gets a fee from Judge Judy, uses that to pay his judgment and goes his merry way. The plaintiff should see that police get that video and press them to pursue charges against him. Video tells the tale and I would love to see a followup on this case!!!
Strange villain..even for Cannon
21 December 2017
This episode features ingenue Kitty Winn as a pretty young thing out to have him killed for the shooting death of her boyfriend (who was trying to shoot Cannon himself) or so it seems! Intricate plot involving mob connections, undercover operations and unique character study. Cudos to Miss Winn! She plays this wide-eyed without a trace of evil venom, simply matter-of-fact. When she batts her blue eyes you can see her sincerity in wanting the fat man dead. So much so that she will go to any lengths to get it, against her father's wishes. He's got to pay...period! But the best plot twist is yet to come (No spoilers)!
Mike Connors stretches...blindly
21 December 2017
Man what didn't happen to Mannix? In this episode he is struck blind by a cold assassin and spend the rest of the episode trying to get his sight back. Well of course he does, with the aid of the great pioneering black actor, James Edwards in possibly his last acting role. This episode premiered in December 1969 and Mr. Edwards died January 4, 1970. He brings the intensity of his youth and power of his definitive style to a prominent part as Joe's therapist. Although he had a long and varied career prior to his appearance in this episode there's more meat for a good actor to chew on. Actually, his most popular roles are yet to be released, pothumously. (Patton, 1970 ie.) His one on one repartee' with Connors are a joy to watch. Fitting homage to a powerful screen presence, regardless of the size of the part! A career truly cut short!
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