Kane, Joseph

Cheyenne - The Complete First Season

No collection of classic TV Westerns is complete without Cheyenne, the trailblazing 1955 series that premiered within weeks of Gunsmoke. The strapping Clint Walker stars as Cheyenne Bodie, the iconic role that earned him his place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Cheyenne is a classic Western hero in the drifter tradition, accepting jobs ranging from frontier scout to trail boss. In this first season, he is accompanied at times by sidekick Smitty (L.Q. Jones). "It takes about a minute to know a man," one character remarks during the course of Cheyenne's first season. But we size up Cheyenne in an instant. He is a man of honor, straight shooting and plainspoken. In one episode, he declines an offered position of ranch foreman. "I don't like the job," he states, "and when I don't like a job, I turn it down." When a woman refers to Indians as "savages" in the first episode, Cheyenne enlightens her, "The Indians think we're the savages." Several episodes, including "Quicksand" and "The Last Train West," echo the John Ford masterpiece, Stagecoach, as Cheyenne finds himself amongst a diverse and disparate group of people who are thrown together by circumstance.

Cheyenne was part of a new breed of "adult Western." The episode "Johnny Bravo" (was this the inspiration for Greg's rock star nom de plume on The Brady Bunch?) deals with a rancher who disapproves of his daughter's affair with a Mexican. Keep a sharp lookout for actors who would later become Hollywood's most wanted. A pre-Maverick James Garner appears as different characters in three episodes. Dennis Hopper is hot-triggered gunfighter the Utah Kid, in "Quicksand." And that's the future Miss Hathaway, Nancy Kulp, as a sassy waitress in "Johnny Bravo." Cheyenne was originally broadcast as one of three rotating series under the banner, Warner Brothers Presents, but it quickly established itself as the runaway hit. Like the best Westerns, it is anything but quaint nostalgia. With its timeless setting, compelling stories, charismatic hero, and positive values, the sun will never set on Cheyenne. --Donald Liebenson

Cheyenne follows the adventures of Cheyenne Bodie. Cheyenne was a big man, a former army scout who went west after the American Civil War and drifted from job to job, here a cowboy, there a lawman, and always a larger-than-life hero.

Flame of Barbary Coast

Republic Pictures could be downright bewildering when they tried for sophisticated entertainment (mostly the studio specialized in B-movie-with-a-plus knockabout). Exhibit A is this San Francisco wannabe that, despite the presence of John Wayne in a Stetson, is not a Western because it's all citified, takes place six years into the 20th century (when is that earthquake due?), and spotlights romance, capitalism, and civic virtue instead of gunplay. Montana cowhand Duke Fergus (Duke Wayne), effectively robbed by big-time gambler Tito Morell (Joseph Schildkraut), studies up on gambling and returns to beat the simpering Continental at his own game and wrest away his beloved chantoosie Flaxen Tarry (Ann Dvorak). At regular intervals, two of these three people will have a scene in which they express major hostility, come to an understanding, indicate mutual admiration, then get mad all over again--within the space of eight lines of dialogue. None of this makes sense, so it must be sophisticated. --Richard T. Jameson

Cheyenne (Television Favorites)

A former army scout Cheyenne Bodie roamed the west after the Civil War as a drifter. Changing jobs in each town he came across Cheyenne encountered more than his share of brawls women and bad guys.Running Time: 142 min.System Requirements:Running Time 142 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 012569734128

Dakota

It was invariably a bad sign when Republic saddled John Wayne with a wife and obliged him to wear a city feller's coat. To make matters worse, in Dakota the uxorial appendage is Czech kewpie doll Vera Hruba Ralston (a wife offscreen, too--to studio boss Herbert J. Yates). Eloping with her from the Chicago mansion of her railroad-baron daddy, Wayne wants to head west for California. Ralston prefers the wheat lands of Dakota and, not for the last time, gets her way.

With a slew of seasoned character actors (starting with Walter Brennan as a choleric riverboat captain), auspicious writing credits (Carl Foreman, Oscar-winner Howard Estabrook), and an offbeat setting--a melting-pot Fargo with immigrant farmers wearing the costumes of their native lands--Dakota really ought to be a more memorable movie. Instead, despite plenty of chases, robberies, and killings, it seems never quite to get started. The only mildly interesting aspect is Wayne's having to play it smiley and affable toward the likes of land-grabber Ward Bond and his henchmen Mike Mazurki, Grant Withers, and Paul Fix even as he knows they're responsible for every nasty thing that befalls the community.

Second-unit director Yakima Canutt stages a spectacular last-reel wheat-field fire, but mostly the movie is hamstrung by Republic's penchant for cheap miniatures and an overabundance of (awful) process photography. At one point, the riverboat on which the cast is traveling comes to an inglorious halt on a sandbar--and behind them, the scenery continues to glide merrily by. --Richard T. Jameson

King of the Pecos

Wall Street Cowboy

Roy Rogers travels back east with his old friend Gabby (Hayes) and Chuckawalla (Hatton) to try to raise funds to help pay off his mortgage. Unknown to Roy, his ranch is filled with a rich mineral deposit called Molybdenum, which has many profitable uses. A criminal Wall Street stock cartel knows of the deposit, and tries every swindle they can to obtain the property by foreclosure, including blocking any attempts Roy makes to acquire a loan. As a last resort, Roy turns to a former enemy named Hammond (Watkin) for help. Roy sings several songs in this film.

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Saga Of Death Valley

Early Rogers film finds Roy's father being brutally murdered by Thomas, who takes off with the youngest son Tim, who was the only witness. Roy Jr. returns years later to his family's ranch, and starts a romance with his childhood neighbor Day (not the singer). He forms a vigilante committee to fight the gang of outlaws led by the desperado who killed his father, and eventually discovers his long lost younger brother Tim as a member of Thomas's gang. Now Roy must hunt both his father's killer and his only living relative. This one has plenty of action and excitement.

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The Man From Cheyenne

Sunset On The Desert

Roy's strong resemblance to a notorious crook gives him a chance to infiltrate the gang, but the usual complications arise when the look-alike desperado returns. It's fun to watch Roy Rogers play the tough guy.

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Dakota / In Old California (Double Feature)

DAKOTA - John Wayne stars as John Devlin a gambler who with his new wife Sandy (Vera Ralston) moves to North Dakota hoping to cash in on the land boom created by increasing railroad expansion. On their trip west they meet two swindlers Bender and Collins (Ward Bond and Mike Mazurki) who have been pillaging farms and driving the farmers out of the territory. The two crooks steal John and Sandy's savings a dangerous riverboat chase ensues and the criminals make a clean getaway. In a desperate attempt to get back his savings and see justice prevail Devlin joins the wheat farmers in a heated range battle against Bender Collins and their gang. The action is fast paced and thrilling ending in an exciting conclusion that includes a daring fight-to-the-finish. Walter Brennan also stars in the fast-paced action-packed western. IN OLD CALIFORNIA- Tom played by John Wayne is a handsome physician in the gold-rush days of California. He discovers that Sacramento politician Britt Dawson (Albert Dekker) has become wealthy from forced tributes levied on ranches. Irate and incensed he leads the ranchers in a successful revolt against the unfair taxes. In retaliation Dawson viciously taints a tonic prescribed by Tom and a patient is killed. Dawson hides the evidence and incites the mob into a furious rage against Tom claiming he's an unfit physician. When gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill the announcement distracts the crowd saving Tom from being lynched. How will the local residents feel about Tom when he's the only doctor in town especially when a terrible epidemic breaks out? Will Dawson still be able to make good on his attempt to destroy Tom? The outcome will have you on the edge of your saddle as the action builds to an exciting conclusion.System Requirements:Running Time: 170 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 017153213195 Manufacturer No: 21319