Rawhide (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Willis]

That's great news. Mine's in the mail. I'll post some info after I view a couple of the eps.

OT: That's a great signature list. I'm waiting for a lot of the same ones.

 

[RickER]

Ditto.

I loved to watch Rawhide reruns here in the 80s. I will be getting it, next week, after i get paid. I still have so much to finish watching from the last 2 weeks!

 

[michael_ks]

Oddly enough, Jeff, it was your own list that inspired me. I was looking at closely one day and thought, "hey, I'm not the only who pines for many of the same classic shows."

 

[Doug^Ch]

There is a great review of this set posted here:http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22845

 

[Bob Gu]

Received Rawhide S1 today: The set is seven single sided DVDs with 3-4 episodes per disc. The same photo on the box front appears on all 4 slimcases. The same photo of Rowdy on horseback is on all 7 DVDs.

Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood are both on the main menu but Fleming alone is on the individual episode's menu.

The episode "Incident of the Tumbleweed" is listed correctly on the DVD menu but as "Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon" on the slimcase.

The extras consist of "Production Notes" on each episode's menu. The notes are not always specific to the episode, but have interesting Rawhide trivia about Eastwood, Fleming, the guest stars, and C.M.Warren.

The box lists the episode "Incident of the Roman Candles" as an extra episode from Season Two. But some episode guides do list this episode as the 23rd episode of S1 with a July '59 broadcast date. It will be interesting to see if they repeat it on a future Season Two set.

I compared the DVD and the Columbia House VHS of "Incident of the Alabaster Plain". Of course the picture was sharper on the DVD but I thought the sound was better (louder) on the VHS.

"Alabaster Plain" is the episode where badguy Peter Mark Richmond has a gun with silver snakes on the pistol grips. Are these the same snake design grips that are on Jim West's gun and The Man With No Name?

 

[michael_ks]

Thanks for posting details on this release. Just how good is picture quality overall when compared to other DVD sets for series of this vintage? In reading the DVDtalk review, it's clear that the episodes don't look as clean and sharp as "Wanted: Dead or Alive", but hopefully they're at least as good as "Have Gun Will Travel"...?

 

[silverking]

I am really looking forward to getting this set.
Many episodes were remastered for the Columbia House series of tapes & DVD's so should look pretty good
Re the premiere episode 'Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon', this has always been the title on any episode guide I have seen and fits right in with the context of the story.I suspect that whoever did the titling on the broadcast episode actually missed off the word 'Wagon'.
One extra I hope will be included in future sets is the original unaired pilot 'Incident at Barker Springs' with Robert Carricart as the cook. It has been floating around on video for some time so still exists. Some scenes were of course reshot with Paul Brinegar as Wishbone for the broadcast episode.It is a bit ponderous so I imagine that is why the network chose to kick off with the 'Tumblewed Wagon' segment which showcased both Favor & Rowdy equally.
Its been quite a good few months for TV western fans what with Rawhide, Wild,Wild West, Big Valley, Have Gun,Will Travel,Wanted Dead or Alive ( but where is Season 2 ?)the Bonanza season sets in Region 2 , Cheyenne & the Best of Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp & Gunsmoke.
Who knows we may get Maverick, Laramie, High Chaparall one day !

 

[Jeff#]

I remember Robert Carricart for a character role he played every week in the mid 1960s action series "T.H.E. Cat", which starred Robert Loggia. He was OK, but it's impossible to imagine anyone else as Wishbone on the Rawhide show other than Paul Brinegar. Yes, I haven't seen the unaired 1958 pilot to Rawhide.

 

[michael_ks]

Also include the box sets to "The Rifleman" in that list--my favorite western of all. "The High Chaparral" is a logical choice for release soon as it is entirely in color and is one of the most successful of the latter day silver age westerns.

I fear New Line has permanently abandoned S2-3 of "Wanted".

 

[Bob Hug]

I agree with you, Michael . . . it's been over a year since season 1 was released and, unfortunately, New Line doesn't have much in the way of a track record for TV-on-DVD releases, focusing much more on theatrical releases. But I'm happy to have season 1, because a full season of shows back in the 1950s is almost equivalent to two full seasons for today's series.

 

[Michael Alden]

Westerns like that were one of the reasons the genre died on TV.

 

[Bert Greene]

The timing of this "Rawhide" set was spot-on for me, as I'd just finished off my "Cheyenne" set. I always like to have a good old western in my dvd rotation. And, "Rawhide" was a consistently top-notch example. I've always liked the series, and I'm invariably more impressed with it each time I've encountered it over the years. It wears well. Although, I seem to recall my sister, who normally likes westerns, never cared too much for it. She always found it too dark and downbeat. I guess it is perhaps one of the most grim of those old-time westerns, but that never bothered me. If anything, I liked it. In fact, sometimes the series seemed almost spooky at times, in both its atmospherics and its psychological drama via the guest characters.

Well, there are a lot of westerns I'd like to see pop up on dvd. I hope we get more "Have Gun, Will Travel." I'm starting to worry a bit about that one. It seems like it's been quite a while since that one came out.

 

[silverking]

Really ? I thought High Chaparral was one of the best of the TV westerns, good cast, great locations, good stories & very well produced !

I think it ran about 4 seasons & was very popular.

 

[Bob Gu]

I too enjoyed the spooky,'something's out there',aspect of RAWHIDE. Remember, it was on the same night as THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
Hey Soos was a superstitious and mystical character, as was Robert Carricart's cook in the original pilot. Carricart can still be seen in "Barker Springs", in the camp scene where the masked gunfighter rides in and collapses. The scene starts with Wishbone waking up Mr. Favor. Wishbone backs out of the frame, as a double for Carricart enters the scene and stands with Favor. Then the scene cuts to the original pilot footage with Carricart.
There's a lot to like about RAWHIDE. When you hear that secondary theme music and Gil Favor's narration, and see the drovers,wagons, and cattle coming over those dusty hills,under the big sky,it's downright majestic.

 

[JeffWld]

The High Chaparral was actually one of the triggers for the FCC's decision to stop networks from having any involvement with off-network syndication. Stations considered the show an unwanted dud, but were being forced by NBC to take it if they wanted to get their hands on the highly-popular "Bonanza" reruns. This kind of "blackmail packaging" was the only way NBC could offload "The High Chaparral".

 

[Jeff#]

The High Chapparal was Executice Produced by David Dortort, who had much better luck with BONANZA. I managed to watch many of the episodes when it used to be rerun on cable, such as on TBS.

It had great theme music and incidenal music, and the credit goes to David Rose for his excellent orchestrated compositions. Rose was also the third (and last) orchestra leader on Red Skelton's radio and TV series for many years, while he also worked for David Dortort on BONANZA for over 13 years.

After The High Chapparal was cancelled in 1971, Linda Cristal guest starred in the BONANZA episode "Warbonnet" the following season.

 

[michael_ks]

You are correct, sir! Solid production values, a Golden Globe winner and twice nominated for an Emmy, this series displayed considerable realism. The sets of The High Chaparral were especially rich with detail and authenticity. This was true not only of the regular sets, but of the saloons, cantinas, Mexican villages, and neighboring farms and ranches that appeared throughout the series.

The petition for DVDs on one fan site has over 2000 signatures now and has fans clamoring for them from every state in the US and from 59 countries additionally. So, yes, I'd say it was (and still is) popular.

 

[jim_falconer]

Would anyone know if Paramount is planing on releasing season 2 of this excellent show? Perhaps the DVD sales were lower then expected for season 1, hence the long wait for another season set...

 

[michael_ks]

As it has been nearly 6 months since the S1 release, I'm getting rather concerned myself. It did take Paramount fully a year to release "Have Gun Will Travel" S2 so I have some hope. But then the fact that S4 for that show (which has comparable sales figures and demographic appeal) is long overdue for release...well I don't know what to think.

 

[silverking]

I hate to say it ,but I strongly suspect 'Rawhide' S2 (& the later seasons) has gone the way of 'Wanted Dead or Alive' & 'HGWT'.Likewise Cheyenne'.
It appears the vintage black & white westerns have minority interest to DVD buyers as far as the major studios are concerned.I don't think any of these releases actually lost money but just didn't deliver the sort of returns the majors expect.OK we will probably get Wild,Wild West but this is more of a fantasy show than a western & is in colour.

There was a thread here a couple of months back deploring the slowdown of releases for classic & vintage shows. Although we have had a few crumbs 'The Untouchables' 'Alias Smith & Jones' 'Streets of San Francisco' it may well be the last of it as far as 50's & 60's are concerned.Unless a show has been in rerun continuously (such as Bewitched) it has faded from consciousness & means nothing to the demographic audience the major studios target.

A statement from someone at Warner Bros on another forum about 2 years ago suggested they would like to release some of their old TV shows,
'The Dakotas, Colt 45 & Sunset Strip were mentioned, but all we got was 1 season of Cheyenne.So that appears to have been abandoned.

Judging by the reaction on the Amazon website,even further releases of the 'Big Valley' after the current half season must be in doubt, if the hostility of buyers to the price & reduced episodes is to be believed. Not to mention the poor authoring of S1.Initial sales of S1 were apparently poor & this is a show which has survived in rerun.

Meantime the audience which would buy these shows gets older & the studios sit on the product or squabble about rights (eg 'Man from Uncle) while their market decreases.

I guess DVD has come some 15 years too late for us baby boomers.It is so disappointing that a wealth of material ,like the Warner classics & the ZIV library & many many others too numerous to mention will simply rot away in vaults.

Sorry to be so negative , I'll sign off now before I depress you further.