The Rifleman

[MissGoddess]

Oh this website is so cool, thank you Moira! You know, I never even knew that North Fork was in New Mexico Territory. It makes me realize just how vague my concept of "place" is in ALL my western viewing. To me, the West is just one big "territory" of its own...the imagi-nation, and whether it's Texas, N.M., Colorado or California, I seldom take the time to get specifics on where the stories are set. It's fun to think there is so much more to learn in this respect.

I absolutely LOVE Royal Dano, to me he has the most expressive eyes I think I ever saw on a man. I can never think of him as all bad, no matter how awful a character he plays. Those eyes just look so haunted. Why, in Man of the West, he did not even need dialogue. And yet, to top it off, he was blessed with a resonant, hollow-wood voice that is utterly unmistakable.

I remember most of those appearances on The Rifleman, and just about every time he showed up in a TV series.

Oh, yes! And that epi about Micah's past was very interesting. It taps into the whole "In the west, you don't ask a man about his past" thing.

[JackFavell]

I was going to post that I discovered The Rifleman on AMC - but it looks like you guys have beat me to it by a mile.

I saw my first episode in years the other morning (I think it followed the Peckinpah one mentioned here with John Dehner's bullwhip, but I missed all of that one but the closing shot). Carleton Carpenter was a scared western traveler, unable to stand up for himself, or have the confidence to figure out his place. I thought he was excellent, despite my initial surprise at his being the guest star.

[MissGoddess]

I'm glad you got to see some Lucas McCain, Wendy. I'm trying to picture who Carleton Carpenter is...

Unfortunately I have missed all the AMC broadcasts for being unable to wake up in time.

[knitwit45]

I think of Carleton Carpenter as a goofy teenager with a very young Debbie Reynolds, singing "abba dabba dabba said the monkey to the chimp".

[JackFavell]

That's him, knitty! Also as the soda boy and goofy past boyfriend in Father of the Bride.

In the Rifleman, he was definitely an older but wiser Carleton. I found him very compelling, and sad, and I wished he had had more opportunities to act, he was very very good.

MissG - I haven't seen The Rifleman since I was a kid in Chicago. I was shocked the other morning to find that Chuck Connors is gorgeous! something I never appreciated as a youngster. I was more into Johnny Crawford back then.

[MissGoddess]

Oh yes of course now I know him! He even does a little interstertial on Spencer Tracy for TCM. "Soda boy" is PERFECT to describe him! He should always be wearing one of those caps.

I never saw "The Rifelman" until I was an adult and I was immediately hooked. It's now one of my tippy top favorite western shows.

Chuck does look nice and tight, that's for sure.

[JackFavell]

Oh yes of course now I know him! He even does a little interstertial on Spencer Tracy for TCM. "Soda boy" is PERFECT to describe him! He should always be wearing one of those caps.

Ha ha! That's hilarious! I agree!

[moira finnie]

I just discovered that 50 episodes of The Rifleman can be viewed for free on IMDb now. See this link for more:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051308/vid ... ode?page=1

[pvitari]

They're doing a TV remake of The Rifleman:

CBS has closed deals for The Rifleman, a drama project based on the 1958 Western series about a 1880s widower with a rapid-fire Winchester rifle living on a ranch with his son. Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier will write and Chris Columbus is set to direct the reboot, which, like the original, centers on Civil war hero, Lucas McCain, an unparalleled sharpshooter with a haunted past, who moves to the uncharted New Mexico territory to raise his son Mark. There, he joins forces with the Sheriff to protect his new town and become its unofficial guardian. CBS TV Studios and Carol Mendelsohn Prods. are producing. The original series, whose pilot aired on CBS as part of Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater before the series had a five-season run on ABC, was created by Sam Peckinpah and starred Chuck Connors as McCain. It was produced by Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven’s Levy-Gardner-Laven Prods. The only surviving member of the trio, who met while serving together in Air Force’s First Motion Picture Unit during World War II, 101-year-old Arthur Gardner, is executive producing The Rifleman reboot with his son, Steven Gardner, and Jules Levy’s son Robert. Also executive producing are Kalogridis, Lussier, Columbus, Carol Mendelsohn and her Julie Weitz. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone director Columbus has a 3-for-1 deal with CBS, under which one of 3 projects he develops though CBS TV Studios and his 1492 Pictures is assured to go to pilot, which he will direct and executive produce. This marks the seventh sale for Carol Mendelsohn Prods. in the first full development cycle since Mendelsohn brought in Weitz as president of her CBS TV Studios-based production company. The deal for The Rifleman was brokered by WME and Dan Black. This is the latest period Western put in development at the broadcast networks this season. Fox has a Wyatt Earp Western penned by John Hlavin, NBC has an untitled Kerry Ehrin project set in the 1880s, ABC has Ron Moore’s Hangtown, set in the early 1900 and David Zabel’s Gunslinger. Additionally, TNT recently gave a pilot order to Bruce C. McKenna and Danny Cannon’s Gateway, set in the 1880s, and the AMC series Hell On Wheels just premiered to strong ratings.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/cbs-to- ... ore-192720

[RedRiver]

There's no denying the appeal of this simple, but superbly formatted show. Introduce conflict. Insert hero. Cut between perilous situation and eerie calm. It's SUPERMAN out west! I absolutely loved this show as a youngster. I do find it childlike now. Lacking the depth of the more mature westerns. But the structure is simply flawless. This is good TV.

Wendy, you enjoyed the show in Chicago? Perhaps your parents knew Mr. Connors as The Cubs first baseman! This brings to mind a question. Like most first baeman, Chuck was left-handed. Does Lucas McCain fire his famous weapon from the left? Anybody ever notice?

[movieman1957]

In the opening he handles the rifle with his right hand.

[JackFavell]

Ah, no, I didn't even know he played baseball. My mom and I moved to Chicago from Oklahoma when I was 8.

Maybe he's an ambidextrous rifleman. We'll have to keep an eye out for that.

[movieman1957]

He also played professional basketball with the Boston Celtics. One of only a dozen or so to do that. Luckily, he found his footing in acting.

[JackFavell]

That explains a lot - like his athletic build.

[CineMaven]

For the new version of "THE RIFLEMAN" how they cast this will be supremely important. Most westerns as I remember as a kid, had grown-ups. Single father Ben Cartwright or single mother Victoria Barkley had grown children. Yeah, I was in love with Johnny Crawford. I thought he was the handsomest boy on tv. Lucas McCain, single father, raising his young son was unique...and quite loving and I felt it even as a little kid. I hope the re-make does it right.