Product Description
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Before he became a fixture in the spaghetti Western genre,
iconic actor Clint Eastwood to fame in the 1950s and '60s
television series Rawhide. Considered one of the best TV Westerns
of all time, the classic series followed the episodic adventures
of a band of rovers hired to drive cattle through the lawless
terrain of the 1870s Wild West while encountering both natural
and manmade dangers like anthrax and cattle rustlers. Eastwood
starred as rover Rowdy Yates, the straight-arrow assistant to a
tough-as-nails trail boss, Gil Favor (Eric Fleming), who also
presided over trail hands Mushy (James Murdock), Quince (Steve
Raines), Nolan (Sheb Wooley), and Wish (Paul Brinegar). This
collection presents the first half of the cult series' third
season. Star David Watson, Clint Eastwood, James Murdock, Steve
Raines, Sheb Wooley, Paul Brinegar, Matthew Thompkins, John
Ireland Special Features: Multi-Disc Set Keep Case - Sensoramatic
Packaging Audio: (unspecified) English.
.com
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"Its always something," says grizzled cook Wish (Paul
Brinegar) at one point to trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming)
after yet another crisis stalls their cattle drive. In the
episode "Incident at Rojo Canyon," its a band of Confederate
soldiers still fighting the Civil War. In "Incident of the
Promised Land," its a bank e and an embittered widow who
strand the men without any money. But Rawhide was always more
about character than cattle, blending gritty western action with
compelling human drama. In "Incident on the Road to Yesterday,"
Frankie Laine (who sings the shows essential theme song) guests
stars as a reformed outlaw trying to square his former misdeeds
before turning himself in, only to discover hes being framed for
murder. Anchored by Fleming, Rawhide was an ensemble series,
although the presence of Clint Eastwood as Favors protégé Rowdy
Yates, is of more immediate interest. Among his finest hours are
"Incident of the Buffalo Soldier," featuring Woody Strode as a
defiant African-American soldier on the run after killing a man
in self defense, and "Incident at Poco Tiempo," in which Rowdy
befriends two nuns being forced by two bank robbers to transport
stolen money. Some of the most memorable of these episodes have
little or no Clint at all. The best is "Incident of the
Slavemaster," featuring Peter Lorre as a deranged cotton er
who is still keeping Union soldiers as prisoners. James Murdocks
good-hearted, but simple-minded Mushy is the focus of a
light-hearted episode, "Incident of the Captive," in which he
stages the kipping of his mother (Mercedes McCambridge, the
voice of the Devil in The Exorcist), who has come to bring him
home (who knew he ran away from home at 17 and that his real name
was Harkness Musgrove III?). Rawhide used the western genre to
tackle some timely issues, including racism ("Buffalo Soldier")
and the neglect of war veterans ("Incident at the Top of the
World," featuring Robert Culp as a morphine-addicted soldier).
Through it all, Favor guides the herd and his men with a cool
head, firm leadership, and unwavering principles. Even if you
missed Season One and Season Two, the authentic stories, vivid
characters, and indelible performances make it easy to pick up
Rawhides trail. These episodes, indeed this classic series, are
USDA prime. --Donald Liebenson