On Encore Western Channel

[MissGoddess]

Four Westerns are being shown on Encore this month that are not very well known but each is rather unique. Check local listings online:
http://www.starz.com/schedule

The Last Frontier (Anthony Mann, 1955) Airing Sunday 10/16/11 at 2:40 a.m. (EST)
A frontiersman (Victor Mature) scouts for a glory-riding Fort Lieutenant (Robert Preston) who's taken over the command of the more rational and peace-seeking Captain (Guy Madison). James Whitmore plays Mature's father, or man who raised him. Mann again looks at the wildness and violence inside even the most civilized men. Though Mature is a mountain man, "a bear" as he calls himself, and has no qualms about taking anything he needs, including another man's life or wife, he's still not as "savage" as Preston who will sacrifice his entire company of men to experience "victory". It's an exciting tale and if not in the league of the Stewart or Cooper westerns, definitely deserving of attention for its emotions and the unmistakable Anthony Mann fingerprints.

Invitation to a Gunfighter (Richard Wilson, 1964) Airing Sunday, 10/16/11 at 8:00 p.m. and Monday, 10/17/11 at 3:10 a.m. and 1:35 p.m. (EST)
Here at last on TV is one of my favorite lesser known westerns. Yul Brynner stars as a dandy dressing, Creole gun for hire who arrives in a small Southern town, at the behest of the "respectable" citizens who want a troublesome returning Civil War veteran (George Segal) out of the way. However, Brynner sees things in his own way, and quickly sees a woman (Janice Rule) in his way.

Savage Pampas (Hugo Fregonese, 1966). Airing Sunday, 10/16/11 at 4:20 p.m. and Monday, 10/17/11 at 1:15 a.m and 11:20 a.m. (EST)
This is one of the strangest "westerns" I've seen let alone starring Robert Taylor, yet it's fascinating in its own way and Taylor was seldom better. It takes place as the title suggests, in the wilds of Argentina. Taylor is in command, tenuously, of a company of soldiers who meet up with a band of ladies" and since it's been a while, the effects are profound. This makes it sound nothing like it plays out...you have to see this movie to credit how interesting it is. A rather remarkable western made when westerns were definitely expanding and exploring beyond the American frontier, and worth seeing at least once. The ending is rather tragic.

Man in the Shadow (Jack Arnold, 1957) Airing Sunday 10/16/11 at 1:10 p.m. (EST)
We rambled a bit on this one in the general "westerns" thread here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2119&start=75#p73911
Starring Orson Welles as a modern day despot on whose southwestern "kingdom" the murder of a Mexican worker takes place. Jeff Chandler is the local Sheriff who starts to investigate, perfunctorily at first, but the more people tell him to lay off, the more attention he starts to pay to the circumstances of the murder. What's interesting is he's not setting out to be a hero nor does he have any grudge against Welles' big boss. But he doesn't like anyone telling him how to think or do his job, and now Welles' power has begun to encroach on that freedom. Offbeat and still rather frank on the subject of racism.

[mrsl]

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Some of you might be interested to learn than Laredo is scheduled to join the ranks of Encore in January. Unfortunately, it seems like it will be replacing Wagon Train since they are again on the their second trip across the nation. Apparently Encore does not have the later, color, episodes with John McIntyre and his gang, only the B&W's with the grump Ward Bond. I personally don't recall Laredo, my next move is to look it up on my old westerns site, so I can't say anthing much about it, but you may be an old fan like I am about the Rifleman and enjoy seeing the old episodes again. I'm re-watching them again on Channel METV because I missed a few when it was on Encore. I'm still spending most of my time watching a mix of Encore and METV because TCM is still rarely showing movies I have not seen. There are some movies I can watch over and over and never tire of them, but others are a once in a lifetime deal. Now with a couple of stations showing Christmas movies, my DVR is running on overload.
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[MissGoddess]

According to Encore's schedule as of Tuesday, January 3, 2012 (all times EST):

2-2:30 p.m. Lawman
2:30-3 p.m. Have Gun, Will Travel
3-4:00 p.m. Laredo
4-5:00 p.m. Wagon Train
5-6:00 p.m. Rawhide
6-6:30 p.m. Gunsmoke
6:30-7 p.m. Gunsmoke
7-8:00 p.m. Gunsmoke

If that schedule stands, I'll be missing All but "Gunsmoke" and part of Rawhide since I will be at work and they will not be showing any of the tv shows in the mornings anymore. I'm surprised they are keeping the hour long "Gunsmoke" episodes, I figured it would be replaced by the two half-hour shows. And this makes for a much longer bracket for the television shows. Before, they showed movies until 4:30 when The Vigrinian came on.

[mrsl]

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Hi Miss G:
Apparently the hour of 6 to 7:00 p.m. is going to be those half hour "Marshal Dillon" episodes you're talking about. At the end of those nightly regular shows, 8:00 on through the night and until 2:00 p.m. the movies will continue to be shown. I'm going to miss Cheyenne but I'm still getting over the loss of Stagecoach West on Channel METV, and the color 90 ninute Wagon Train episodes. I've never come to appreciate Have Gun will Travel, and wish they would replace that with the Rifleman again. I don't see the attraction that so many other folks see in Paladin. Not knocking the show, just saying I don't care for it like so many other people.

[MissGoddess]

My only real quibble is the loss of any TV shows in the morning. Sometimes that is my only option if I don't care for what's on TCM. I can't stand morning talk shows or the news.

I absolutely love Paladin, he's one of my favorite characters in TV or movies, but I hope by the end of next year maybe I'll have the DVDs so if they take it off then I won't miss out.

[pvitari]

I wonder why CBS/Paramount is taking so long to release the next season of Have Gun Will Travel on DVD. It's been almost a year since the second volume of season five was released.

[MissGoddess]

I hope they do release it eventually...I have been holding back only because of budget reasons. The price just doesn't seem to move at Amazon. Maybe it never will and I'll have "bite the bullet" (sorry, bad pun!)

[moirafinnie]

A plethora of marathons are about to take off on the Encore Western Channel this coming weekend. There are worse ways to spend New Year's Eve and Day other than tuning in on the antics of Neville Brand, Sheb Wooley, and James Arness (who will be appearing in bite-size doses). Each of these shows is slated to join the daily line-up on Encore Western:

Dec. 31st
Laredo (1965)
My main memory of this dimly recalled show from childhood was the seemingly awesome presence of Philip Carey (long before his soap opera years), but he shared the screen for two years with other Texas Rangers played by that loose cannon Neville Brand, the equally scary but better groomed William Smith and a supporting cast that included Peter Brown and later, Robert Wolders (who joined the series in season two). You can see a complete list of episodes scheduled for broadcast here.

Guest stars in the first 24 episodes include Burgess Meredith, Leo Gordon, James Farentino, Vito Scotti, Star Trek's James Doohan, Martin Milner, Shelley Morrison, Battlestar Galactica's Donnelly Rhodes, Bruce Dern, Jeanette Nolan, Jim Davis, Arthur Hunnicutt, Alan Napier, George Kennedy, Hawaii Five-0's Jack Lord, Peter Graves, Claude Akins and Fernando Lamas.

Jan. 1st
Rawhide (1959-1966)
The show with that iconic theme song that launched the career of Clint Eastwood, starred the ill-fated Eric Fleming as the no-nonsense trail boss involved in a seemingly endless task of herding cattle and men along toward the rail heads and marketplaces in the 19th century will run throughout New Year's Day.

Guest stars in the first 24 episodes include John Larch, Peter Mark Richman, Martin Balsam, Troy Donahue, Dan Duryea, Martin Milner, The Virginian's James Drury, Jay C. Flippen, Lon Chaney Jr., Brian Donlevy, Rodolfo Acosta, Michael Pate, June Lockhart, Star Trek's DeForest Kelley, Ron Soble, Macdonald Carey, Noah Beery Jr., Mercedes McCambridge, R.G. Armstrong, Hawaii Five-0's Jack Lord, Gary Merrill, Guy Stockwell, Leslie Nielsen, Martin Landau, Kathleen Crowley, Victor Jory, Nina Foch, Brian Keith, Linda Cristal, Elisha Cook Jr. and Viveca Lindfors. You can see a complete list of scheduled episodes here.

Thank you, Frankie Laine! Take it away... and watch where you crack that whip, you varmint!

Jan. 2nd
Marshall Dillon (1955)
The first half hour programs of Gunsmoke were renamed "Marshal Dillon" for syndication. They are (at least for me) among the best in the program's run--concise, nimbly acted and often a bit grittier than the later, longer stories.

Guests during the marathon include John Wayne (hosted the pilot episode), John Dehner, Claude Akins, Royal Dano, John Larch, Get Smart's Edward Platt, Keye Luke, Sebastian Cabot, John Carradine, The Virginian's James Drury, Lola Albright, Strother Martin, Perry Mason's William Hopper, Star Trek's DeForest Kelley, Leo Gordon, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, Dabbs Greer, The Rifleman's Chuck Connors, Bonanza's Bing Russell, Lancer's Andrew Duggan, Simon Oakland, Raising Hope's Cloris Leachman and Mannix's Mike Connors. A list of all the episodes scheduled to air is here.

[movieman1957]

I recently went through the early years of "Gunsmoke" on DVD. Frankly, I don't remember them ever being aired before. It was a real treat to see them. Amanda Blake looks like she can't be much older than her early 20s. (Besides I like her hair better than the piled up stuff she was wearing 10 years later.)

Early on everyone seems to be in character. Chester gets fleshed out as they go but everyone else seems situated.

I've done the same with "Rawhide" but I think I'm only through the first two discs.

You remember more of "Laredo" then I do so it will be new to me.

[MissGoddess]

I had no idea about Eric Fleming's tragedy...his background will make me look upon his character in "Rawhide" with much more interest. You're a genius at ferreting out this kind of information, thank you, Moira.

[RedRiver]

The half hour GUNSMOKEs were the best episodes. The focus was more on story and irony, less on action. Chester is less annoying than Festus. But the later, longer shows were fine as well. This is the rare TV series whose entire run is credible.

[MissGoddess]

I may be in the minority, but I think the series remained focus on story and character throughout its run, that's what makes it so remarkable to me. The early half hour shows are crisper and tighter due to the format, but I think the show benefited from additional time because it featured some of the most in depth, realistic and movie characters (I'm talking about the guest star characters) in all of western television. I like the hour format too because you can dig deeper under the skin of the characters, their backgrounds and motivations. The show was just great from start to finish, something remarkable.

[Rita Hayworth]

I like both 30 Minutes and 1 hour versions of Gunsmoke. Like Miss Goddess's description of both versions is pretty much I would sum it.

[MikeBSG]

Several years ago, I looked at the "Jump the Shark" website. ("Jump the Shark" is the phrase used for the moment a TV series turns bad.)

Some people insisted that "Gunsmoke" jumped the shark when it went from a half hour to an hour. Others when Festus replaced Chester. Others pointed out that if the show had jumped when it expanded to an hour, why did it last for another 13 seasons.

I'm more familiar with the hour long color episodes, that's what I grew up watching. There are outstanding episodes from each format of "Gunsmoke." "Cooter," from season one, based on a Sam Peckinpah script, directed by Robert Stevenson (of all people, he would go on to do "Mary Poppins") with Strother Martin as a simple minded guy is a real heartbreaker of an episode.

[RedRiver]

I agree with Miss Goddess that this show never clearly Jumped the Shark. The introduction of Festus tugged it in an awkward direction. The decision to have almost every episode end in a shoot-out detracted from the creativity. But this tale of the taming of Dodge City remained more than watchable right up to the end.

If WAGON TRAIN jumped, it was with the loss of Ward Bond. This truly delightful character actor, who served so many movies in minor roles, was one of the most perfectly cast TV stars. His Major Adams not only held the caravan together, but the story as well. When the show expanded to a 90 minute format, with John McIntyre leading the way, it just wasn't the same.

I am simply DYING to comment on a show that's not a western. An inappropriate use of this thread, but a temptation nonetheless. May I?