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Post by Zone Fighter on Sept 26, 2004 8:27:28 GMT -8
The first season of "The Rifleman" will be released on DVD October 26th.
The Rifleman (1958-1963)
stars Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, the Rifleman Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain Paul Fix as Marshal Micah Torrance
Widower Lucas McCain raises a son alone on a ranch in North Fork, New Mexico. Armed with a modified Winchester capable of firing in 3/10th of a second.
I'll have another good western to rent when I fish with Have Gun - Will Travel.
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Post by Preston on Mar 25, 2005 17:21:59 GMT -8
I'm Not a fan of the Rifleman, but it's being re-run here in Honolulu five days a week, so I sometimes catch it. Now why I make this post is because of one of the episodes I caught which guest-starred ADAM WEST. This appearance was done way before his Batman role, so it was interesting to see Mr. West in this early role. His guest role in the RIFLEMAN was the character named Rolf, a gunslinger, dressed entirely in a black outfit and ruthless....well, at first, anyway.
In a winter blizzard, a stagecoach is stranded, and the driver and passengers seek refuge at Lucas McCain's ranch. This includes Rolf who has the suspicious behavior of sneaking away from the cabin at times to check on something in the barn. One of the other passengers suspects that Rolf is checking on loot that he had supposedly stolen in a bank robbery. As it turns out, it's Not loot but medical equipment for a malady that Rolf has. It also turns out that Rolf is a RELUCTANT gunslinger. When he was a schoolteacher, he was forced to defend himself. As luck would have it, he won his first gunfight. But he had to keep up his reputation in order to survive. In actuality,he hates being a gunslinger.
Compared to Mr. West's campy and tongue-in-cheek role in the Batman series, this role of gunslinger shows him surprisingly and remarkably capable of serious drama. This is especially shown when he confides in Lucas as to how reluctant he feels to be a gunslinger, wanting so much to become "normal" but prevented in doing so by the many other gunfighters who want to challenge him.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 25, 2005 21:48:32 GMT -8
Adam was good in the Outer Limits as well, i thought, and the Stooges movie he was in (the western, coincidently enough). and he was perfect for Batman, it was the scripts that got wilder toward the end.
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Post by Preston on Apr 17, 2005 9:20:39 GMT -8
No, I never saw Mr. West's appearance with the Stooges but I definitely saw him in THE OUTER LIMITS, one of my all-time favorite science fiction series. Although that episode of a Martian Sand-shark was somewhat of a mediocre horror, but Mr. West was convincing in the role of astronaut.
Although I found his role of Batman to be somewhat campy (which actually the series was intended to be), but ironically I found his role of the alter-ego BRUCE WAYNE to be much more convincing. That's because the ACTOR Adam West himself seems dashing and debonair and so perfectly suited for the role of a millionaire playboy.
Using that as the criterion, we can extend it to still another role which would have suited him, the millionaire playboy alter-ego of DC's Golden Age Sandman.
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Post by Lunkhead on Jul 29, 2007 16:23:52 GMT -8
I was too young for the early seasons, but got to see some of the later ones - and most all of them in reruns afterward in the '60s. Recently, Encore Westerns channel has been showing it again. Plus, the 'On Demand' feature on our Comcast cable has been rotating them as well. I hadn't seen the show in many years and forgot just how good it truly was. My youngest son (who's now 14) and I are really enjoying them together.
The show centers around widower Lucas who's raising his son Mark alone, but as McCain is lightning fast with a Winchester rifle, he often assists Marshal Torrance in fending off bad guys from their town. There are many exciting action scenes, but this is no ordinary western. The stories deal with real characters and their problems. Lucas' relationship with his son is often very moving as he tries to raise him right in such a tough environment. Some episodes were ahead of their time - dealing with prejudice and injustice.
Chuck Conners' character is a decent role model who tries to do the right thing, but is not always perfect. In fact, when I was a kid he made a real impression and when I saw him playing some nasty roles later in his career, it was a bit hard to take. He was a fine actor, none the less. He and Johnny Crawford remained friends the rest of his life.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jul 29, 2007 17:03:04 GMT -8
i'll have to rent some of these sometime. sounds like a good show.
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